The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-03-25
CHAPTER XII.
FLORINE TO THE RESCUE.

A shroud of consuming terror now
possessed me. 1 crouched in the dark
corner clutching my sword, listening,
vatnly listening, for some sound out of
which to conjure up an assassin. a rat
ran across my foot. Screaming out I
bounded erect and beat about me with
blind desperation. One hand touched
the other and shrank from it's mate.
They were as ice.
Oh, God. the horrid silence! How
weightily it bore upon me, stripping me
OF voice, of courage and Of hope. How
many, many times I braced myself
against the wall, cold with fear at the
apprehension of an attack by some
damon Of the night. How many, many
TIMES l sank again into the same
dumb misery When no enemy appeared
TO do me hurt.
So long it had been since the tones
Of human speech blessed my ears, I
almost hoped the marshaIs men might
come, that 1 might hear his stern COM
mand, Hang him to yonder window
ledge" A rasping thirst roasted my
ground as a rusted clapper in a bell. I
touched it with my hand. 1t was as
dry as BrOussard'S.
Broussard! A CULVER in the musty
air set me all a shudder; in every
rustic 1 felt again the last Commissions
Of the dead. Dull lights gathered when
l closed my eyes, and rested upon his
swollen features, their white eyes fol-
lowing me in hate.
Coolly and logically as if it con-
cerned some one else, the reason Of it
all crept into ny morbid brain. 1 was
mad; mad from hunger, thirst and
terror. Yes, mad, and felt not one
whit sorry Of it.; a rejoiced rather,
for 1t meant a freedom Of the spirit.
So insidiously this knowledge forced
itself upon me, it brought no shock, I
sven dimly wondered that any other
condition ever existed. Verify, men
are happier for a gentle frenzy. Then,
indeed, are all things leveled, all bar
riers removed. Gone were all my pig
my troubles, vanished into nothingness.
Engulfed in a common ruin lay all
fragments of desire; the search for
reward, the dread Of punishment-aH
petty Pigments of the imagination were
powerful now no more. The fall Of
reason crushed every human hope and
dulled the edge Of every human fear.
What cared l now for food, for water:
for honor or for shame? My mind,
imperial and free from artificial re-
straints, plunged %riotously into forbid
den realms. I reveled in the exaltation
of chainless thought, and drank from
the deepest wells of rebellion delicious
draughts Of secret sin, thanking. yea
thanking, this sweet madness which
gave a glorious independence.
What repugnance had I now for, yon
piece Of foul and rotting carrion! What
mattered it but lately a breathing man
it had strangled in my grip. By the
gods, a knightly feat and most brave
ly donel And I laughed at my former
fear, not loud, but such as laughed the
fiends of hell when Lucifer rose
against his prince. Low l chuckled.
then shivered at my w unnatural
voice.
Dead now to every sense Of physical
loathing 7 advanced s%teadfastly
towards where he lay. Shorn of hui
man companions my wretchedness
sought q lonely. comradeship with the
piece of mortal clay. Turning now and
again to beat back some skinny HAND
which snatched my garments, to slaI
in the face some evil sprite which
thrust Its sheer upon me, I walked In
resolution across the floor. I fancied
again I heard the tread Of men in the
passage. Pleased at the babble Of
the children Of my own imagination
I stood to listen. Yes, by the wit OF
a fool, I'll indulge the Jest. a joyous
jibe and a merry.
The low shuttle Of cautious feet came
again. The latch clanked ever so soft.
Iy as IL some hand without lifted Il
gently, oh so gently raised 1t. "Ha!
theresyou are, seeking to brighten me
again, but I know you well. No. no
ycuHn, scare me no more: I'll play {
merry game with you" So I hid my.
self In the dark, NC thought t play I