Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-05-27

Z curious mental exaltation that
showed itself at times In words and
gestures that ALMOST frightened her.
One evening. as they sat In the stern
81 their junk. anchored for the uight.
ne swept his arm toward thesmoun-
tains-
Tnese are the gates OF a strange
iand." he said, solemnly-.a land
peopied by devils. ) All the false GODS
OF the world VINO have fed before
our faith have come here to dwell
together. And power is here given
them over the souls of men. To
them the whole land is utterly Given
over. And we, too," he added. with
sombre ~deliberation, I'VE too are de-
hvered into their hands"
Joint" she cried. startled and
distressed.
He started. and when she ques-
toned further, did not seem to know
that he had spoken.
At length they passed the xorges.
q two days later came to the VIII
iage that was to be their home. They
parted from their European compan-
ions. who were going higher, to
Chungking, and took up their quar-
tiers in the house provided for them.
1t stood in a compound on the ex-
IRENE edge OF the village, a cluster
OF red-roofed houses separated by
narrow, insanitary streets, crowded
upon the black mud OF the shore.
Here they began their work. The
missionary who had preceded them
had left some weeks before, his
health having broken down, and
there was much to be done. The
~dispensary was thrown open, and
Lyall busted himself in reaching the
souls Of his charges through their
bodies. Edith did what she could
with the women and children. But
the work vas slow.
The sense Of isolation weighed her
down. She felt that she could no,
have supported it save for q new hope
that she began to whisper to herself
la hope delicious, but as yet too
uncertain to be spoken aloud even
to her husband. About him she
now began to be greatly troubled.
While at work he was quietly happy.
But at other times he would stare
about the rooms with a panied ex-
preston, as though the lost memory
were struggling against the bars OF les
prison, striving to return and to take
up its proper abode. One evening
she found him tapping at the wall.
When questioned, he muttered some
thing about setting the barometer.
But there was no barometer there;
and from that moment she formed
the incredible suspicion that he was
not living with her, but in q pas,
wherein she had no part-in which
she but served to remind him OF one
l who had been his wife, but who was
now with the dead.
The thought pierced her keenly,
but she fought against it, hoping for
better times with the birth OF heI
child. Surely that would reknit the
bond of affection that had bound
them together. Yet every day his
fits of abstraction became longer. his
manner more strange. He spent hours
cleaning and polishing his revolver.
He merely shook his head when she
asked him the reason. Day by day
she became more and more filled
with the conviction that the story OF
her life was to end in tragedy. Blu,
she was no fatalist, and she Tough,
hard against the feeling. She TOLD
herself that she had so much to live
for. She determined to live. She
resolved that when the next junl
called she would send a message tt
Chungking, asking for relief and
leave of absence for her husband.
One night she awoke from til.
sleeping mattress that served her fol
a bed to find him absent from he
side. She sat up and looked abou'
her. Beyond the window the nigh
/ was calm and the moonlight streamet
upon the floor, lighting the turtle,
room through the open door. Il
that room, their living room, sh'
could see the figure of her husban,
going to and fro with stealthy foot
steps. peering through the chinks o
: the suffered windows and draw1n'
back again with haste. Il
!, quick xaarm she rose and went t
, him. At her touch he turned an,
gripped her wrist fast, his eyes align
, with insanity.
"They are coming. They are com
ing!" he whispered. Il hear Their
: whispering all about. They will b
upon us soon"
Dearest" sac cried, anxiously
there is nothing-no one. : TIL
night is calm. There isn't a sound.
"Listen!" he said sharply, releas
ing her wrist and lifting up his hand
= In the silence that followed sh
strained her ear to hear what b
| spoke of, but in vain. Not even tn