The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1910-11-17

to peer down like an old bird of prey
from his perch and demand her rea-
son. But he made no sound or sign.
1t may have been that in his time he
had heard even wilder requests than
hers. He only sent his whip cracking
forward to the ears of the lean horse,
and the cab began to rattle like mad
thing.
Flora leaned back with a sigh of re-
lief. The mere sensation of being
borne along at such rate, the sight
of houses, lamp-posts, even people
here and there, fitting away from the
eye, unable to interrupt her course, or
even to glimpse her identity, gave her
a feeling of safety. The more she
was getting into the residence part
of the city, the more deserted the
streets, the closer shut the windows
of the houses, the more it seemed to
her as if the night itself covered and
abetted her fight. So swiftly she
went it was only a wonder how the
cab held together. She had never
travelled more rapidly in her light and
silent carriage. Now they whirled the
corner and plunged at the steep rise
of a cross street. Just above, over
the crown of the hill, she saw the sky,
moonless, blackish, spattered with
stars. Then against it little flutter-
ing shape like a sentinel wisp-the
only living thing in sight. 1t was in
credible, impossible, horrible that he
should be there, in front of her, wait
ing for her who had driven so fast
too fast, it had seemed, for human
foot to follow. By what unimaginable
route had he travelled? She was ready
to believe he had flown over the
housetops. And above all other hor-
rors, why was he pursuing her?
The carriage was abreast the China
man now, and Immediately he took up
his trot, for little while keeping up,
dodging along between light and
shadow, presently falling behind. At
intervals she heard the patter, patter,
patter of his footsteps following; at
intervals she lost the sound, and
shadows would engulf the figure, and
she would wait in panic for its reap
pearance. For she knew it was there
somewhere, on one side of the street
or the other. But, oh, not to see it!
To expect at any moment it might
start up again-heaven knew where,
perhaps at her very carriage window.
Her unconscious hand was doubled to
a fist upon her breast, fast closed
upon the sapphire.
With all her body braced, she
leaned and looked far backward, and
far forward, and now for long time
saw nothing The distance was empty.
The glare of arc-lights showed her
the shadows of her own progress
the shadow of her vehicle shooting
huge and misshapen now on the cob
bles, now along blank wall, wheels,
body and driver, all lurching like one;
now heaped On each other, now tenu-
ously drawn out, now twisting them
selves into shapes the mind could not
account for. For here, whirling the
corner, the carriage seemed to wave an
arm and now between the wheels, fast
twinkling, she saw pair of legs. She
leaned and looked, so mesmerized with
this grotesque appearance that II
scarcely troubled her that all the way
down the last long hill she knew 1t
must be that a man was running at
her wheel.
The warm lights of her house were
just before her, offering succor, stiff
fening courage. It would be but Q
dash from the door of the cab to
her own door. There was no second
course, once the cab stopped. She felt
that to lurk in it's gloom would mean
robbery, perhaps death. She thought
without fear, but with an intense cal
culation. Her hand held the door at
swing. as the cab drew up. Before 1t
should stop she must leap. She gath
cred her skirts and sprang-sprang
clean to the sidewalk. The steps of
her house rushed by her in her up
ward fight. Her bell pealed. She
covered her eyes.
For the moment before Shima
opened the door there was nothing
but darkness and silence. She had
never been so glad of anything in her
life as of the kind, astute, yellow
face he presented to her distressed ap-
peal.