Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-08-11

sign OF the missing man. The peb.
bles scratched and bruised his un'
| protected feet. and he began to SILVER
with cold. He gave 1t up, presently
returned to the tender. pushed OF
and sculled out to the Echo.
Then, having rubbed his flesh to a
blush with coarse towel, he dressed.
took the small boat back to the beach,
drew it up and, now fully committed
to an enterprise the folly Of which he
stubbornly refused to debate, set off
to reconpoiter along the waters edge,
feeling his way.
After time the beach grew more
sandy, and emboldened by the knowl-
edge that he would have his foot
prints to guide him back he left the
water and struck inland-but only to
find his progress in that direction
checked by steep wall of earth, a
cliff-like bluff OF height indetermin.
able. its TANKS waveeaten and deeply
scanned by rain.
At random, with no design, he
turned again to his left and proceeded
as before, but now along the foot OF
| the bluff, trudging heavily through
damp, yielding sand
Still no sign of Appleyard.
He must have tramped, at q rude
guess, several hundred yards before
he discovered either 4 break in the
bluff or any change In the general
conf1guration of the shore. Ultimate
ly, however, the one fell away in
land and the other widened.
A moment later he came upon a
small catboat careened above high
tide mark, with a gaping wound in its
starboard side, forward and below the
water-line.
She lay stern to the water. Taking
Coast turned inland again, on line
as straight as possible considering
the slanting lay of the land and the
impossibility Of seeing anything be-
yond radius of few feet.
He had not gone far upon this
tack before he stumbled upon a path
Of hardpacked earth, obviously made
by human feet. Then he found him
self mounting rather steep grade,
and in another moment was face to
face with plain weather-boarded wall
of a wooden building.
There were no windows that he
could discover on this side, and
though he listened keenly he heard no
sounds from within.
Other buildings presented them.
selves successfully, as like as peas
to one another and to the 1rst he had
encountered: all peopled exclusively
by the seven bowling devils of DESC
lation and their attendant court Of
rats-or so he surmised from sundry
sounds of scurryings and sqreaks.
He gathered that he was threading
side-to seaward-with the abandoned
dwellings of what had apparently been
a small fishing community.
mo Mans Land indeed!" he COM
mented Certainly lives up to the
name, even If it's some place else. 1t
begins to look as II I'd drawn blank.
But Appleyard ?"
He was moved vaguely to liken the
place to the Cold Liars of the Jungle
Books. "Only infinitely sordid," he
unused, at pause: lacking the maj
esty and the horror Wonder
had better 60 back?"
AS he hung in the wind, debating
what to do, whether to press on or
70 be sensible, swayed this way and
that by doubts and half-formed i'm
pulses, somewhere near, seemingly at
his very elbow, certainly not twenty
feet away, suddenly dog howled.
Long drawn. lugubrious with note OF
fermentation, the sound struck discor-
dant upon his overhaul senses, shock
ing him (before he knew it) to out
spoken protest
Good God!" he cried aloud.
what"
His voice must have carried to the
animal: he heard whine. the QUICK
padding of paws, and a huge Scotch
collie bounded clumsily out of the
mists, passed him within an arms
length, vanished and returned, whin-
Ing and circling, nose to ground. as ii
confused and unable to locate him. He
watched the animal, half-stupefied
with wonder at it's cratic actions;
then unconsciously moved slightly. A
pebble grated beneath his foot. The
dog wheeled toward him instantly
and paused at attention, forepaw
lifted, ears pricked forward, delicate
nostrils expanding and contracting
as he shifted for the scent of man.
Here. boy, here!" Coast called soft
ly; and the next moment had the ami
NAL fawning upon him. alternately
cringing at his feet and jumping up
to muzzle his legs and hands, as IL
they were his own masters.
Good boy! Steady now! 500,
sol" Puzzled by this demonstrative
reception, Coast bent over the animal,
trying to soothe 1t with voice and
hand. 1t was plainly in state of
high excitement and evidently deep
ly grateful for his sympathetic
federation. He caught the finely mod
eled head between his palms, lifting
up the muzzle. Come, now" he said
in G. soothing tone, let's have look
at you, old fellow. Good old boy-it's
all right now-steady Why,
the poor brute's blindi"
For as it's eyes rolled up he saw
that they were blank and lightless.
the rides masked with q film OF
white.
"Caforacfn ho cold re1aae;n~ <ho