The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-12-05

~ was CQrlSLlQ0S 1TlonQ, ON
through whom Fear entered the child
life. Before Tom began to spend hi
evenings in the kitchen Christine hat
been the most c0usiderete Of nurses
When she tucked the bedclothes abou
her sIaall charge at night, and sat be
side her until the little one fell asleep
her talk had been all of fairies, anl
hawthorn hedges, and the green Eng
lish fields in which she had played as
child; but when Tom began to wait fo1
her below stairs-to wait In the com
pany Of Ellen, the jolly cook. and Mag
gle the blue-eyed housemaid. Christine
had grown cross and impatient. She
addressed the little girl almost roughly
and even hurried her through hel
prayers. When she tucked her In bed
she refused to sit beside her; and In
answer to the child's half-suppressed
sob she paused in the act Of turning
out the gas to bend close above the
small pillow and the suddenly widened
eyes that stared at her In the dimmed
light. Her voice itself was q threat
as she opened the door In the childs
soul by which Fear might enter In.
"As long as you are good nothing
will hurt you," she concluded, more
hfndly. BE quiet and don't tell and
you're all right" She turned the gas
quite out. and closed the door, leaving
Fear to watch in her place by the bed.
Not that the child called 1t Fear;
she knew no name for the vague, form
less thing. But its formlessness was
an added terror, which was heightened
by the fact that to her strained imag-
inati6n an audible football came from
that void which was its presence. while
above its awful shapelessness she felt,
though she never saw-a face. Beast,
monster, devil-whether one or all OF
these she could not say; and only
because a thing spoken OF must be
designated by a WORD could one call
the dark impersonal presence 1t.
Every night after this 1t came, a
terrible black emptiness moving with
slow, steady steps to the child's bed.
The steps fell first in the long hall,
when Christine turned out the nursery
gas. AS she went out she moved noise
lessly over the thick carpet toward the
door which led to the back hall, and
the progress Of her retreat was known
to the child only by the sound OF the
others stealthy approach-a sound dis
tincuy heard above the heavy beating
Of her own heart. 1t moved step
nearer for every step that Christine
moved away; when she stood at the
door Of the back hall 1t stood at the
nursery door, always; when she open
ed the door-softly, lest it should be
known down stairs that she had left
the nursery before sleep came to Its
small innate-It entered; and when
Christine closed the door behind her II
sprang with great leap to the child's
bedside, and hung over her in the dark,
and gibing, with an awful
threat behind Its senseless leer. She
could never see the face nor the leer;
( she could have done that she might
nave borne 1t; she only felt them
through the shuddering dark.
And 1t was not alone; the tiger un-
ler the bed belonged to 1t, and the ape
n the closet. and the man with the
black mask and the sword. These also
we're unseen enemies, but she knew all
bout them; Christine had told her.
lot only on that first dreadful night,
)ut often since. They were friends OF
,hristine's in some mysterious way,
md SO long as the child Obeyed her
hoy were not to be feared; but II she
ver cried or called her mother, or
old any one that Christine did not
tay with her until she was asleep
hen they would spring at her in the
ark azd tear her limb from limb. II
he obeyed she was safe; Christine
aid 80, and Christine never told lies;
he said she never did; and, besides.
he would be afraid to tell lies, be-
ause liars were put in the fire and
uIucO up. 1AeA OAOenOA @OAo AoA NA>S
be day she promised to let him play
nth her best doll in his own way, and
hen. snatched her away and ran to
christine with her. She was q liar;
he shivered as she thought OF the lake
( fire. But he was digging Miss
Iomer's eyes out OF her head-her
eautiful eyes-to see why they didn't
hut faster. God would burn her up;
ut it wasn't fair when other people
,ade you tell lies: perhaps God did
omething to them. too. But He would
OF do anything to Christine; she was
lways good. That was why the tiger
,ved her. and the man. and the ape;
bax hated baa people-oh, did they