The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-29

Some living thing. thin, rough. nat. cold, slimy. had twisted itself around 1 his naked arm and was creeping up toward his chest like tightening cord. 1 He recoiled. but he had scarcely power
 to move. He was as 1t were. nailed to the place. That which held him was supple as leather, strong steel. l cold night
 A second form. sharp, elongated and l narrow, issued out of the crevice 1Se 1 a tongue. It crept over his skin and wound itself about him. At the same | time a terrible sense of pain compar- I able to nothing he had ever known. 1 compelled all his muscles to contract l He felt on his skin number of flat. rounded points It seemed If in numerable suckers had fastened to his flesh and were about to drink hIs blood.
 A third ligature came from the hole 1 In the rock. and fourth. fifth passed over the others and fastened him. Then a large round glutinous mass issued from beneath the erevice. 1 On the opposite side of this disgusting monster appeared the commencettent of three other tentacles. the ends of which remained under the rock. In the middle of the slimy mass appeared two eyes. The eyes were fixed on Gil- | liatt He recognized the devilhsh. Ii held Gilliatt fast the spider holds the fly He was in the water up l to his waist. His naked feet were on 1 the slippery roundness of the stones at the bottom. His right arm was bound and held powerless by the ten tacles. Two hundred and fifty suckers were upon him, tormenting him with agony and loathing. He was grasped l by gigantic hands, the fingers of which were each nearly yard long and fur nlshed inside with living blisters eating into the flesh
 It advanced toward him with vio- | lent movement, The moment was de- cisive. If the peaked jaws once fast
 ened on his side. Gilliatt was lost. He l struck with the knife. With a rapid l sweep he described a circle around the l two eyes and wrenched off the hideous l head. Instantly the terrible folds le- | laXed
 As Gillintt turned to flee he saw l something smiling at him from a re- | cess near by. He looked startled. It
 was skull. He stepped toward 1t. The
 skeleton was partly buried in heap i of crab shells. Around the waist he 1 saw belt. He pulled at 1t. It fell
 apart and Gilliatt held in his hand
 small iron tobacco box which contained
 a few pieces of paper. They were three bank notes for f1000 each. 1 Two days later when dusk had all
 ready fallen. Giiliatt made his sloop l fast in front of Mess Lethierry's house. 1 The engine was salyed. He went quiet l ly to clump of bushes and peered into 1 the garden. Soon he saw her. But l she was not alone A stranger was 1 with her. l4e held her in his arms and she responded to hls caresses. Gilliatt moved away like a shadow. l The next day Mess Lethierry was as l one possessed. He sobbed, laughed.
 sang, talked necessarily. And now"
 he cried. when. he had praised Gilliatt ] for the thousandth time, you know l you are to marry Deruch ette! l Gillatt learned with his back against
 the wall and said "Nop One day soon afterward vessel l sailed slowly out to sea from Saint 1 Sampson On the deck stood Deruchette
 and her husband.
 | As she passed q rock near the en- l trance Gilliatt, sitting there quito mo- l tionless could see her dear face. He did not again turn ifs eyes fro mthat one l spot The breeze freshened The yes 1 sel sailed by. The waves reached his 1 waist,
 l Look yonder," said Reruchette, "It 1 seems as if there were man upon ] that rock
 I There was no foam about It. The water rose peacefully. It was ne9'ly level with Gilliatts shoulders 1 His eyes continued fixed on the ves- l sel. A strange 1ustre shown in their 1 calm and tragic depths. There was in l them the calm acceptance of an end far different from his dreams. The vessel had become mere spot Tn 1 the distance. Then 1t dwindled. At | the moment when It vanished the head l of Gilliatt disappeared. Nothing was l visible now but the sea.
 | Next Sundays one-page Classic will l be "The Woman in White,' by Wflkie l Collins