The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1912-03-11

away from the portals, between row
or dwellings, palaces Of marble ant
stone. tombstones and mausoleum
with meaner houses OF sun-dried bricl
and rubble. rooaess all and disinte
grating in the slow, terrible process
OF the years
As Amber moved forward small
| alert ghosts rose from the under
growth and scurried silently thence;
circumstance which made him very
unhappy.
The way was difncult and Amber
tired. After while. having seen
nothing but the jackals. an owl OF
two, several thousand bats and a
crawling thing which had lurched
along in the shadow of a wall some
distance away. giving an admirable
Imitation of a badly wounded man
pulling himself over the ground, and
making strange cultural noises-Am-
Der concluded to wait for the guide
Naraini had promised him. He turned
aside and seated himself upon the
edge of broken sandstone tomb. The
silence was appalling and for relief
he took refuge in cheap irreverence.
Home" he observed. aloud. never
was like this"
A heart-rending sigh from the tomb
behind him was followed BY q rattle
OF dislodged rubbish. Amber found
himself unexpectedly in the middle Of
the street, and. without stopping to de-
bate the method. of his getting there
with such unprecedented rapidity.
looked back hopefully to the tomb. At
the Same moment q black-shrouded
figure swept out Of it and moved few
PAGES down the street, then paused
and beckoned him with a gaunt arm.
II WISH" said Amber, earnestly, IT
had that gun"
The figure was apparently that of a
native swathed in black from his head
to his heels and seemed the more
strikingly peculiar in view Of the fact
that. as far as Amber could deter.
mine, he had neither eyes nor features
although his head was without any
sort Of covering. He gulped over the
proposition for an instant, then
stepped forward.
Evidently my appointed cicerone,"
he considered. "Unquestionably this
ghost-dance is excellently stage-man-
aged. Though, OF course. had
to pick out that particular tomb"
He followed in the wake of the. fig
ure. which sped on with a singular
motion, something between q walk
and glide. conscious that his eaua-
nfmity had been restored rather than
shaken by the incident.
He held on in pursuit of the black
shadow, passing forsaken temples and
lordly pleasure houses, all marble
tracery and fretwork, standing apart
in what had once been noble gardens.
sunken tanks all weed-grown and
rank with slime, humber dooryards
and cots on whose hearthstones the
fires for centuries had been cold-his
destination evidently the temple of
the unspeakable Eye
AS they drew nearer the leading
shadow forsook the shade Of the walls
which he seemed to favor, sweeping
hastily across plaza white with
and without pause on into
the black, gaping hole beyond the
marble arch.
Here for the first time Amber hung
back. stopping score of feet from
the door, his nerves a-Jangle. He did
not falter in his purpose; he was 60
Ing to enter the inky portal, but
would he ever leave It? And
The world was sweet to him.
He took firm hold of his reason anc
vent on across the dark threshold,
:ook three uncertain strides into the
imitless unknown, and ! pulled up
short. hearing nothing. unable to see
! yard before him. Then with a ter
life crash like thunder-clap the
great doors swung to behind him, He |
about with a stifled cry, con-
'cious of q mad desire to And the
loors again, took step Or two to-
ward them. paused to wonder II he
we're moving in the right direction,
moved little to the left. half turned
md was lost. Reverberating. the
echoes Of the crash rolled far away
Until they were no more than as q
Whisper adrift in the silence. until
hat was gone -.
Digging his nails into his palms. he /,
waited; and In the suspense of dread II
egan to count the seconds.
.One minute two ~
hree four 80
He shifted his weight from one foot
o the other.
Seven - |
He passed hand across his face
nd brought 1t away. wet with per 4
piratiOn.
In some remote spot bell began to
oil; at first slowly-clang! Il
lang! clang,-then more II
uickly. until the roar of its sonorous
ong-hke tones seemed to fill all the
'orld and to set 1t a-tremble. Then;
lsensibly, the tempo became more Sc
ate. the first clamor of it moderated,
nd Amber abruptly was alive to the
lct that the bell was speaking-that