The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-01

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account for his bursts of noisy merriment
| and other eccentricities, relics of the lat
ter end of his old life, when he must
! have fallen very low. He had been quite
willing to fall in with my plans, and as
! had aged@a compartment to ourselves
! In the train, we had been scarcely seen
| together until we reached London. Then,
| partly from curiosity-for he Interested
me still an experiment-and partly
| from fear, l kept him close to my size at
| first.
The evening We arrived 1 took him out
| into the brilliantly-lighted streets of the
| West End L shall never forget his face
Fortunately, he was too overwhelmed to
| say much or to make himself consp1c-
uous, but the light in his eyes was that
| of an exile who looks on home again He
seemed to recognize things instinctively;
no doubt all this had been familiar to him
| long ago. He reveled in the noise, the
| glare. In all theswealth and profusion, m
| all the dirt and degradation, Of the Lon
don streets. Nossight was too sordid to
interest him, no misery too great to move
him to brutal laughter. He mixed in the
crowd like a fiend. rejoicing in everything
evil.
In few days I gathered confidence.
] let IN go out alone when and where
he would. 4 had come away in the hope
| of shaking him off; | must not lose any
i
could not be made responsible for him in
any way. But, though he might be abb
sent all day and until late into the night,
he always returned before morning.
would lie awake listening, topping that
this time he had gone for good, but,
sooner or later, would hear his hateful
step on the stairs. The very sight Of him
was becoming repellent to me and we
| rarely exchanged q word. 1 wondered
wis In baoI
| er he saw that was eager to be rid of
him and so-full, as he was, of mock
| Ing maiice-he clung the closer? Or
whether Where l WAS, represented home
to him? 1t might be that the part /
had played toward him created bond
between us, to which he unconsciously
yielded.
hesitated at taking che last step, at
| making my own escape and deliberately
| deserving him. Besides, / had an I'M
comfortable presentment that he would
track me out wherever I went
Matters Were In this state when one
night he returned earlier than usual I
was still down stairs reading. He opened
| the door nc1sily, 1urched across the room.
and flung himself down in chair. I
looked up. Had he been drinking? Tt
was no uncommon thing for him to come
rome In state of wild exhilaration,
though had, never known him to lose
control of himself. 1t seemed as though
his magnificent strength could cope with
any excess. I met his eyes fixed on me
with lowering, evil look; the look Of a
creature who hates vet fears.
/ gazed back at him steadly. There
seemed something IN his race which was
new to me; the eyes We're dull. the ex-
preston heavy and brooding AS a rule.
his potations had the effect of increasing
his vitality; tonight they must have acted
In the contrary direction. There was no
life or animation in face or figure.
But for the first time his gaze did not
fall before mine. l felt little uucom-
Portable. 1t was only my mental force
that could control him. If he could defy
that / was completely at his mercy. The
air In the room grew oppressive; L felt
my heart beating quicker. 1 could keep
silence no longer. betrayed my weak |
ness, spoke.
rs anything the matter?" I asked. |
keeping my eye fixed on him.
He made no reply He did not even |
seem to hear me- The stealthy look In |
his face never changed. But, as I watch
ed. he drew gradually and I almost imper- |
ceptibly closer to me. What thought
had been growing up in his slow mind
what intention lurked behind those
brooding eyes? The wild beast lust to |
hght and kill 2 [ had no weapon within
reach; could not move; if 1 averted my
saze for moment he might spring at
me
So we SGT, facing each other He was
like savage animal, newly Gagged, who
is only prevented by the iron bars from
leaping on his keeper. My Will power
kept him off as yet; would he break it
down?
My pulses were throbbing in nv ears
now; l seemed to be looking at him
through a mist. I could not cry for help.
my tongue was glued to my mouth. Per-
haps my gaze faltered or lost some of its
power, and in an instant he sprung at
me- It was the spring of a tiger. I
was like reed in his grasp. His hands
We're about my throat, pressing the life
out of me; could only look up, helpless
into the awful, triumphant. face Then,
suddenly, as I gazed, feeling that eyerv
moment must be my last, there came
horrible change. In a flash the light had
died out of the eyes a sickly pallor crept
over the flushed face, the strong hands
dropped from my throat, slack and
heavy, and he staggered away. falling
sidewise Into a chair
was too exhausted to move or call for
assistance. could only watch him
fearfully. And as looked there came a
still more awful change His limbs
withered to the limbs of an old man.
and his face grew yellow, and aged and.
worn. What had been the form and
race OF a young man now showed every
sign of senfle decay. For a minute he
sat thus, as though turned to stone, then
his head fell back sharply. He was
dead
And ne had beeome again the wretehed
cHtcdst I had found on the moors.
copyright in sthe United States Of
America by D. 7. Pierce)