Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-07

leel the Olu IRON CIdCk SOL liO CllsilIc loi
a second blow. Her hands were at my
throat. They bit in. Then | knew it was
fight for my life.
"She was light; but she was strong like
panther. If her dress bound her, l was as
bad off in my robe. AT the first grip was
forced back into a bush, and sprawled there,
in a tangle of branches and flying cloth.
Somehow, | twisted her fingers from my
throat We struggled out into the moon
light again. got fair look at her face, and
guess went mad with terror myself. The
next thing remember clearly she was quiet
on the ground and | was hammcring, ham
mering, hammering at my wrist with a
blood stained stone. do not know if it was
! her blood or mine. Both, maybe; for my
wrist was like pulp when the iron finally
cracked open and | was free. | caught a
glimpse of blood on her temple. | suppose
had hit her there with the stone. She looked
dead.
"All wanted was to think-to think-to
| think. How could | think with her lying
there? crept out of sight of her and kneeled
down. Her constellation, the Virgo that she
had picked out for herself, was shining in my
eyes like cold glare. That very minute
wisp of cloud blew across and wiped it out,
and l heard myself squeal again. l was
pretty much dotty, guess.
alive. She didn't stir slow, and moan like
I've seen men in my sea days when they
| were knocked out. She was on her feet all in
minute and was racing across the fields,
with the broken handcuff dangling and JAM
Cling against her knees. 1t had been an
| awful night; but there was nothing else in
it, not even the finding of her afterwards, SO
awful as that figure running and leaping over
the broken ground toward the cliff edge. If
had tried to follow, l never could have
kept up with her. And she was going straight
for the cliff. She dropped down into hol
low and came up on the rise beyond. l
yelled to her to stop. Then l held my
breath to listen for her scream when she
went over. / never heard it.
PUT this did hear, mans voice, clear
= and strong and HIGH in a shout of horror;
then rush of little stones and gravel.
That was all.
There was rise of ground beyond me.
ran up on it. 1t gave me a clear view of
the cliff, and made sure to find the man
who had cried out. Not sight of him,
though! So he had gone over the cliff too!
threw myself down and buried my face.
@How long l crouched on the ground /
don't know. The dead woman's star-I
knew she was dead, by that wisp of cloud
was blotted out; but the moon was shining
high, and by that light stumbled down the
ravine that leads to the beach. found her
body at the foot of the cliffs; but no sign of
any other body. So sat and watched pa
tiently to see if the man who had shouted
would come to look for her. Right away it
was quite clear to me what | must do, if he
did not come. Perhaps my own brain was
queer from the shock and the beating she
had given me with her manacled wrist; but
felt that before went away from there /
must conceal the cause of her death, and
everything about it that could. If it was
known how she was killed, they would be
more likely to suspect me.
81 went back and got the rope. | got an
old grating from the high-tide level at the
foot of the cliff. l dragged the body into
the sea and let it soak. Then | lashed it
onto the grating, careful and sailorwise. 1t
was good imitation of a body washed
ashore; good enough for the country rubes,
anyhow, figured, if no sailorman took to
looking into it too close. After l got that
fixed, tried to knock off the manacle with
rock, but the hammering against dead
flesh was too much for me. l stripped the
iewelry from her. But | couldn't take it.
That would have made me a murderer.