The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-22
THE HOUSE OF DEFENCE .
copyright 1906 by E.. F. Benson.
By e. f. BENSON.

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melody, was soaked and dripping with
emotion for her. vi ill.,, ~ 49,.
Lily leaned farther out, her ebare
white arms crossed on the sill. The
whistled melody seemed the keynote
and inspiration-was strong upon her.
The moon threw black weird shadows
on lawn and shrubbery. Darker than
the surrounding shade, his white shirt
front family visible against the dense
shadow Of clump Of yews, stood Vii
lars; In his hand glowed the tip Of a
haf-smoked cigaret. Lily could feel
HI his eyes upon her altho his face at
And thus they stood, he and she, for
perhaps a full minute; darkness and
light barring the stretch of lawn be-
tween them; they two alone in all the
world. Then ~. III. ..... Il. 49,.
From the hither side Of the line of
shrubs rose a faint, cracking noise, as
Of a twig swapping under a stealthy
foot. Lily's, eyes instinctively followed
the trend of the sound and rested on
furtive, crawling Something burrow-
ing it's way on all fours along the
hedge. -. Fa.-.A .:. " ~.
Grotesque, amorphic, the Thing pro-
gressed; now rising, now fattening it.
self against the earth; constantly paus-
ing to examine various portions of the
shrubbery. Breathless, Lily watched
Its movements, until, her gaze grow
ing accustomed to the hedge-thrown
shadows, she saw that the prowling
along on all tours, feeling to right and
to left as tho for something he had lost
Lily's first thought was that the in
truder was a burglar and in search of
his concealed lantern or kit of tools.
IF he should come upon Villars- stand
ing so unsuspectingly, a bare twenty
yards away, on the farther side Of the
shrubbery! She had drawn in her
breath for, cry Of warning, when the
throat. 1879 =, ) 1T. =
For the Unknown had momentarily
entered patch of white moonlight, and
the rays fell full on his face. He was
Thurso. &.a~ ...c.-
:. The momentary exultation following
on the earl's scene with Lily earlier in
the day. mad quickly faded. All the
by an act that now struck him as mad
ly quixotic, he had deprived himself of
the vial which held such boundless po-
tential surcease for him. Ordinarily,
he would not have desired the drug
again SO soon; but the bare fact that
it was now wholly inaccessible-that he
could not, if he chose, secure a drop of
craving rushed back on him with ten
fold force. -. ..a
He could not leave his guests to go
or even send to Windsor to the nearest
chemist s for another supply; and when
at later hour he was free, all shops
evening progressed, the longing-fercer
for the inability to crafty it-grew be-
yond all endurance He could not sleep.
The memory Of the precious bottle
hurled out into The shrnbbery rose again
III and again before him. Into the shrub
narrow neck. The fall, unless the
glass receptacle had smashed from i'm
J pact with the soft turf, could not Who'll
ly have emptied it. There must be
some-at least part Of dose-left in
z it. If only he could find the discarded
!, vial. 5%
It was absurdly easy to pass unno-
ticed from the house and to gain the
friendly shelter of the shrubbery: Here
is hard to find missing object, even in
circumscribed space, by night. Over
and over the ground he crept, bruising
and cutting his fingers in vain cropping
for the coveted treasure. He could
fancy how it's cool, polished surface
would feel; how he would lift it to the
light to see how much of the divine
elixir remained in it. How
The brushing of his face against a
leafy twig filed his nostrils with the
sickly smell of laudanum. Like a dis
couraged foxhound that unexpectedly
picks up the scent, Thurso IS spirits rose
with bound. Here, or near here, the
vial must have stuck; its contents
scattering the shrubs. If only too
much had not been wasted!
Disre garding caution, Thurso beat
the surrounding turf, fumbling at the
roots of the hedge. Plunging for
ward in momentary loss Of balance he
threw out his hands to keep from fall
ing. His fingers closed about damp,
chilly surface. In another instant the
vial was in his hands. A delicious
thrill of relief swept across him, leav-