The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-03-30
The Trap
By II. FORBES

nate 10 40 IL, SAID AylOI, chaln-
Ing the trap to the tree. My better
nature rebels against such an act"
He put the trap in the center of the
narrow garden path. 1t was a huge
Thing that clicked together like hands
locked with the fingers.
Over the hedge a rim of moon
shone. 1t was slipping quickly and
pallidly down, as though aghast. In
the last faint light the trap yawned
Observation-Disclosures thought. It
seemed a foolish mouth split in q
laugh.
Ayloff was going to start on a long
trip that night. His wife. who was so
pretty and so dlstractingly silly, would
weep and entreat him to hurry back
It was nice to have some one care fer
him that way, Everything was nice
Even the trap would be kind. Silent
It lay-waiting. He walked toward the
house. In an hour he would be gone.
The garden that now lay in a mist Of
silver would be but a memory. The
last sigh of the little moist breeze; the
sudden twitter Of bird, disturbed at
his step; the voice of Faustinc, calling
from the door; that was what he
would carry away with him.
After he was gone; after the dark
ness had come over the land, so even
the blacklist shadows were plotted
out; after Faustine had locked the
doors and said goodnight to the sorv.
ant and Marta had gone toiling up the
dark stairs with candle--then that
other man would come, whom he did
not know How did he know there
was another man? How did he know
he lived; how did he know his heart
was burnt from his breast. his soul
dead, his brain in a whirl! Pish!
What else caused the little, scared
look in Faustine's eyes and the sud
den paling and flushing when her
glance met his? Her songs, that were
low and tremulous, began with
laugh, and ended almost as soon as
they began, with a sob She started
at the sound of his voice, and laughed
when she should have wept, and wept
when she should have laughed. Oh,
what tell-tale face was hers!
He had guessed her childish love for
himself long before she discovered it;
but love is Vagrant thing. lie knew
he knew, Pshaw! Why should he
deceive himself? Last night, as many
nights before, she had come from the
garden, her hair asparkle with dew.
her cheeks glowing, and her eyes
God! what a light in her eyes!
She said she had been talking to
the stars to make her soul lovely.
He knew she lied Her lips were
red and warm, as though others had
crushed them. He knew.
Ayloff was going away Later that
unknown some one would come
stealthilY down the path. eyes burning
for a pretty, shamed face. Quietly
some one would slip through the shad-
ows, pausing ard tip-toeing and pau9-
ing, staring at the lone lighted window
Breathlessly, step by step, that dark
form would move. Another twist in
the path, a few yards-and the stairs.
Under the black of the trees, that
thing would hesitate, then leap for
ward.
A click, A scream--a moan-and
silence!
Aylorr licked his lips.
Early the next day. some one would
be found and set free-a cripple.
About thtee o'clock in the morn
ing. Ayloff suitcase in hand, came
stalking through the garden, lie had
come back to look for something a
strange desire to return had filled him.
He wanted TO see the horror in her
eyes, the agony in his, whom Aylof
did not know. In the thick gray Of
the half-night, he stumbled awkward
ly on. He whistlcd a merry tune as
he hurried down the path. Jolly fine
morning At the next turn he would
find something huddled across the
path. He lifted his face TO the fra
grant mist. To the east, a faint vi tie
streak was showing He felt Sc good
he wanted TO shout. Impatienilv
throwing aside his luggage, he spraag
forward
A click! A scream--a moan-and ST.
lence,
In the house. Faustine slumbcrcd
peacefully. Ayloff's picture was under
her pillow, and she dreamed Of lit
tie child. whose soul would be as love
ly as the stars,
Later. the gardener found Ayloff
caught in the trap-his ankle crushed
by the iron teeth.
Seek to Prevent Burial Alive.
Members of an English organization
known as the Association for the Pre-
vention of Premature Burial are en-