The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-17
TOO MUCH FRUIT.


tTelnely decorative, and admired It very
much. Its colors were those of the robes
Of Blum's little samsen player on the wall.
"why don't you cat 4tf" asked Polly.
The Idea Of internally absorbing the
beautiful had strange charm. It was q
very large persimmon, but I ate 1t all, and
then went to bed.
From ceiling that crawled and crinkled
watched cherry colored mandarin swing
slowly down on to my bed. From the spot
from which he dropped came another and
another, all no longer than a pea pod and
as dry. Solemnly they squatted on my
chest and lifted their hairy arms, In which
were twisted rods with carven, grinnine
faces.
Crash! They broke into shrill, discord.
ant song, beating, beating, beating on my
ribs One, near the apex Of my heart, would
not keep time, and that was worse than all.
How the blows hurt, and how their curled
up knees sank deep into my flesh! The
words Of the song seemed to leap forth
like little cubes and hop over my skin,
burning as they rolled. The pain was un.
endurable drew great gasp OF agony
and was free They were gone.
A long vista Of grayness resolved Itself
into strange perspective. was seated
In fragile jinrikisha, but instead of the
lusty runner, blue skirted and handy legged,
between the shafts was a monstrous horse,
tall to heaven, with stridings that devour
ed the road. A voice. warning, portentous
sounded In my ears:
thou hast that In charge that Is precious. I"
Y Had nd Ia rhas1
bit Of a brown baby, naked and unafraid,
painted hieroglyphics in the air with every
leap of the lurching vehicle.
BY some swift intuition knew that
this prancing, gigantic horse was the pride
of the mikado's stables and the brown
baby the hope Of the empire, and that ac-
cident to either meant punishment to fit
the crime. looked ahead. The white
slopes of Fusiyama, the sacred mountain,
lay before US, up which none may pass
alive.
On either side our way impenetrable
pines, in whose dark branches goblins sat
and grimaced horribly. On we rushed
The great fore feet of the horse struck the
slope of the forbidden hill. A sudden shock
ran through all his body. stood alone
In the road. On the side, his blood dyeing
the scanty sod, lay the horse, q deep hole
In his quivering side, while in my arms
the child lay leaden, gaspinl,.
Crowds of other people gathered about
us and looked upon me Ominously, silently.
"Kill this wretched creature in mercy"
/ begged. They stood unmoved, silent,
still, while the horse gazed at me in more
than human anguish. Clasping the child,
hurried away, falling, stumbling, crying
aloud for help in vain.
Suddenly I stood in vast room. All
about its sides were ladders of bamboo,
fragile and hung by slender threads. In
the corners, overhead and swinging corpse.
like were bundles, shapeless, unspeakable.
The air was filled with a sickening odor,
as of mingled decay and strange spices,
pungent and sweet. Slowly the swinging
bundles took form, and beneath appeared
the outline of body in u dim and bewil-
dering individuality, ludicrous and horri-
BILE
Again a voice cried--a voice Of authority
not to be gainsaid-"S Searchn' Again
knew that somewhere in this formless i'm
mensity the little brown baby was hid,
still alive, and could but find him ere
too late might save our souls alive from
1 knew not what. Instantly he was no
LONGER tne nclT Ol tHc nOuSt I'll odu, Dus
mine, my own, that had lived and loved
and lain on my breast, and whose life
would die million deaths to save, whose
agony 1 would brave the gods to assuage.
How I tossed the dreadful bundles
aboutl How tore them open ruthlessly,
only to see a sunken eye or gaping mouth!
How clung to the spiderlike ladders and
leaped across chasmlike spaces. At last,
among heap of squalid rags, in corner
where snakes writhed and ran, little
foot peeped out. 1t moved. 1t was warm.
1 tc.e away the clothes as a dog tears at
the earth that covers his quarry and snatch
cd the child to my heart On his bare
breast gaped wide wound, it's edges al
ready purple and receding and as / looked
saw the fatal flush spread up and up.
Water! Oh, If there were only water! l
saw dull pool at my feet, and, STOPPING,
dashed the icy drops upon the wound. In
vain. One chance remained-to call back
the fleeing soul by name in desperate en-
treaty. Surely my baby would listen.
The word died on my lips, for the child
on my heart changed again as / would
have spoken, and what knew of the name
Of the mikado's heir? Let me think.
must think. Did not some one of that
cruel crowd .hat stared and grinned speak
it? 1 strive; groan; l cry aloud. The
heavy air sends back my cries hOllowly,
and as / choke into silence see the lids
futter and fall. The hope Of the empire
has gone all too soon to the sacred shades
of Fusiyama, and ], alone, must answer.
Alone in the silence and darkness of a
cell. i could put out my hand and feel
that the wall was made Of some rough
woven grass, about which clung a pene-
trating odor. In this grass j could hear
the movement of millions of minute in
sects, knew not of what dctested shape
and kind. / began to pass my hands over
these walls in l know not what barren
hope of escape. Carefully crept on and
on, measuring, comparing testing Then
/ went back and began again. My hands
kept slipping off strangely into space. The
cell had no shape-simply dimension.
Alas was no simple onlooker at somo
splendid revel of primcval nature. All
that was i'm this stupendous scheme was
me, sentient, suffering soul
The helpless, tortured ego was part of
the whole. 1t frozc on those cold, piercing