The daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 190?-1908, 1908-11-17

mere inc lieutenant sat. continued !
the narrator. his gaze held by ~ hor
rlhlc fascination lie tried To speak
To stir. to move. He could not lit -
finger Not n muscle would answer
his will Even his eyes followed tho
Quivcring, swaying form of fire with.
Out hs control.
Ills strength was slipping away
with his cnthralled vulition, but ho
feared not bodily harm as much as he
dreaded the assault and capture Of his
will for he realized that some more |
potent psychic force than he possessed |
was striving To wrest from him his In |
dividuality. Physical death were wei. /
como. compared with the unspcakable |
/ horror Of the unnihiation of his soul. !
as the result Of its obscssion by de. |
moniuc powers.
/ lie struggled TO retain his reason. /
| With an effort Of will that brought the
! dew OF agony TO his brow, he almost
! flung himself upright upon his feet
/ In an effort To escape. AS hC did SO,
! the hidcous shape advanced, projected
by the weird flames playing through
the gaping chinks Of the rear wall.
and crcpt stcalthily forward like an
animal seeking It's prey. The licuten-
ant could in fancy feel those horrible
| rangs piercing his very soul As the
dread Form was upon him, hc in
| stinctivcly threw up his arm, as II to
ward on Il physical blow, when
shock-a soaring of the flesh as at the
touch OF liquid air-an etching jet OF
famo that burned To the bone, ran
through his wrist. Then he felt him
self caught and dragged over the
ground.
When he looked about with return
ing consciousness, he found himself
surrounded by his men. some yards
from the crumbling cabin, with Law
son stretched upon the grass. still un-
conscious. Missing the lieutenant and
the sergeant at the hour set for break
ing camp, the surveyors. attracted by
a bright light in the ruined shack, had
sought and found them there, insensi-
BILE. and apparently overcome by
mephitic fumes that filled the place.
Both were ms weak as though con
valescing from lingering fever, and
the early morning march was aban-
, dored.
p, BY sunrise the leaders had so far
2 recovered as TO superintenG the demoli-
4 tion of the cabin In which they had
, suffered such frightful fear. When
the rotting log walls were thrown
a down aud burnt. an extraordinary
= sight was revealed. AS the blazing
? logs fell away from the face of the
i elf, it was seen that the rear wall
, I'm which there had been a movable
, section on pegs like the entrance door
e masked a second chamber, cavern
j. in the rock There was a rude fire
place in it, deep with ashes. over IL
+ hung iron hooks and pots crucibles
j and various instruments and utensils
: were scattered about. Beyond the fire
z place and Il rough workbench some
u thing was vaguely outlined In the dim
e light. Approached with n torch, 1t
e proved to be n human skeleton of un-
d usual height, whose bleached bones
> we're cracked and distorted. 1t was
l. complete. except the feet. which we're
= missing. The stumps OF the ankle
bones rested in deep vat. sunk in
the floor of the cave. One bony hand,
d split and blackened, grasped wire
n that connected with the great growing
d tree trunk in the cabin wall.
l. 1t was with feelings of awe that this
G little party gazed at this strange
sight. but the two leaders were glad
y to find themselves entirely free from
the oppressive symptoms which had
o overpowered them when on the spot
If before.
L. Was that the last page in the dread
history of some student Of unknown
g forces-some searcher into forbidden
,e mysteries-trapped to his death amid
It the strange devices of his unholy &C
10 cupation? II seemed so. Eagerly alb
sorbed In some experiment while
great storm was raging without, hi!
n. feet by an awful accident had slipped
ID into the vat, containing no one knows
lie what frightful mixture To save him
a SELF he had grasped the wire attached
" to the tree. which at that moment, by
I'd some strange chance or merif Il fatal
IS. ity. was riven by lightning. Wnich fol
lowed the wire and passed through
ID his body.
lg Had the sultry summer air heavily
le charged with electricity, enabled th'
ID restless spirit OF the sorcerer to utilize
rt again that fateful circuit impregnat'
ne the very ground with a resistlcss. be
g. numbng power, and materiallze itsel
e. electrically into the lambeDt. llamini
d. figure they had seen? SO they alway
IN believed, and the deep scar, an incl
d. long, in the lieutenant's wrist, whicl
,h he will carry to his grave, confirm
re him in that belief.
ut The colonels wife started up as h
NJ concluded his story. and following he
w gaze. his eyes also rested on a livi
lg scar on his own right hand. reachin
ly from the base Of the thumb to tn
lr- wrist.
ry 20 Richard" she cried. rising an
m walking the room in her excitement
In { ar t.uau, lapt hA uappat nf aha