The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-04-08
GERS useless and hence improbable.

against such safe and practical plan
of procedure? Nothing, or less than
nothing; merely the demonstration of
an abstruse metaphysical problem
within himself; the application of II
heroic test which had no place outside
the realm of fiction. And with this
thought it occurred to him that he hat
unconsciously planned the whole thing
upon the lines that wGslld have made
it most effective in q story. And then
the suggestion of the calcium light and
the alarmed young woman looking
down upon the theatrical tableau from
her window came again, making him
sick with disgust.
Looking at it from any point of view,
the romantic project, which was more
than likely to costhim his life in the eX
ecuting, was merely a fantastic idea of
proving himself in some way knight
without fear-a modern type of gor-
tesque medieval parsonage who went
! about staying impossible dragons and
disembowelling NEUROLOGICAL giants.
1t was Observation-Disclosures
Gus! ard from this point in the crgu-
ment the descent to the Avernus of ter
ror was easy. At the end of a half-hour
he felt thev premonitory spinal chill
heralding q return of the well-known
symptoms; in five minutes more the
paroXysm was upon him, and he was
struggling furiously in the grasp of his
familiar demon, blind, deaf and help
less, with every fiber of his being strain
ing itself for fight in an impulse SO real
that he turned and grasped at the rough
bark of the tree to keep himself from
being carried bodily away by the whirl-
wind of terror.
The attack did not last long, and
about the time the blood began to tingle
in his veins again he heard the muff1ed
trampling Of horses approaching along
the dusty road. At the signal the very
recollection of his late discomposure
seemed somehow to vanish into the
limbo of remote past: his pulses
quickened and his muscles thrilled
with the vibrations of an accumulating
energy that sang joyously as it leaped
through the tense nerves and the throb-
bing arteries. His sharpened senses
were unnaturally acute; he heard the
woody clink of the rails as the men
male breach in the ZigZag fence, then
the smothered hoof-beats of the horses
coming across the soft turf of the lawn;
il moment later. in an interval of silence,
he fancied he could almost hear the
whispered instructions given to Jed.
When the two men emerged from the
deeper shadows of the grove he saw
them quite distinctly in the starlight;
they came directly toward his hiding
place, and when they paused within a
few feet of the trees he could scarcely
! restrain the eager ferocity that prompt
ed him to rush out upon them. In the
instant of hesitation he had time to note
that one of them carried an armful of
liindling wood; the man gathered it
into firmer hold while they paused,
and there was smothered tinkle of
breaking glass, and the pungent odor
of kerosene filed the air.
What was that thar noise?" asked
the other.
Hits that thar blame bottle O. coal
oil, that's what hit is; hits done
bu'sted an run all down into my boots,"
replied the first; and they moved for
ward and disappeared behind the corner
of the house.
Ringbrand kept them in sight as long
as he could, and then ran across to the
clump of laurels, going down on his
hands and knees and staring intently
into the gloom until he found them
again, two darker blots of shadow
crouching in the angle formed by the
bay window in the parlor. While he
was straining his eyes to catch the
CLEAN of the match which would be the
signal for their return. he did not hear
the steaIthy steps of a man who was APP
preached him from behind, nor did he
know of its presence when the gliding
figure came quite close and stood with
clubbed gun waiting for him to rise.
The appearance of the third brother
upon the scene was due to the fact that
Ludlow had chosen his position unfor-
tunately and SO was unable to see the
men when they dismounted. For this
reason. he waited until he was sure that
the two incendiaries had started for
the house. and the delay gave the holder
of horses time to yield to n sudden i'm
pulse born of a desire to know if his
warning to Hester had accomplished it's
purpose Looping the horses brides
together and throwing them over the
branch of tree. he followed noiselessly
in the footsteps of his brothers; and
coming out on the open lawn in time to
catch glimpse of Ringbrand as he ran
across to the laurels. he crept forward
until he stood with uplifted gun behind
the unsuspecting sentinel. When Ring
brand rose at the flash of the match,
the poised rifle cut quick circle in the
air and descended with blow that sent
him back to his knees with a thousand
scintillating notes dancing before his
eyes; for single confused instant he
thought the end had come. and then he
felt the revivifying breath of the spirit
of battle which seemed to inspire him
with the reckless and invincible courage
of his war!ike ancestors. Leaping to
his feet, he fell upon his assailant with
Irresistible furyi there was a sharp,