The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-06-14
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WHEN THE LIGHT CAME
TUE PASSING OF A STAINED SOUL.
BY MABEL CROOKS BROWN.
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At the thud Of the steel on flesh, the
drummer, uttering a shrek Of wild,
animal terror, fed past them into the
street, and on-on-still shrieking, in
voice that held no human sound, until
he stumbled and fell, dazed and
stunned, in the dust.
In the other man, the lust of killing
woke, and he struck, deliberately,
again and again, until the shrieks were
stilled, the last frantic grasp gave
way somehow, and he stood looking
down at the silent heap on the floor,
and struggling with an insane desire
to kick it and trample on it.
He laughed-the instinct Of slaughter
all alive-laughed, and turned to find
the man. He was gone.
A noise Of horror-stricken voices in
the street fell on his ear-of voices and
Of running feet-fell, and grew louder.
With the light of murder in his eyes
the joy of killing-he strobe from the
room, and flung himself upon his horse,
as crowd Of men raced toward him.
Straight at their midst he dashed, but
with no sign Of wavering they came
on, and horse and men met, with
shock that nearly unseated the rider.
Maddened by the spurs, the horse
shook Of the clutching hands-the
man, with the frenzied light still in
his eyes, turned in his saddle, and
laughing gayly emptied his revolver
into the crowd.
There was Shrek, 4 groan. a scurry
of hoofs, and then silence-for space.
Beyond the town the desert stretched
away-a level reach of sand and alkali
baking under the pitiless sun.
The man, on a jaded horse, spurred
desperately toward the line of Jagged
rocks at the northern side, that rose
like palisade built by hands. clear
cut against the cloudless sky.
He locked often over his shoulder rs
he went, and cursed, under his breath,
the gasping animal on which he rode.
The lust of murder was gone, and only
the instinct of the hunted remained.
A mile from the rocks, where COM
parative safety lay, the horse stumbled
and fell. Mechanically the man swung
himself free as the animal went down.
and stood a moment watching it. 1t lay
still. with stiffness he had seen be-
fore. Suddenly a woman's face came
between him and the dying beast-her
face, with the great cash on the temple
and the awful fear in the eyes. Curse
her! If he had only Lad time to square
his account with the man, too! He
laughed grimly at the memory of the
Gisfgured face that was not an object
for anyone's kisses now. Again he
looked behind him, and stood rigid as
he saw, far in the distance, line Of
dots creeping nearer.
"The possew His hand went to his
belt-it was gone! In a fash he re-
membered that the strap had given
away in their last desperate struggle.
aud she held it now, no doubt, clenched
in her stifening ingers-she held his
life in her hands until the end. His
revolver he had emptied into the crowd
as he fec.
With the eyes Of trapped animal.
he looked about him. a mile away
were the shciteriEg rocks-a mile in
this heat! A mile through the blister
ing sand. Behind were the relentless
men. There was 10 choice. He
clenched his hands, and then gave the
horse a savage kick. With faint
moan of pain the dying brute struggled
to rise, fell forward, and lay still
quite still-even under the blows and
kicks the madGened man rained upon
it.
He ceased. finally, from exhaustion.
and after a moments breath started
forward over the yielding sand. The
sun had nearly set, but the heat was
sitting, his breath came in gasps. and
his eyes were blinded by the water
dripping from his forehead; but LIE
stumbled on, and fell, as the horse lad
fallen. under the shadow o. the first
great bowlder, at the foot Of the rocks.
For a moment he lay helpless. then
slowly raised his head and looked
back with an evil chuckle. They were
cut in that heat and glare, while lc
lay lin the shadow of great rock in
weary land''-when had he heard
some one say that?
"a weary landw God knows, it was
that! The few cactus plants shriveled
and grew grayer in the heat. which
lad a weight to it-a weight under
which no living thing could stand
erect. Even the coming Of twilight
brought no relief. Oh, if he had a
drink; a cup of cold water. He bad
heard some one say something about
that, too-somewhere. What was it:
Who was it? His mother? He must
/ 30 Oh. higher up among the rocks,