The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-04-09
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: THE HAUNTED ISLAND :
- Contnu fromp ageTw Twenty-Five -
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Continued from Page Twenty-Five.

in front of me, when the cavalcade came
to dead halt. AT the. same moment,
with the strange suddenness of thunder
storms, the splash of the rain ceased al
together. and the wind died away into
utter silence.
For the space OF five seconds my heart
seemed to stop beating and then the
worst came. A double flash of lightning
lit up the room and its contents with
merclless vividness.
The huge Indian leader stood a few feet
past me on my right One leg was
stretched forward in the act Of taking Il
step His immense shoulders were turn
ed toward his companion, and in all their
magnificent fiercenesS. l. saw the outline
Of his features His gaze was directed
upon the burden his companion was drag
ging along the floor but his profile, with
the big aquiline nose, high cheek-bone,
straight black hair and bold chin, burnt
itself in that brief instant into my brain
never again to fade.
Dwarfish, compared to this gigantic fig
Ure, appeared the proportions of the other
Indian, who, within twelve inches of my
face, was STOPPING over the thing he was
dragging in a position that lent to his
person the additional horror of deformity
And the burden, lying upon a sweeping
cedar branch, which he held and dragged
by long stem, was the body of a white
man. The scalp had been neatly lifted,
and blood lay in a broad smear upon
the cheeks and forehead.
Then for the first time that night the
terror that had paralyzed my muscles and
my will lifted it's unholy spell from my
soul. With a loud cry l stretched out
my arms to seize the big Indian by the
throat, and, grasping only air, tumbled
forward unconscious upon the ground.
had recognized the body, and the face
was my own!
1t was bright daylight when a mans
voice recalled me to consciousness.
was lying where l had fallen, and
the farmer standing in the room with the
loaves of bread in his hands. The hor-
ror of the night was still in my heart,
and as the bluff settler helped me to my
feet and picked up the rifle which had
fallen with me, with many questions and
expressions of coincidence, l imagine my
brief replies were neither self-explanatory
nor even ineligible.
That day, after thorough and fruitless
search of the house, | left the island, and
went over to spend my last ten days with
the farmer; and when the time came for
me to leave, the necessary reading had
been accomplished, and my nerves had
completely recovered their balance.
On the day of my departure the farmer
started early in his big boat with my be-
longngs to row to the point, twelve miles
distant where a little steamer ran twice
a week for the accommodation of hunt
ers. Late in the afternoon | went off in
another direction in my canoe, wishing
to see the island once again where l had
been the victim of so strange an expert
ence.
In due course I arrived there, and made
a tour of the island. l also made a
search of the little house, and it was not
without a curious sensation in my heart
that 1 entered the little upstairs bed
room. There nothing seemed unusual.
Just after 1 re-embarked, [ saw canoe
gliding ahead of me around the curve of
the island. A canoe was an unusual
sight at this time of the year, and this
one seemed to have sprung from nowhere.
Altering my course little, L watched
it disappear around the next projecting
point of rock. 1t had high curving bows,
and there were two Indians in it. | ling
cred with some excitement, to see if it
would appear again round the other side
of the island: and in less than five
minutes it came into view. There were
less than two hundred yards between us,
and the Indians, sitting on their launches,
We're padding swiftly in my direction.
never padded faster In my life than
did in those next few minutes. When
turned to look again. the Indians had al
tered their course, and were again circling
the island
The sun was sinking behind the forests
on the mainland, and the crimson-colored
clouds of sunset were reflected in the wa
tiers of the lake when ] looked round for
the last time, and saw the big bark canoe
and its two dGsky occupants still going
round the island. Then the shadows
deepened rapidly; the lake grew black,
and the night wind blew it's first breath
in my face as | turned a corner, and
projecting bluff or rock hid from my view
both island and canoe.