Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-04-19

little while. prasumsf- Amber suE-
gssaea efses pause.
TIE ticket agent stared stubborriy
into the infnita making no sign till .
coin rang on the window-iedge; when
he started. eyed the Offering with fugf-
tive mistrust. and gioomily possessed
himself Of II. FIJI look after them"
he said. BE ye thinkin' OF waikin' p
Yes" said Amber over his shout
der. He was already moving toward
the door.
-Knaow yecur wa-ay?"
I've been here before. thank ycu.-
Crossing the tracks, he addressed
himself TO the southward stretching
! highway. Walking brisk1y Ut flxst. ks
soon left behind the railway station
with its few parasitic cottages, q dip
IN the land hid them, and no had
hereafter for all company his
thoughts, the dssultory read. . vast
and looming sky. and bare fields
hcdged with impoverished forest
Amber had professed acquaintance
with his way; II seemed rather 10 be
intimacy. for when he chose 70 for
sake the main travelled road he did 30
boldly. striking on upon q wagon
track which, leading across the fields,
delved presently into the heart OF the
forest.
The hush Of the forest world bore
heavily upon bis senses: the slight
and stealthy rustlings IN the brush,
the clear dense ringing OF some 70
mote ak, an attenuated ciamor Of
cawfng from some far crows con
gross. but served to acoentuate its In
huence.
Then into the silence crept a sound
to rouse him from his formless rev
erie. At first mere pulsing in the
stiffness, barely to be distinguished
from the song OF the surf. but pres.
emily pounding. ever louder and
more insistent. He paused, attentive;
and while he waited the drumming,
minute by minute gaining In volume,
swept swiftly toward him--the rhyth-
mic hoofbeats Of single horse madly
ridden. When 1t was close upon him
he stepped back into the tangled UNI
track was anything but wide.
simultaneously there burst into
visw, at the end OF brief aisle OF
trees, the horse--a vigorous black
brute with white socks and muzzle--
running freely, apparently under
constraint neither OF whip nor Of spur.
In the saddle girl leaned low over
the horn--a girl with eyes rapturous,
face brilliant, lips parted in the least
OF smiles. A fold of her byack habit
skirt, whipping out, almost snapped In
Amber's face, SO close to him she
rode; yet she seemed not to see him,
and very likely did not. A splendid
sketch In black and white, of youthful
spirit and joy OF motion; so she pass
ed on and was gone.
Hardly, however, had the forest
closed upon the picture, ere cry.
heavy crashing as OF horse thresh-
ing about in the underbrush, and a
woman's scream of terror, sent Am
Der, In one movement, out into the
| road again and running at a pace
which, had he been conscious of 1t,
would have surprised him.
A short so yards separated him from
the bend In the way round which
the horse and its rider had vanished.
He had no more than gained this
point than he was obliged to pull up
sharply to avoid running into the
girl herself.
Although dismounted, she was On
her feet, and apparently uninjured.
She stood with one hand against the
trunk of tree, on the edge of a
small clearing wherein the axes of
the local lumbermen had but lately
been busy. Her horse had disappear
ed; the rumble OF his hoofs, dimfnu-
endo, told the way he had gone.
So much Amber comprehended In a
single glance; with a second he
sought the cause of the accident, and
identified it with figure so outre and
bizarre that he momentarily and ex-
cusably questioned the testimony of
his senses.
At little distance from the girl,
in the act of addressing her, stood a
man, obese, gross. abnormally dis
tended with luxurious and sluggish
living. as little common to the scene
as statue of Phoebus Apollo had been
A babu of Bengal every inch OF him,
from his dirty red-and-white turban to
his well-worn and cracked patent-leath-
err shoes. His body was enveloped in
complete suit OF emerald silk, much
soiled and faded. and grit with q
sash of many colors, crimson pre-
dominating His hands, fat, brown,
and not overclean, alternately hutter-
ed apologetically and rubbed one an
other with suggestion Of extreme
urbanity; his lips. thick, sensual, and
cruel. mouthed broken stream OF