Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-06-25
The House Of the Black
= 4..s.. Ring e.,zs..s .,es
CHATTER xIv-continued.

\kI<AA EAk t
Iona, he burst out p~assionately
*'Tell me about it-now. Iona
promised She glided suddenly from
him and disappeared into the ~rhododen-
dron. IL was dusk where he stood; the
night was creeping on rapidly; the
shadow Of the mountain lay heavily
over the little glen.
but. Iona he cried forgetting ev-
erything and ~springing after her, mot
yet not just yet" He caught a glimpse
of white ahead and ran toward II.
Iona" he cried In real alarm,
where are you, Iona? Let me go
with you. It's dark There was no
sound save the echo OF his voice in
the hollow gap. He rushed hither ana
thither in the dusk amid the rocks and
the scrub oaks. calling her name.
Then he leaped upon a jut OF wealth
cred limestone and listened. No sound
save the snarl of the Run and the
Jerky strain of q ~whippoorwifl In the
near gap There was not a breath or
air. The fragrance of clover fields stole
up. to him mingled with the mist of the
evening brook. Then right below him
In the gloom he saw the old cabin of the
Hellers, black and silent. An involun-
tary shudder, a fear OF he knew not
what. made a clutch at his heart. But
IL was only for a moment. Was that
q flicker of white down near the house?
EHe leaped from the rock. crying,
Iona"
A moment and she was right by his
elbow as II she had sprung from the
earth.
Please, don't she pleaded in awful
earnestness. "Hush-h-h-h-h! You
promised. You must go-quick. It's
death to stay here another minute"
II don't care IL 1t is. I'm going to
stay--with you,'' he cried recklessly.
I'D die for you, Iona"
ooh, no, no, no, no" she gasped,
don say that. Hush-h-h~h. Now go,
Tom, please. For my sake. Tom. go"
There was no mistaking ner tone He
saw her waver a moment, then cast a
~shuddering glance behind her, and
again Sc had vanished. A mad reck-
~lessess was on him; he had but a single
thought. He ran hither and thither.
eagerly, insanely. He looked behind
every bush and rock and projection.
In vain She had disappeared like a
moth.
He ran 10 the old cabin; the door was
locked She could not have been there;
ne would have seen her cross the open.
He stopped and listened intently. He
was within the black ring. though he
did not know II.
There was a sound like a stealthy
rustic rear him, and as he turned he
caught a glimpse of a white face--a
face as of the dead, framed in intense
black, right within two feet OF him. 1t
was pressed against the window pane
from the inside, and the eyes were
sharp n glittering. A sickening fear
gripped him, but he sprang Onward.
Iona he cried.
TIL face disappeared like a flash.
Was that Iona Heller's face? He
Erled the door impulsiveiy, then he
ffhraW his usnfuht ffnnn III Tn vain Tn
"a sort Of frenzy he looked about him
for q stone; he ran back a little. Then
he heard a penetrating whisper from no
particular direction, but seemingly right
I'm his ear.
Don't. Tom. For my sake. GO"
He looked about him dizzily. 1t might
have come from the %shrubbery or the
III was Lona's voice, but there was a
tone In II that was new TO him. The
dead silence OF the night, the atmos-
phere of mystery. the face at. the win
dow, the voice-what did Ii meant
Then a feeling of terror over which he
had no control began to creep upon
him. He was no longer capable OF
thinking clearly, A moment and he
was on his "a home, walking faster
and ever faster, looking f~earfully
straight before him.
Lake one, that OF a lonesome road
Doth walk with fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on. |
And turns no more his head;
Because lie knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
II was a sleepless night that he spent
and his bedfellow, Jim. was sleepiess
too. And neither spoke a word during
all the night. There are some things
that part even brothers.