The Prescott daily news., 1910-01-11
F E A R
By GUY DE MAUPASSANT
(Copyright. by Short Stories Co.,. Ltd)

Dinner ended, we assembled on deck. Before us stretched the Med iterranean. without a ripple, envel- oped in the soft light of the moon. One mighty ship cast large serpent or black smoke on star sprinkled SKY, and the white water, agitated by the quick movement of our heavy boat loaned and frothed, created so many lights that one would have said the sea was on fire We were there, six or eight of us-silent-admiring- eyes turned toward distant Africa, whither we were bound.
 The commander who smoked a cigar in our midst, took up the con- versation begun at dinner.
 Yes, he said. q experienced fear that day. My ship was tossed about six hours with rock in her belly. Happily we were rescued towards evening by an English coal ship which sighted us"
 At this point large man. with a bronzed. serious face, spoke for the hrst time. sHe was one of those men who gives the impression of having oamed through immense and unknown countries, in the midst of unceasing dangers, and whose tranquil eyes seem to hold in their depths some tnlng or the strange sights they have seen. A man imbued with courage.
 You say, commander that you felt fear? l do not believe it. You mis- use the word. An energetic man never experiences fear in the face of i'm mediate danger. He is troubled, ex- cited, worried; but fear, that is quite another thing"
 The commander replied. laugh ingly:
 Nevertheless. promise you I was afraid"
 The bronze-faced man said, slowly:
 Let me explain myself. Fear (and the most courageous man can expe- rience iD is something horrible, a ter rlble sensation. decomposition of the soul, spasm in the thought and Tn the heart, even the remembrance or which causes agonizing shivers. But this never happens to the brave, eith- CT In attack or in the face of inev- ltable death, or in the presence of any real tangible known danger. It only happens under certain abnormal conditions. Real fear is something like a reminiscence of old fantastic terrors. A man who believes In spir- It's and who imagines he sees a ghost in the night must feel fear in all it's horrors. felt fear in the middle of the day about ten years ago. felt the effect of it last winter, one De- cember night. I have often fought. have been left for dead by robbers. was condemned as a rebel and was pitched into the sea in China Each time l thought myself lost. accept ed my fate without trouble, without regret. But fear is another thing. had a presentiment of it in Africa. Yet Africa is the daughter of the north. These the sun disperses hang ing shadows like mist. Notice well this, Messieurs. To. the orientals like counts as nUthing. They are imme- dlately resigned in case of danger. Panics are common, but fear is un- known. We'll. here is what happened to me in Africa was crossing the desert south of Onargla. It is one of the strangnst countries in the world. You know the appearance of the shores of sand along the boundless sea. Picture to yourself the sea it. self changed into sand and imagine a silent storm of waves of sand and yellow dust. These waves are as high as mountains. uneven, rising up just as the waves of the sea. but a hundred times larger
 We were two friends traveling to. gether followed by Arabs and four camels,, with their drivers. We mn longer spoke. overcome by the hea, and fatigue and parcifed with thirst as ths desert. Suddenly one of our men broke into a horrible cry. We stopped, and stood petrffied. surprised by the inexplicable phenomenon. well known to the travellers of that hone less country
 Somewhere near us, in an un Known direction. VIC heard the heat ing of drum-the mysterious drum of the hills. The sound was sometimes clear and loud. sometimes weak and halting-then again beginning to bea, fantastically The Arabs, terrified | locked at each other, then one said in Arabian Death is upon us.' Sud denly my comrade. my friend. almos, my brother, fell from his horse. hi. head sank in his chest and his bod, became rigid. That dayI knew whn l if nt tQ fnar--I h. os.a-