The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1900-09-28

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But now that, light rwas in, the room.
the worst seemed over; it was dis
gushing business, but not more than
disgusting, and it was with no great ap-
tprehension. that John proceeded to
make the! cifcittI of the table; bis last
Comparatively |tfIaahlha IL moment 'of that
day. No SOONER had he turned the cor
ner, no Soc sr had his eyes alighted
on the body, than he gave a smothered,
breathlessy cry, and fed out Of the room
and out Of the house.
1t was not Alan. who lay there, butssa
man well up II years, Of stern counte-
nance and fron-gray locks, and It was
no drunkard, for the body lay "a
black pool of blood, and the open eyes
stared upon the ceiling! 81
To and fro, walked John before the
door. The extreme sharpness of the
attracted on his nerves like an astrin-
gent, ahf .braced them swiftly, Fres-
emily, he-not relaxing, in his Idisordered
|Hwak, the images began to come clearer
and'stay longer in his fancy; and next
the power Of thought came back to him,
and the horror and danger of his situa-
ton rooted him to the ground.
He grasped his forehead, and staring
on one spot of gravel, pieced together
what he knew and, what he suspected.
Alan had murdered some one; possibly
chat man" against whom the butler
chained the door in Regents Terrace;
possibly another; some one at least;
human soul, whom it was death to slay
and whose blood lay. spilled upon the
fioor:s This was the reason of the whis-
ky drinking in the passage, of his .un-
willingness to welcome John, of his
strange behavior, and bewildered words;
this was why he had started at and
harped upon the name of murder; this
was why he had stood and hearkened.
or sat and covered his eyes in the black
night. And now he was gone, now he
had basely fed; and to all his perplexi-
ties and dangers, John stood heir.
"Let me think-let me think" he
said, aloud, impatiently. even pleading
~, as if to some merciless interrupter.
In the turmoil of his wits. thousand
hints and hopes and threats and ter
rors DINING continuously in his ears,
he was like one plunged in the hubbub
OF crowd. How was he to remember
he who had not thought to spare
that he was himself the author, as we'll
as the theater, of so much confusion?
But in hours of trial the junto of mans
nature is dissolved, and anarchy sue
ceeds..
1t was plain he must stay no longer
where he was, for here was new Ju-
dicial Error in the very making. It was
not so plain where he must go, for the
old Judicial Error, vague as cloud, ap-
peared to fill the habitable world; what
ever it might be, it watched for him.
full-grown, in Edinburgh; it must have
had it's birth in San Francisco; it stood
guard, no doubt, like dragon, at the
bank where he should cash his credit;
and though there were doubtless many
other places, who should say in which
OF them it was not ambushed? No, he
could not tell where he was to go; he
must not lose time on these insolubili-
ties. Let him go back to the begin
ming. 1t was plain he must stay no
longer where he was. 1t was plain, too,
that he must not flee as he was. for he
could not carry his portmanteau, and
to flee and leave it, was to plunge deep
er in the mire. He must go, leave the
house unguarded, find cab, and re-
turn-return after an absence? Had
he courage for that?
And just then he spied stain about
hands breadth on his trouser-leg,
and reached his finger down to touch
1t. The finger was stained red; it vas
blood; he stared upon it with disgust,
and awe, and terror, and in the sharp
ness of the new sensation, fell instant
ly to act.
He cleansed his finger in the snow.
returned into the house, drew near
with hushed footsteps to the dining
room door, and shut and locked it.
Then he breathed little freer for here
at least was an oaken barrier between
uiAA1oCAA 1uu "udI Ic lcdteu. Next, ne
fastened to his room, tore off the
spotted trousers which seemed in his
eye a link to bind him to the gallows,
| flung them in corner, donned another
pair, breathlessly crammed his night
things into his portmanteau, locked it,
swung 1t with an effort from the
ground. and with rush of relief, came
forth again under the open heavens.
The portmanteau, being of occidental
build, was no feather-weight; it had
distressed the powerful Alan; and as
for John, he was crushed under its
bulk, and the sweat broke upon him
thickly. Twice he must set it down
to rest before he reached the gate; and
when he had come so far, he must do
as Alan. did, and take his seat upon
one corner. Here, then, he sat awhile
and painted; but now his thoughts were
sensibly lightened; now, with the
trunk standing Just inside the door.
some part of his dissertation from the
house OF crime had been effected. and
the cabman need not pass the garden
wall. It was wonderful how that re.