The Lamar register., 1909-03-10

before them in helpless flight; rab-
bits sprang from their forms, weasels
giided away like flying shadows. What
remained of the forest creatures rose
and fled from the loathsome invasion.
l heard the squeak of a terrified hare,
the short stampeding of deer and the
numbering gallop of bear; and all
the time l was choking, half suffocated
by the poisoned air.
Then, as | struggled to free myself
from the silken snare about me. l cast
a glance of deadly fear at the sorcer-
err below. and at the same moment
saw him turn in his tracks.
Halt" cried voice from the
bushes.
"Barris!" shouted, half leaping up
in my agony.
/ saw the sorcerer spring forward,
1 heard the bang! bang! bang! of a
revolver, and as the sorcerer fell on
the waters edge. | saw Barris jump
out into the white glare and fire again,
once. twice, three times, into the
writhing figure at his feet.
Then an awful thing occurred. Up
out of the black lake reared a shadow.
a nameless. shapeless mass, headless.
sightless. gigantic, gaping from end
to end.
A great wave struck Barris and he
fell, another washed him up on the
pebbles. another whirled him back into
the water and then-and then the
thing fell over him-and tainted.
This, then, is all that know con-
corning Yue-Laou and the Kin. / do
not fear the ridicule of scientists or of
the press for have told the truth.
Barris is gone and the thing that killed
him is alive to-day. in the Lake of the
Stars, while the spider-like satellites
roam through the Cardinal Woods.
The game has fed, the forests around
the lake are empty of any living crea-
lures save the reptiles that creep when
the Kin moves in the depths of the
lake
Gen. Drummond knows what he has
lost in Barris. and we. Pierpont and
!, know what we have lost also. His
will we found in the drawer, the key
of which he had handed me. 1t was
wrapped in bit of paper on which
was written:
Yuc-Laou. the sorcerer, is here in the
Cardinal Woods. I must kill him he
will Kill me. He made and gave to me
the woman I loved-he made her-I saw
him-he made her out of white water
lotus bud When our child was born, he
came again before me and demanded
from mo the woman l loved. Then, when
refused, he went away, and that night
my wife and child vanished from my
I t,ttl ,,.I.t
lotus bud. Roy. the woman of your
dream. Ysonde. may be my child. God
help you II you love her. for Yue-I.aou
will give-and take away. though he
were Nangi. which is God. I Will kill
Yue-I.aou before | leave this forest-or
he will XIII me.
FRANKLIN BARRIS.
Now, the world knows what Barris
thought of the Kuen-Yuin and of Yue-
Laou. l see that the newspapers are
just becoming excited over the
glimpses that Li-Hung Chang has af-
forded them of Black Cathay and the
demons of the Kuen-Yuin. The Kuen-
YUM are on the move.
Pierpont and | have dismantled the
shooting box in the Cardinal Woods.
We hold ourselves ready at a mo-
ment's notice to join and lead the first
the Stars and cleanse the forest of the
crab reptiles. But 1t will be necessary
that a large force assemble. and we'll
armed force. for we never have found
the body OF Yue-Laou. and, living or
dead, fear him. Is he living?
Pierpont. who found Ysonde and
myself unconscious on the lake shore,
the morning after. saw no trace of
corpse or blood OH the sands. He may
have fallen into the lake, but l fear.
and Ysonde fears, that he is alive. We
never were able to find either her
dwelling place or the glade and the
fountain again. The only thing that
remains to her of her former life is
the golden serpent in the Metropoli-
tan Museum and her golden globe. the
symbol of the Kuen-Yuin: but the lat
ter no longer changes color.
David and the dogs are waiting for
me in the courtyard as write. Pier
pont is in the gunroon loading shells.
and Hewlett brings him mug after
mug of my ale from the wood. Ysonde
bends over my desk-I feel her hand
on my arm. and she is saying: Don't
you think you have done enough to-
day, dear? How can you write such
silly nonsense without a shadow of
truth or foundation"
THE END.
His TERRIFIC WASTE OF TIME