The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-23
CHAPTER III.


than strangulation. The steam pouring
In through the fractured window panes
was sitting. He took off his coat, first
removing from an INNER pocket the
bundle of letters found under Mrs. An
sons pillow. and carefully stuffed the
worn garment into the largest cavities
BY this means he succeeded somewhat
IN shutting out the vapor as well as
The lurid light that still fared red in
the backyard
The lightning had ceased totally. and
the improvised blind plunged the room
into impenetrable darkness. He felt his
way TO the stairs and found the candle,
which he relighted. The rain beating
on the roofs and on the outer pave
ments combined with the weird sounds
In the inclosed yard TO make a terrify-
ing racket, but IL was not likely that a
youth who attributed his escape from a
loathsome death, self-infiicted, to the
direct interposition of Providence in his
behalf. would yield TO any sentimental
fears on that account. Indeed. although
quite weak from hunger. he felt an I'M
accountable elation of spirits, new
born desire to live and justify his
mothers confidence in him, a sense OF
power to achieve that which hitherto
seemed impossible.
He even broke into a desultory
and resumed the laying of the fire aban-
doned five minutes earlier with such
sudden soul-weariness. The candle, too.
burned with CHEEKY glimmer, as If
pleased with the disappearance of its
formidable competitor. Fortunately he
had some coal in the house-his chief
supply was stored in a small bin at the
other side of the yard. beyond the burial
place of the raging. steaming peteor,
and consequently quite unapproachable.
Soon the fire burned merrily, and the
coffee stall keepers recipe for using
coffee grounds was put into practice.
Philip has neither sugar nor milk, but
the hot liquid smelled we'll, and he was
now so cold and stiff, and he had such
an empty sensation where he might
have worn a belt. that some crusts of
bread. softened by immersion in the
dark compound. earned keener appre-
citation than was ever given in later
days to the most costly dishes of ia
nous restaurants yet unbuilt.
After he had eaten, he dried his damp
garments and changed his soaked boots
for pair so worn that they scarcely
held together. But their dryness was
comforting. An add feeling of content
ment. largely induced by the grateful
heat of the fire, rendered his actions
leisurely. Quite half an hour elapsed
before he thought of peeping through
the back window to ascertain the pro-
gress of external events. The rain was
not now pelting down with abnormal
fury. II was still falling, but with the
quiet persistence that marks-in Lon
don parlance-"a genuine wet day.
The steam had almost vanished. When
he removed his coat from the broken
panes he saw with surprise that the
f1agstones in the yard were dry within
circle of two feet around the hole
made by the meteor. Such drops as fell
within that area were instantly obllter-
ated. and tiny jets of vapor from the
hole itself betrayed the presence of the
fiery object beneath. His boyish curl
osity being thoroughly aroused. he drew
an old sack over his head and Shout
ders, unlocked a door which led into the
yard from a tiny scullery. and cautious
~ approached the place where the me-
teor had plowed its way into the
ground The stones were Uttered with
debris, but the velocity of the heavy
mass had been so great that a COM
paratively clean cut was made through
the pavement. The air was warm. with
the hot breath OF an oven, and il was as
much as Philip could bear when he
stood on the brink of the hole and
peeped in. At good depth, nearly half
his own height he estimated. he saw a
round ball firmly imbedded in the
earth. II was DULY red. with its sur
face all cracks and assures as the re-
suit of the water poured onto it. Much
larger than football. it seemed to him.
at first sight to be the angry eye of
some colossal demon glaring up at him
from a dark socket. But the boy was
absolutely a stranger TO fear. He pro-
cured the handle of a mop and prodded
the meteor with il. The surface feH
hard and brittle. Large sections broke
away, though they did not crumble. and
he received a sharp reminder of the
potency of the heat still stored below
when the wood burst into sudden flame
This ended his Investigations for che
night. He used the sacking 10 block up
the window. replenished the fire. set his
coat 10 dry. and dragged his mattress
from the bedroom to the front OF the
fire. The warmth within and without the
house had made him intolerably drow-
sy, and he fell asleep while murmuring
his prayers. practice abandoned since
the hour of his mothers death.
In reality. Philip was undergoing
novel sort of Turkish bath. and the
perspiration induced thereby probably
saved him from a dangerous cold. He
slept lore and soundly. There was no
need 10 attend 10 the fire. Long ere
the coal In the CRATE was exhausted
tint presence or the meteor had pene-
trated the surrounding earth. and the
house was far above its normal tenn
perature when he awoke.
The sun had risen in cloudless
sky A lovely spring morning had
succeeded a night of gloom and dis
aster and the first sound that greet
ed his wondering ears was the tv-it-
tering of the busy sparrows on the
housetops. OF course, he owned
neither clock nor watch. These arti-
Giles. with many others, were repre-
scented by a bundle of pawn tickets
stuffed into one of the envelopes of
his mothers packet of letters. But
the experience of even a few weeks
had taught him roughly how to esti-
mate time by the sun. and he guessed
the hour 10 be O'Clock. or there
abouts.
His first thought was of the meteor
His toilet was that of primeval man,
being a mere matter OF rising and
stretching his stiff limbs. While lac
ing his boots he noticed that the floor
was Uttered with tiny white specks
the largest of which was not bigger
than a grain OF bird seed. These were
the particles which shot through the
broken window during the previous
night He picked up few and exam
ined them. They were hard. angular,