The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1908-04-22

haps not exactly that. FOR n wall Is
hard, and this darkness was soft and
yielding. in the manner of enveloping
hangings. Directly above me was n
narrow, jagged and irregular strip of
sky with stars. splashed in the
brook. finding its waters strangely
warm. rustled through the grasses, my
head back, chin out, hands extended
as one makes his way through n house
Mt night. There were no sounds eS-
cept the tinkle of the sulphurous
| stream. Successive bends in the can
von wall had shut or even the faint
est echoes Of the bacchanalia on the
| beach
The way seemed much longer than
by daylight. Already in my calcula-
| ton had traverscd many times the
distance. when with jump at the
| heart made out glow ahead and In
front Of il the upright logs of the
stockade.
To my surprise the gate was open.
assembled the gentle slope 10 the val
| ley's level and stumbled over man
| lying PROSTATE. shivering violently and
| moaning.
/ bent over TO discover whom il
might be. As did so a brilliant light
seemed TO I'LL the valley, throwing an
| Illumination on the man at my feet.
saw 1t was the niger aud perceived
at the same instant that he was almost
beside himself with terror. HIS eyes
rolled. his teeth Chartered. his frame
contracted in strong CONFUSION. and
the black Of his complexion had faded
t. n washed out dirty gray. revolving
TO contemplate. He felt my touch
and sprang To his feet. clutchlng me
by the, shoulder as a man clutching
rescue.
"NIy Gawdy' he shivered. "Look!
Oar it is again.
lie fell To pattering I'm a tongue UNI
known to me-charms. spells undoubt-
eddy to exercise the devils that had
hold of him. followed the direction
of his gaze and myself cried out.
The doctors laboratory stood In
plain sight between the two columns
OF steam blown straight upward
through the stiffness Of the evening.
1t seemed bursting with light. Every
little crack leaked it in generous
streams. while the main illumination
appeared fairly TO bulge the walls out
ward This was In itself nothing eX-
traordinary and indicated only the &C.
tlvlty Of those within, but while look
ed an irregular patch Of incandescence
suddenly splashed the cliff opposite.
For a single instant the very substance
OF the rock glowed white hot Then
from the spot a shower Of spiteful
fakes shot as from pyrotechnic and
the light was blotted out as suddenly
as IL came.
At the same moment 1t appeared at
another point, exhibited the same
phenomena, died, flashed out at still
third place. and so was repeated
here and there with bewllderlng ra-
pidity until the walls of the valley
cracked and spat sparks. Abruptly
the darkness fell. As abruptly 1t was
broken again by similar exhibition,
only this time the fire was blue. Blue
was followed by purple, purple by red
Then .ensued the briefest possible
pause. in which a figure moved across
the bars of light escaping through the
chlnks of the laboratory, and then the
whole valley blazed with patches of
varicolored fire. 1t was not refiec-
ton. II was actual physical confiagra-
ton of the solid rock I'm irregular
areas Some of the fire shapes were
most fantastic And with the unex-
pectedness of a bursting shell the sur
face of the ground before our feet
cracked into n CHASTITY blue flame.
The Niger uttered cry in his throat
and disappeared. | felt a sharp breath
on my neck, an ejaculation OF surprise
Mt my ear. 1t was startling enough to
scare the soul out Of a man, but ]
held fast and was just about to step
forward when my collar was twisted
tight from behind. | raised both my
hands, felt steel and knew that ! wa
In the grasp of Handy Solomon's claw.
The sailor had me foul. | did my
best to twist around, TO unbutton the
collar, but in vain. ! felt my wind
leaving me; the CHASTITY blue light was
SllVl WIFI Ifu. biHllii'Ais h'bih 'hN
mans sharp intaken breath as some
new phenomenon met his eye, and his
great oath as he swore.
by the mother OF God" he cried,
''it's the devllw
Then / was jerked off my feet, and
the next | knew | was lying on my
back, very wet, on the beach The
day was breaking. and the men, quite
sober, were talking vehementF.
1t was impossible to make out what
they said, but as Handy Solomon and
the Niger were the center OF discus
sion / could imagine the subject.
felt very stlff and sore and haZy in
my mind. My neck was lame from
the dragging and my tongue dry from
the choking. For some time lay in a
half torpor watching the lilac of dawn
change Ito the rose Of sunrise, utterly
Indifferent 10 everything. They had
thrown me down across the first rise
OF the little sand dunes back OF the
tide sands, and from 1t | could at once
look out over the sea full of the rest
less shadows of dawn and the land