The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1911-11-08


man was still watching BY her side.
She had been so utterly wearied By
her strange adventure. BY her long
wrestling with thirst and starvation
IN the open boat that before she knew
It WEAKNESS overcame her. He had
watched by her side without molesting
| her. II was late in the evening now.
The problem of the night had TO be
faced. This time the man took the
initiative. He walked along the shore
little way and then looked back at
her, and repeated the process once or
twice as a dog might have done who
was DESTROYS Of bringing his master to
some appointed place. Understanding
she rose and followed him. He led her
along the sands now Swallowed by the
tall palms until they came to the rivu-
let, where she stopped and drank once
more. They passed ii, he plunging
bodily through its shadows; she leap
ing from rock to rock until she reach
ed the other bank. He went swiftly
around the face Of the cliff. As she
passed the point she saw that II
curved suddenly inward away from
the shores into a sort of amphitheater
and fair in the center of the face she
perceived an opening. He halted there
and entered fearlessly, she following.
The cave was ,rOomy and spacious,
at least it seemed so in the fading
light. In the morning when the sun
shOne through the opening. 1t would
be flooded with daylight. but now I
when the sun was sinking behind the
hill, it was quite dark. 1t was dry
and clean and apparently empty The
man stood looking at her smiling. at
least there was a suggestion Of a
smile upon his lips He was nodding
his head. She understood that he
lived there. The dog had come back
to his kennel and had taken this &C
quaintance there. too.
1t would be good place to pass the
night. The night had to be passed /
somewhere. How, was the problem. /
She had little fear of any savage ami
mails on the. island. There had been
no evidence of them observed in her
progress; the man himself was testi-
mOny to immunity of attack from that
source. Had 1t not been for him, she
could have lain down in that cave
with quiet confidence and slept with
out apprehension Of mOlestation, but
he complicated the issue.
Twice he had watched by her asleep.
but that was in the broad daylight /
When darkness came, what then? Her
heart was filed with terror. She was
suddenly afraid OF the dark, a childish
fear at which her soul would have
Knocked in other days and under other
conditions. But now she was a prey
to vivid apprehension and the night
was coming on with the swiftness Of
the tropics. She was, glad that she
had slept through the long afternoon.
She would endeavor to keep awake
during the night. She must turn the
dog out Of his kennel and occupy that
herself. How was she to enforce her
will under the circumstances? She
could only try.
Mar" she said. pointing to the
door, "go!"
The words conveyed nothing, but
the gesture meant much. Even to the
man association with his kind for one
day had effected a revolution in him.
He hung undecided, however. before
her, while she repeated again and
again her injunction. Finally she took
him by the shoulder. risking the pc
culiar emotions that contact seemed
to bring to him. and thurst him gently
through the entrance outside. Then
she went back into the cave farther
and waited with a beating heart. She
could see him silhOuetted against the
twilight standing where she had left
him. He came toward the door at
last and stood in the entrance.
mo, mol" she cried fercely. praying
that the note of terror might be lost
in the imperative tones of her voice.
Man, co."
She stood waiting and he likewise.
MASTERING her courage at last. she
went over to him and thrust him out.
Again and again the little drama was
played until by and by it became i'm
pressed upon the mind Of the man
that he was to stay out and she was
to stay in. He came no more to the
entrance. He stood outside. aloOf,
looking in. although in the growing
darkness he could not see her.
1t was the second thing he had
learned. The first ray Of light in his
dawning consciousness had illumin-
ated the ego. the personal, the con-
crete. He was learning now the sig
nificance of a verb and an abstract
idea was being bred in him and some
concept of 'cOnstraint was entering his
being. The first of those long checks
that circumstances impose upon free
dom in order that civilization may be-
GIN 20 be was then meeting him face
to face He had slept in that cave, she
imagined, for years, and suddenly he
was thrust out There was no hard
ship in that, except the hardship in
the necessity for obedience, if hard
ship that might be. The night was
balmy and pleasant; no shelter was
needed. II was the fact that he had to
go; that he was subject to another
will and purpose; that something
higher than himself was overruling
him which might be hard II would
have been hard for the woman. She
thought, however. that the limited
comprehension Of the man might not
enable him to realize 1t.
He stood a long time on the sand
while she watched him Had she con
quered? Had he learned his lesson2
Had she laid foundations upon which
consciousness of life and its relations
might be builded? Would she be free
from the terror Of molestatiOn. which
in spite Of herself sought expression
in her voice and manner? Would she
be permitted to pass the night undis-
turbed? Was her power over him suf-
ficiently definite to be established and
to be of value? Suppose she had not
succeeded in mastering him, in dom
mating him? She shuddered at the
probabilities invoked. OF all the
beasts Of the field. the most terrible
when he is a beast is man.
She was not a weak woman She
was above the middle height. athletic.
splendidly developed, accustomed TO