Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1912-05-16

kC& that tH4bq4 p@fQtW RMA
After q tet rodhA Ahet bsm 4
.A.H Y
he do6snik often come this way"
SAID tkJlBSiMAhr this sids has nom
ing 70 do' with him. Thia side does
not lead 10 the lake nor 70 the house
on. ths lake. But perhaps ne
knows that We are At his heels .
aIthoagn ! rrbmfsed him TO leave hin
alone and ,RAtsr 70 NEEDLE In his bus
mess kkaiii!s 9 /.
so saying, he turned his head ana
Raonl also turned his head; and they
again saw the head OF fire behind
their two heads. 1t had followed
them. And It must have run also,
and perhaps faster than they, for IL
seemed to be nearer to them.
& At the same time. they began to
perceive certain noise OF which
they could not guess the nature. They
simply noticed that the sound seemed
to move and to approach with the
fiery face. II was a noise as though
thousands Of nails had been scraped
against q blackboard, the perfectly
uncomfortable noise that 10 sometimes
made bya little stone inside the chalk
that CRATES on the blackboard.
They continued to retreat, but the
fiery face came on, came on, gaining
on them. They could see its features
clearly now. The eyes were round
and staring. the, nose a little crooked
and the mouth large. with a hanging
lower lip. very like the eyes, nose
and LID OF the moon, when the moon
Is quite red, bright red.
How did that red moon manage TO
glide through the darkness, at q
mans height, with nothing to support
It. at least apparently? And how did
It 20 90 fast, 80 straight ahead, with
such staring, staring eyes? And
what was that scratching, scraping,
grating sound which It brought with
It?
The Persian and Raoul could re-
treat no farther and fiattened them
selves against the wall, not knowing
what was going to happen because OF
that incomprehensible head OF fire.l
and especially now, because OF the
more intense, swarming, living, ''nu-,
merous" sound. for the sound was
certainly made up Of hundreds Of lit
tie sounds that moved in the dark
ness. under the fiery face.
And the fiery face came on
with its noise came level
with them!
And the two companions, nat
against their wall, felt their hair
stand on end with horror, for they
now knew what the thousand noises
meant. They came in a troop. hustled
along in the shadow by innumerabl0
little hurried waves, swifter than the
waves that rush over the sands at
high tide, little nightmares foaming
under the moon, under the fiery head
that was like moon. And the little
waves passed between their legs,
climbing up their legs. irresistiblys..
and sRaoul and the Persian could no
longer restrain their cries OF horror,
dismay and pain. Nor could they
continue to hold their hands at the
leVkI of their eyeB; their hands went
dqTn to their legs to- push back the
w&Tes, which were fill of little legs
and nails and claws and teeth.
sl eensR aesl andsthe Persian were
ready to faint, like Pampin the fire.
man. But the head Of fire turned
round IN answer to their cries. and
spoke. TO them: MI Il,
Fnoh't move! Don't move! N
Whatever you do, don't come after
met III. / am the rat-catcherlI
Let me pass, with my rats!"
And the head Of fire disappeared,3
vanished In the darkness, while the
passage in front OF, it 1T up, as the !
result OF the charge which the rat !,
catcher had m1ae IN his dark laRs
tern. Before, 70 as not to scare the
rats in front OF him, he had turnedtf
his dark lantern on himself, lighting !
Up his own head; now, to hasten their
fight, he lit the dark space in front
Of him. And he jumped along. dragsT
cling with him the waves OF scratch
Ing rats, all the thousand sounds. sY
RaouI and the Persian breathed
again, though still trembling. III
81 ought to have remembered that
Erik talked to me about the rat
said the Persian, But he
never told me that he looked like
that and it's funny that
should never have met him before.
.g. !. OF course, Erik never comes
10 this parti"
"Are we very far from the lake.
sir?" asked RaouI. when shall we
get there? Take me to the
lake, oh, take me to the lake!
When We are at the lake. we will call
put! Christine will hear US!
=. And he will hear US, tool
And, as you know him, we
shall talk to him!"