The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-17

in the center of the forehead, glisten-
ing like a demon ruby in the rale light
was round mole, made, instinctively
knew by my random shot, and as I
gazed with ear-distended ewes at the
gruesome object, the voice came again,
deep as cathedral bell in its awful
ness:
You killed him.
Reason fled. and I swooned. When
consciousness returned l was still lying
at the foot of the lofty rock against
which the awful presence had leaned,
but 1t was nowhere to be seen, and
staggering to my feet I rushed madly
onward, down. down, down, through
| the deep canyon, until it seemed as if
my aching feet would refuse to further
do my bidding. Soon the defile through
until only space of a few feet sepa-
rated the lofty walls on either side,
then I came to what seemed the end
| of the canyon, but STOPPING, l saw
| ahead of me, far in the distance, the
starlike light still cleaning, and,
creeping on hands and knees, / passed
through cave or tunnel after tunnel.
deeper and deeper at each step. until
it seemed to me as though 1 must have
reached the bowels of the earth when
just ahead of me l saw an open plain
and the light had seen became a mon
ster camp fire, around which were
grouped dozen or more figures which
appeared to be women, but of what
kind or nationality 1 was unable to de-
eide.
LAS / approached they silently arose
and beckoned me nearer.
las / reached the circle of strange
beings they all began to talk at once,
in some strange tongue, which 1 could
not understand. but something told me
nj ,afi ion, Of IN, I
unwittingly kill the man whom I had
seen far up the lonely canyon. Finally
the babel of voices ceased and they
beckoned me nearer. l slowly and with
my heart freezing with fear approached
one who seemed to be the leader of The
uncanny band. She was tall and grace
full, but in the center of her forehead,
in lieu of eyes, cleaned one ny blood
spot like that I had seen on the some
thing which had, confronted me at the
bend of the canyon. Her hair was like
shimmering gold and her mantle, e I'd
ed at the waist, seemed part of her
body. Raising her long, white hands,
on the fingers of which cleaned a myr-
lad of brilliants of some kind, she
waved them before my eyes, and the
ground seemed to sink for yards
around. carrying the weird circle and
myself with it in it's downward motion.
The air seemed filled with fluttering
of countless wings that brushed my
face and hands and f1uttered on every
side. Suddenly the downward motion
ceased. and a light like nothing have
seen before or since burst upon my
vision. All around We're giant tn es
heavily laden with some unknown gol-
den fruit, the leaves were like silver
and moved necessarily. although there
was not breath of air stirring. Sweet
voiced feathered songsters filled the air
w n al INV fpn
cleaned brook of the clearest water
my dazzled eyes had ever rested upon.
All around as far as the sight could
reach cleaned myrads of flowers tint
ed with prismatic hues of the rainbow,
and filling the air with an overpower-
ing perfume. AS soon as my eyes be-
came more accustomed to the unusual
light I looked around, and saw to my
surprise that the women, too, whom I
had seen in the canyon had undergone
a strange transformation. The one
whom / judged to be their leader had
been metamorphsed into the fairest
woman that. mortal eye ever beheld.
The red spot had disappeared and from
two soft brown eyes that glowed like
diamonds in the brilliant light, shone
light of purity and tenderness unsur-
passed in poetic verse or artists can
vas. Laying one soft hand on my arm,
she said Come and l glided rather
than walked swiftly by her side until
we reached a lofty marble palace, the
doors of which swung open at our APP
proach, revealing an interior of archi-
tectural splendor impossible to fifty de-
scribe in mans weak words. A lofty
room, frescoed with gold and pearl,
draped with long streamers of rides
cent ribbons, festooned with monster
rubies, pearls and diamonds. The floor
seemed one mass of flawless pearls,
smooth as glass and cleaning under
the indescribahle light like myriad of
stars. In the center of the vast hal
a golden fountain deliberately carved in
the semblance of nymphs and cupids,
spouted sprays of perfumed crystal
from an exquisite group of golden an
gels, linked with chains of pearlI and
forming the center of this wonderful
fountain. AS l inhaled the perfunned
air my senses seemed swimming in a
delicious delirium, my heart beat mad
ly within my breast and I felt an al
most uncomfortable desire to break out
into some hitherto unknown song.
My guides hand again recalled me
to myself and she elided forward over
the smooth floor, following until we
reached the further end Of the magnifi-
cent hall, where lifting a golden f1agon
from a niche in the wall she poured
into a glass something which cleaned
as it's drops fell, like molten rubies.
silently SHe ndHutu lie the grass anu
moved by some occult power l unhes-
itatingly drained it to its dregs. The
glass fell from my hand and I suddenly
felt soft hand resting a moment upon
my head. and all around the air seemed
filled with the most delicious harmony
of sounds that ever fell upon mortal
ear Now a grand organ filled the
great hall with it's overpowering food
of melody, then as its sound softened
myriad of silvery bells chimed tie
softest anthems, a million nightingales
seemed suddenly to loosen their melo-
dies, then a harmony akin to celestial
wind-swept harps filled the vast hall
with their exquisite strains.
Suddenly the sounds gave way to a
grand chorus of voices seemingly be-
ginning away in the distance. then be-
coming louder and sweeter, blending in
faultless rythm and melody until It
seemed as though the very heavens had
pp,ra6 their yDa1ndiouS hosts into thu