Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-21
CHAPTER VI.
"The Fires of the Asasw


Midnight was Ginning from distant
church tower as Idris and Godfrey stood
on the edge of the upland that overlooked
the valley of Bavensdale.
They had left Wave Crest at IL o'clock.
and following a circuitous route. and
favored by the late hour. had succeeded In
reaching their destination without attract
ing notice.
Beatrice had begged hard to accompany
them. but this Godfrey would not permit.
So she watched them from the garden gate
till they were out of sight. and then re-
turned indoors to alarm herself by reading
the adventures of Belzoni III the Great
Pyramid finding some sort of affinity be-
tween the expedition of Idris and that of
the enterprsing Paduan.
The night was lovely and cloudless, with
a full moon shining from a sky of darkest
blue.
Shimmering white In the hallowed radi-
ance arose the lofty tomb of the long
buried Viking, and as the two friends
made their way toward 1t the character
OF the undertaking began to Cypress the
mind of Godfrey with various strange
fancies. What the interior of the hiliock
would reveal he could not tell: out ne
had forebodings Of something grim ana
ghostly. Though it was of his own Tree
will that he came. yet now. brought close
to the intended task, he shrank from It,
and found himself yielding to spirit OF
fear
He could not but admire the unconcern
OF his companion. who strobe gallantly for
ward humming the chorus of a hunting
song.
"Confound yon bright NOON muttered
Idris If any OF the coast guard should
stroll this way, we are certain to be seen.
Arrived at the northernmost point of the
tumuus. he flung down the sack that he
A. Ill 70
essary for excavation. and turning his eyes
upon the side of the hillock began to look
about for the white-aowering mandrake
that betokened the point of ingress.
He glanced quickly from right to left. but
to his surprise. the plant was nowhere to
be seem
Here's a mystery, What has become or
the mandrake? No matter: there's the pile
of pebbles l set up on the spot where the
shadow of the stone fell. L nave out u
repeat my former experiment
Making his way to the little heap ldris
faced about and then began to walk to-
ward the hillock, keeping in dlrect HE
with the stone upon Its apex
On reaching the base of the tumuius ne
peused and remained stationary, with his
back to Godfrey. and his gaze riVeted On
the side of the mound. There was some
thing so peculiar in the rightly OF his atu-
tude and in his long-continued silence that
Godfrey's heart quickened with an un-
known fear a fear that deepened, wheh
Idris, with a scared face, turned sio~is
round, and as if the power of speech had
left him, beckoned with his nnger ior INC
surgeon to come forward
Look there he said I'm hoarse voice;
clutching Godfrey with one hand: anu
pointing with the other. Tell me "hethei
I see Alright. What's that?
Ard there protl uding from the side OF
the hillock in the place where the MAN
drake had grown was-a human hand!
A human hand rising from the earth.
n.Ctionless and rigid, the crooked hlsers
seeming to tell of the agony of death by
suffocation. -. ,oo,
some one, since the morning, had neen
,rI,jpe To force n way through the SOIL at
the entrance of the passage anu ioo ios
his life in the attemp.
such was Idris' first thought. A closer IN
snectfon. however. showed that the event
had not happened that day Ihe mans nau
fallen from the fingers and there was. Pc
sides a 1ccayed vegetable look about the
hand. differing altogether from the aspect
nresented by the skin of the newly-dead
How Idris came to overlook 1t curing his
morning visit was mystery, since the manu-
must have been In its present position LOT
saI-sraJ days ~ not for several weeks. Its
sudden exposure was perhaps due TO the
afternoon storm. which had washed away
portion of the soil.
To endeavor to ascertain the identity or
the victim by pulling at the withered hand.
and thus bringing the decayed form to view.
was an act that not only Idris shrank from,
but even Godfrey. the surgeon, 1aminar
with the dsjecta membra OF TIE dissecuhs
room.
Then Idris, bending forward to examine
the hand more closely, gave vent to a peal
of laughter.
Brave heroes we are to be frightened by
a plant, 1t is nothing but the root of the
mandrake"
Godfrey drew breath of relief. as he as
sured himself by a nearer view that what
he had taken for a human hand was IN
Enr FtyQ 10 n
apt to assume strange and unaccountable
shapes. .
Yet. to save his life. he burst not put forth
his hand to touch 1t.
II such were the terrors guarding the ex-
t. ror of the tomb. what might he not ex-
pect to find in the interior?
Now Godfrey silly fright being
over to work. I Will dig while you watch.
Take a seat on this boulder here. and IL
you should see anybody coming give the
word and / will suspend operations for
while. There cannot be more than hVe or
six feet of earth to knock away, and then
the passage Will be open to our view. The
work ought not to take long.
Godfrey did as desired, and Idrfs hung
of ulster coat and vest. Rolling His shirt
sleeves above the elbow, he drew the tools
from the sack and selected spade
Now to disturb the repose of old Orm
the Golden" he cried excitement spark
ling from his eyes. Now to evoke the
fires of the Asas,
The Sickly, withered MANDRAKE root.
with it's resemblance to a human hand.
fronted him. and as If in contempt of his
former fears. he drove the edge of the
spade clean through the stalk. The sepa-
rated parts seemed to CULVER and writhe
In manner extremely suggestive of ami
NAL life.
\ thrill of terror shot through his frame.
and. spade in hand, he paused. staring at
the root, for, simultaneously with its dis
section. there came sound bearing re-
semblance to plaintive human cry.
1t was not the creation of his fancy,
since Godfrey, too, had heard II.
In the name of all that's holy what was
that? he asked. starting up from the
stone upon which he had been sitting.
That is what I should like to know -
said Idris. trying to look unconcerned. 1T
came-Or seemed to come-from this
plant here. The poet speaks of:
'Shrleks like mandrakes torn from the ground
but 1 never thought to hear them in my
own person"
He toyed idly with the spade. desirous
yet almost afraid. of making a second
stroke.
In all his life Godfrey had never beer
so much alarmed as ne was at that mo-
ment.
''Idris. let us leave this business,
least. for tonight"
His words acted as a stimulus to the
others courage.
Leave it? Never! till have forced my
way to the heart of this hillock and
wrested the secret from It. On the very
point of discovery must we turn back