The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1912-03-01

more-mOre Ike woman. (lf Rose
had had the word 'spirituaf In his Ho-
cabulary, he would have used 1t. In
default Of 1t, he gave up trying to
express Just what he meant) Any
way, there he sat with the box open
beside him. and that red book Of his
open on his knees. Go hack for III
Well. guess not
There was momentary silence aft
or he had finished, and Roscoe could
feel It, as 1t stretched itself out to the
length Of. half 4 minute or 90. the chill
Of their terror enveloping him. To
throw It OF, he clustered, stOrmed at
and abused them for q pack OF liars.
But in the end he sprang down into
one Of the boats, and said he would
fetch the box himself Whether he
believed their story. or not, 1t was
the only thing for him to do.
AS he pulled shoreward he tried
hard to convince himself that he did
not believe It; that Rose and Carlson
had probably forgotten all about the
box, and had rumped up the story to
avoid the necessity of going back for
He beached his boat, scrambled
ashore and set out walking doggedly
along in the direction Of the hut The
fog was still all but impenetrable, even
to his practised vision, but he knew
the shore like the palm of his hand,
and he trudged on without a pause,
until he was within ten PAGES, per-
haps, of his destination.
But there he faltered and stopped,
turned about, under an irresistible i'm
pulse of fear, and would have fed
had not sheer necessity compelled
him to stop again. There was light,
a diffused yellow glow, faint but I'M
mistakale, shining out Of the windows
Of the hut: ss.s NJ --~----
He knew he could not go back to
the Aurora without that box; it was
necessary both to his future safety and
his present command of the situation.
His one hold upon those sullen follow
ers of his depended upon his being i'm
pervious alike to terror and to defeat.
If he were to go back now without
accomplishing his purpose, 1t would
only be a question of days before they
murdered him. They all hated him,
enough for that, he knew.
Yet, even under that necessity, 1t
was three or four minutes before, at
the command of his burly will, he be-
gan creeping forward on hands and
knees toward the lighted window of
the hut.
And when he reached point where
he could command it's interior, his
knees slipped out from under him and
he lay prone upon the icy beach, his
face buried in his outstretched arms.
For those two sailors had told the
truth.
Presently he drew himself up and
squatted back on his launches, star
ing Human or not, the figure there
in the hut seemed unaware of his
presence. 1t was staring at the ex-
piring fame of the candle in profound
abstraction. When it stirred, as pres
emily it did, it was with natural,
human motion. And then the candle
went out.
In the few seconds of silence which
followed, his terror returned upon
him with full force. But 1t went
away as suddenly as it had come, and
with its recession there surged up In
him a wave Of british anger. 1t was
no ghost that had sat in contempla-
ton over the contents Of that box.
for it was moving now. with human
ootsteps-faltering, uncertain foot
steps, at that And when 1t appeared.
just visible and no more. outside the
doorway, it called aloud In a human
vo,ce-a woman's voice.
At the sound Of 1t, he drew himself
up, towering, before her, and. So be-
came visible to her-a monstrous,
blurred, uncertain shape.
And she cried out; this time in ter
or. Then. before he could spring
ION her and kill her with his hands
- ~-,--ish irs+i-ct of ~aeo r~rcd
him to do, be started back suddenly,
and himself cried out!
For faint circle OF light, waving,
wandering, unearthy, was shining
straight down upon both of them
through the fog-out of the sky itself,
Looking up, he saw overhead
single great luminous eye and in the
reflection of it's own light upon the
ice, very family, the fabric of out
stretched wings.
Then from up there, overhead, he
heard a voice-a quiet voice, Il m
here" it said Don't be afraid"
Blindly, Roscoe flung up his hands,
whirled around and fell; scrambled to
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