Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-01

breath he drew carried the perfume OF the alco-
hol on it, and that to him in his present
dition spelled madness. So that at last, before
he was fully dressed, buttonlng his jacket
about him, he fled from his quarters IN wild
eyed haste, like man hagridden. The streets
of the town were little better than his own
house had been He could smell Arlington 5
rumshop, or thought he could, from one end
of the town to the other. So at last in despair.
he set out stumbling along the ties of the little
railroad for the open country.
But really he was a beaten man already
He no longer had anything left to resist nth.
His fund of vitality. already lowered by the
vigils of previous nights, had been completely
exhausted by his prolonged immersion in the
waters of the bay and the events that had
succeeded it.
After stumbling on along the railway line
for mile or more. he stopped: stood still for
a little; tried to force himself on: and then
turned back. The thing in his mind now
was full quart bottle of Irish whisky in his
cupboard.
FIFTEEN minutes later, with savage impa-
I tence over a rotted cork he cracked the
neck of this bottle against the iron footrail of
his bed and poured out his first drink.
This was what l needed" he reflected, 4
was fool not to have taken it before. Now
l will put the bottle away and go to Sleep
But even while he reflected thus his hand
poured out a second drink After his third
drink O'Brien resolutely put away the bottle.
This was, however, not sober action, but a
drunken one.
There was by that time not the slightest
idea of any further resistance. He meant to
get drunk, gloriously drunk Already his
nerve racked body was pervaded with sense
of comfort, of warmth, of buoyancy. His tired
mind was again luminous and resilient, full OF
"nimble fiery, and delectable shapes" He
was perfectly aware even then that it would be
possible to extinguish this brilliant illumina-
ton in flood of the very liquor that served
as fuel for it.
So, with strength born of the drink itself
he put it away from him. He would take
more, of course, as much as he wanted and
whenever he wanted it: but, with view OF
prolongng the delights of the situation, he
would 60 slowly. He closed his blinds, locked
his door, and took his telephone receiver Oft
the hook. Then, secure from interruption, he
settled down to enjoy himself.
1t was a mere drunken, aimless whlm that
took him out into the street at eleven o'clock;
it was equally without purpose or comprehen-
sion that he fell in with the crowd drifting
down toward the landing stage.
OF the storm, which had already reached
appalling dimensions, he was entirely una
ware He attributed the fact that he found it
hard to get about that the sides of buildings
had way of coming up and hitting him, that
he heard all the while a most tremendous
roaring and yelling in his ears, to the simple
and obvious explanation that he was very,
very drunk.
AS soon as his IeeunS eyes caught SfSHI VI
the Pheasant, he recognized her arrival as an
event of serious importance. and Immediately
set about thinking out what was to be done
about it
Two things he realized quite clearly: first,
that Smith had planned to leave Georgetown
in the Orpheus the night before; and that he
hadn't been able to go because somebody
had taken off the tugs propeller. But here,
providentially. was the Pheasant with her pro-
pellers intact. From this idea the cheerful
inference was obvious that the Pheasant had
come in expressly to get Smith and take him
wherever he wanted to go.
The appearance of the longboat making for
the shore seemed, to his drunken mind, to
justify this inference completely He was alb
solutely innocent of malicious intent in Turing
in the Mermaids Shower Bath: indeed, he
was filled with sorrow when he saw it hauled
up on the beach, unfit for further service.
Clearly Captain Corcoran must send another
boat ashore, or Smith wouldn't be able to go
away. But how to get word to Captain Cor
coran, that was the question
Almost Immediately luminous idea flashed
into his mind 1t was simple enough, of
course. The Pheasant was equipped with
wireless outfit All he had to do was to go up
to the station and telegraph He could send
a message, even if he was drunk.
A sober man would hardly have attempted
the climb to the very summit of Fort Hill in
that tempest; but OBren was unconscious
of any particular difficulty about it. He per-
sisted in treating this burst of Natures tyran-
nca1 race as a r11re1v S1,biectiye