The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-09

nc oCt III W NtAi II.
The silver skull is pictured in my
minds eye as 1 write; the delicate
tracery of its ornamentation; the al
most uncanny beauty of the head and
bust which formed the handle; the
face that always inspired in me rev.
erence and awe. Not so Clarke.
have seen him knock the ashes from
his pipe and fill il again from the skull,
talking and laughing all the while. 1t
was only after l had been caught sew
eral times without tobacco and had
suffered the gnawing craving for a
smoke that l could bring myself to
raise the lid by that beautiful silver
head and draw on Clarke's supply.
The skull was that OF a woman, pol
ished TO the whiteness of ivory and
deftly inlaid and ornamented with sill
yer. The workmanship was marvel
Gus. A circular piece had been sawn
from the crown and into this aperture
was fitted a silver bowl capable of
holding about a half pound of the
weed. The edges of this bowl were
turned into rim which concealed the
sawn bone and which was inset. flush
with the surface. So neat was this
joint and so accurate were the con-
volutions of the bone followed, that
except for the difference in color. the
skull and the silver seemed one piece.
The circular section removed formed
the cover: il was also trimmed with
silver. inset as was the bowl, fitting it
so neatly as to be practically hermeti-
cal. The silver head and bust formed
handle in the center of this cover.
The sutures were delicately edged in
silver. inlaid so smoothly that the
most sensitive finger could not distin
guish bone from metal.
The teeth were perfect and of the
whiteness Of rice. In one, the right,
upper incisor. sparkled a small dld-
mord set into the enamel without the
aid of gold.
Across the pure white forehead, just
over the eye sockets, was the word
"Vnathi" beautifully inlaid in silver
script. Looking through the eye socket,
1t could be seen that the bone was
not cut through. but the silver was
welded to it by some process with
which l was unfamiliar.
'Ynath" The word stamped itself
indelibly upon my memory. A wo-
mans name. l had long decided. Most
probably the name of her whose
quently head surmounted the skull,
and perhaps of her whose brilliant
eyes once sparkled love or flashed
scorn, from out those now sightless
sockets Those eyes what eyes had
they looked into; those full sensuous
lips. what lips had they kissed?
What cline, what age had been the
theater of her loves and hates? The
costume told not. for costume there
was none. The hair gave no clew. for
IL was gathered in a glorious. rebel
lious mass. as Eve might have gath
cred her tresses against the straying
breezes of Eden.
But what was the use of speculation?
True to our unwritten, unspoken COM
pact. ! must wait the time when the
spirit moved Clarke to speak And the
spirit came at most unexpected time,
under a most singular guise. and in
most dramatic way.
We had gone TO bed early that night
but il was so insuferably hot that
sleep was out of the question. For days
the lake breeze, usually ChicagO's sum-
.mer salvation, had been vainly await
ed. II must have been far after mid
night when l fell into a fitful slumber.
] had watched Clacke's light through
the portieres until the hour of II
struck on the silver chimes on our
mantelpiece I knew that he had not
ever courted tickle slumber. Then his
light went out, and soon afterwards |
heard. or thought l heard, his regular
breathing.
/ awoke with a start. conscious that
something was wrong. For a few min
utes / lay inert. uncertain whether my
nerves had tricked me or whether
there was a marauder in our little
castle. Then a slight turning of the
head showed me that through a rift
in the portieres, ! had a view of the
library by the electric light that fill
tered in through the bay windows. The
sight / saw for a moment robbed me
of all power of voice or motion.
crouching figure was creeping slowly
toward me across the library floor with
arms Outstretched toward the shining
silver skull on the table.
Standing in ClaTke's doorway was
another figure. white robed and mo-
tionless but for the flashing eyes that
followed every movement of the in
truder's back.
The figure in the doorway was
Clarke. clad in white pajamas. stand
ing erect, his arms folded. | was con-
cerned TO notice that he had no
weapon, while the intruder carried in
his right hand stiletto which flashed
in the dim light. Ny own revolver was
in the rack in the dining room. and as
1 laywatching the scene, a thousand
I lay watching the scene, a thousand
I could think of no weapon. within my
reach but fragile nail file.
Our visitor was no common burglar
He was dressed in n well-fitting suit
of white linen. A Panama hat. with
band of pongee, covered his black hair
His face was swarthy, and he wore two
little enos Of mustaches twisted al
most TO needle points. All this
grasped i'm the moment by the dim
light so actively did the scene quicken
my perceptions.
suddenly the tableau broke into a
riot of action. The intruder's fingers
were closing over the silver skull
Clarke's arm was Outstretched and
the one word stop" in unruffled tone
broke the silence.
The figure turned and the stiletto
flashed in the light l sprang from my
bed and dashed through the portieres.
The figure advanced toward Clarke
with weapon raised, while I crouched
for q spring at his throat But the
steady eyes and unified hand of my
companion told me that he had the !
situation in hand.
The arm was raised to strike. still !
I,lIt the hlntI. did |