The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-08-01

daybreak We must have covered a
good distance during the night, for
we suddenly found ourselves on the
edge of the desert, an immense desert
Of sand, stones and rocks. 1t was
really not worth while leaving the
forest to come upon the desert Tired
out, l flung myself down beside the
yiscount. for I had had enough OF
looking for springs which l could not
find.
was quite surprlsed-and | said so
to the viscOunt-that we had encoun-
tered no other dangerous animals
during the night. Usually, after the
lion came the leopard and sometimes
the buzz of the tsetse fly. These were
easily obtained effects; and | ex-
planned to M. de Chagny that Erik
initiated the roar OF a lion on long
tabour or timbrel with an ASS skin
at one end Over this skin he tied a
string of catgut.f which was fastened
at the middle to another similar
string passing through the whole
length of the tabOur. Erik had only
to rub this string with glove
smeared with resin and, according to
the manner in which he rubbed it, he
initiated to perfection the voice or
the lion or the leopard, or even the
buzzing of the tsetse fly.
The idea that Erik was probably in
the room beside us, working his trick,
made me suddenly resolve to enter
into a parley with him, for we must
obviously give up all thought OF TAX
ing him by surprise. And by this
time he must be quite aware who
were the occupants of his torture
chamber | called him: Erik! Erik! "
| shouted as loudly as | could across
the desert, but there was no answer
to my voice. All around us lay the
silence and the bare immensely OF
that stony desert. What was to be-
come of us in the midst n that awful
solitude?
We were beginning EieraIly to die
of hest, hunger and thi- st of
thirst especially At asst, l saw M.
de Chagny raise himself On his elbow
and point to spot on the horizon.
He had discovered an oasis!
Yes, far in the. distance was at.
oasis an oasis with limpid
water, which reflected the iron trees!
Tush, 1t was the scene Of the
mirage. | recognized it at
orce the worst of the three
No one had been able to fight
against it 40 one.
did my utmost to keep my head and
not to hope for water, because | knew
that, if a man hoped for water, the
water that reflected the iron tree,
and if, after hoping for water, he
struck against the mirror, then there
was only one thing for him to do: to
hang himself on the iron tree!
So | cried to M. de Chagny:
It's the mirage! It's the
miragei Don't believe in the
water, It's another trick OF
the mirrors!
Then he fatty told me to shut up,
with my tricks of the mirrors, my
springs, my revolving doors and my
palaces of illusions! he angrily de-
clared that | must be either blind or
mad to imagine that all that water
flowing over there, among those
splendid, numberless trees, was not
real water, And the desert
was real! And so was the
forest. -. And 1t was no use
trying to take him in he was
an old, experienced traveller
he had been all over the place!
And he dragged himself along, say
ing: Water! Water."
And his mouth was open, as though
he were drinking.
And my mouth was open, too, as
though ! were drinking.
For we not only saw the water, but
we heard it, We heard it
flow, We heard 1t ripple! DO
you understand that word ''ripple?'
1t is a sound which you hear
with your tongue! You put
your tongue out of your mouth to
listen to it better
Lastly-and this was the most pitt
less torture of alive heard the rain
| and it was not raining! This was an
Internal invention. Oh,
knew we'll enough how Erik obtained
it, He filled with little stones very
long and narrow box, broken up in
side with wooden and metal proJec-
lions. The stones, in falling, struck
against these projections and re-
bounded from one to another; and
the result was a series of pattering
sounds that exactly initiated a rain
storm.
All, you should have seen us putting
out our tongues and dragging our
selves toward the ripping river bank!
Our eyes and ears were full of water,
but our tongues were hard and dry
as horn!
When we reached the mirror, NJ de
Chagny licked it and | also
licked the glass.
1t was burning hot!
Then we rolled on the floor with a
hoarse cry of despair. M. de Chagny
put the one pistol that was still load
ed to his temple; and l stared at the
Punjab lasso at the foot OF the iron
returned, in this third change of
scene! The iron tree was
| waiting for mel
Superstition Royalty Respects
Canterbury Cathedral, like most
Gothic cathedrals, is decorated with
innumerable inches for statues. At