Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-10
a dead man before9 Thfs kind can't hurt

q oeao h'ah pei'fe Aiio cant hur'
y" Ever face a dead p3n? Aye, did T.
answers Brady, the Irish ih him farm up,
AN ii We give me any more O. yer lip, III
Who said dead man'-though, be the hockey,
twas all the feel of a corpse
" Then why don't We kodownr
For answer Brady leant one hand on the
The other hand he rested ON the outer edge
O. the skylight, an / took notice he didn I
put as much as tip of his finger across
the rim. Down he lowered himself, slowly
down, down, down. like Sas If he was goin'
to drink, until his face WAS level with the
bar an the edge O. the wood. Then, as it
dipped below the line, he Jumped back like
before. ~
+" 'Tricks! says Clark. Is the fool gone
mad ."s
j." Didn't We slop something cowl an wet
in me face"
crazed. Where would get anythin' cold or
wet in such sweiter O. heat? No one stir
red finger. Here, I'll go before
'Sittin' on the edge O. the wood he grip
ped the bar, slowed himself round an made
as if to drop his legs through the skyiight;
but all of a sudden he stopped, an heard
him gasp.
BY gumg says he, an his face went
white. That's queer-that's darned aueerr
Whats the matter. Clark said Brady.
jeerin' him. Why don't we go down? Is it
the dead men yre feared of? Sure, men
like them can't hurt We. God rest their
sowls! he added solemnly.
But Clark never needed him except to
say, I'm sorry l spoke, Irish From
Brady he turned to me.
Lay your hand alongside me leg. will
ye, Towson, an tell me what's got me-
Then I noticed that, instead Of his feet
dangling this way an that as a mans
mostly do, they hung stiff an cramped-
like.
palm out, slowly, slowly, the way I'd seen
Brady move-though for the life O. me 1
couldn't have told why, for there was
nothin' to see-an like him, I went back
with jump an yell. There, just below
the line o the frame, where there was moth
in, nothin' at all but clear air an sunshine,
was cold spongy cleanliness, like dry, soft
ice-ice that was a thin, dry jelly, an that
sank under the hand like dough.
Why don't ye go down. says Brady
again; why don't We go down, We Yankee
coward? Is it the dead you're feared Off
That stung Clark Curious, isn't it?'
ruffies up a bit; but call him an English
cur an he'll shake the life out of you! To
couple Yank with coward was too much for
Clark. and God keep me from ever seem
again the sight I saw then.
Who's coward?' says he. Don't talk so
much, Irish. Coward yourself, an come
on If you dare! All hands below!
'Grippng the bar in front he swung off
an let himself drop with thrust up that
partly turned him round. For a breath he
hung as if upon nothn'; but 1 reckon he
hadn't let go the bar when he'd have given
the world an all for a fresh hold. Down he
houndered not straight as man should but
as If he was drownin' an drownin' in cold
pitch that sucked him in by inches That
the staff, whatever 1T was, gripped him
close, know, for | saw his clothes run up
his leg an leave it bare; an that he re-
pented his foolhardiness | know for IN
flew one hand to catch at the bar up with
a wild swing-an' missed it, grittng it with
ms finer nails; an out flew the other
clutchin' at the wooden ledge, but missed
it; too.
Lord! Lord" he screamed. with sob
throwing his head back Lord, Lordr
HIS eyes caught mine as he went I'M
der, though to me ans Brady it was lust
that his open mouth was below the line a.
the skyliSht. But under he was. for the
scream stopped short sith a choked CUR
gle. though his MOUTH CAPPED an his law
wasged like as If he was chewin' on some
thin soft. D.
Up to that we had stood scared and
staring, but is he screamed our sense
came back, an we plunged forward grab
nilg at ms hands: But if he was late, so
were we. He had slipped past reach am
as we watched, we saw him light on the
table slowly and greasily an paw at it
vaguely with his feet. For a minute ne
sWayed there, his big~seabeots maxim no
noise on the wood, an his arms beating the
air with cramped jerks like as if somethin'
held his hands. Then he staggered an
rolled sideways to the floor where he Law
on his back. twelve feet away, giving us
stare for stare. an we no more able to
help him than If he was fifty fathoms
under the sea. AS many men as you've
fingers I've seen drown. but never one like
that; yet drown he did, if know what
drownin' means! God have mercy upon
him, for it was an awful end! Three
great pants he gave-pants like to split his
chest: then he lay quiet, an, as the hulk
rocked to the heave o the swell the sun
shine through the port played backwards
an forwards across his face without so
much as a flaw in its light.
Brady pulled himself together first. AT
ter we'd failed to catch Clark's hands he
had leaned over the skylight, dry sobbin
an prayin like a mother by a cradle; but
al last he shook himself as dog might
comm out o water.
:" :. I'm I'm goin' down, Towson,,, says he.
It's death! Do you see yonder?'
'Arrah. then! have | eyes? Isn't it that
that takes me down? How far offs the
table?
"'seven feet. be it more or less says l.,
wonderin' if l had mailman on my hands
next What's your notion?'
My notion is, the airs froze-not with
cowid. but with somethin' that was in
what's smashed on the floor there Nv no
ton is the cuddy was caulked as tight as
a captains gig, an when the poor divils
broke whatever it was they found sudden
death. for the air must have gone solid in
wink. See how they broke for the door
an missed it. That's my notion, an I'm
goin to hack the air outen her.
We'll, sir, hack it out he did, but the
bottle went smash an the bread turned
dust the minute the fresh air struck it.
So did the poor three souls, all but their
bare bones. an their queer clothes crum-
bled at the touch like burnt paper, so that
all that was left was the bit O. stuff you
see in the frame there. That's the yarn
q m oh hay frlly
can turn air to water now why not to
solid? For We don't know everything our
side the world, for all our cocksure ways
There's a powerful deal goes on beyond so
degrees that we know nothn' at all
about. an that's the fact"