The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-02-12

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special orders of the post. The relief
| marched away silently. cursing the dis.
! cipline which prevented them from
staying with Kerrigan and waiting for
the fend with the creese.
Kerrigan moved mp the trail and
| stopped He took his carbine from his
shoulder and held 1t ready for instant
use. The hammer was back and the
safety notch turned OFF He opened
the case of his watch and put his finger
! on the works to stop &C.
After waiting until he had become
| accustomed 10 the usual sounds Of the
| Jungle, he coughed II was an inno-
cent little cough that did not disturb
! the silence. A man 20 feet away
could not have sworn which direction
It came from-unless he happened to
! be a keen.eared Moro.
Kerrigan waited several minutes
and then he heard slight rustic in
! the bamboo trees behind him. He had
! his finger on the trigger and he smiled
! in the darkness, but he did not turn to-
! ward the sound until he cougbed
again. He got on one knee and put the
rnuzzle of the carbine down low. for
crawling things are near the ground.
The rustic came again, in the same
! direction. but perhaps a foot nearer.
! Kerrigan estimated II to be ten feet
away. He coughed again after a short
| time. II was an encouraging sort OF
cough or should be, to a Moro with
| creese.
Again he heard the leaves move.
The vines grated against something
which was gliding between them. II
was progressing slowly Il consumed
a minute in moving an inch, until II
made one long continuous rustic,
scarcely to be heard, as the slight
noise blended with the little night
sounds Of the Jungle
The noise stopped Had Private Ker-
rigan fallen asleep on his post? There
had been n stifed yawn aud then a
| peaceful. gentle snore, followed by the
regular, deep breathing of a weary
| man asleep. At intervals there was a
| soft snore.
The vines moved again, and now the
! thing was bolder, but still cautious
Foot by foot It glided nearer, growing
more confident at each snore. Then
the noise stopped. The creese was
being made ready. II was the instant
before the Thing strikes.
Kerrlgan snuggled the butt of his
carbine under his cheek, so gently
that the movement was a caTess. His
eyes we're of no use in alming-his
ears were guiding the carbine sight.
Every muscle and nerve was so tense
that II seemed they would snap. Great
marbles of perspiration grew on his
forehead, TO break and run down into
his eyes, hut he did not mind them.
He was glad the troop could not see
him. for he feared they might think he
was afraid All he feared was failure.
He was trying 10 do his duty, and that
was of more value to him than his
life. A wave of gladness came over
him as he realized that he had faced
This Thing in the dark and was not
| afraid, He had never known before
that he was absolutely fearless. He
hoped that he might live so as to be
able to enjoy the knowledge. Then
he pulled the trigger.
There was no report The carbine
was still in his hands and he had
pulled tho trigger. He wondered II
he had been mistaken. lie pressed the
steel again and ii did not move
\ thousand little needles pricked his
spine. His hair sprang up and quiv-
cred like a million tiny wires under a
powerful magnet. His whole body was
! galvanized with fear. He was afraid
now He felt himself growing sick
| He was unable to think. II did not
| occur to him that there must be some
reason his carbine did not answer his
| pressure. All he knew was that he
was helpless and that the Thing was
before him preparing to strike. He
! wondered II the others had found
! themselves in the same plight. He
had thought nothing could make him
! afraid, and he was sick from fright.
| A great lamp rose In his throat and
! It's frrme quivered in a great, silent
! sob-because he was afraid.
The rustic came again The fear
vanished. He suddenly understood
what was wrong The safety notch!
He had thought It open. II was closed
lie snapped It back and pulled the
trigger. He saw the jungle open be-
fore him in the powder flash and a
| black shape almost at the muzZle of
! the caTbine, prone before him. He
| caught The reflection of the fire which
eaped from his gun on a long, snaky
bit Of steel, pointed toward him. He
Hred again and again until his maya.
Zine was empty and then he tossed
cartridges into the chamber in fever.
sh hate and fred until his fingers
were burned on the hot barrel. He
heard the other sentinels calling the
corporal of the guard and boots and
saddles sounding in the camp. He
wondered why there was so much
blowing Of trumpets and shouting. lie
aughed at them and kept on firing.
When the guard reached him his
ammunition was all gone and he was
sitting In the trail laughing and suck.
Ing his burned fingers. They held the
lantern In his face and he laughed at
the flame and whispered to Il: IL
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