The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1913-04-19
A Liaht In the Dark.
n ULTIMATELY 1t was late. aft
er midnight. and a few early
ones. dragged away by their

1atner ana motnerS. were NJ
ready going, and. muffled in my long
cloak and lace scarf. | managed to slip
out in the wake of n group of these.
hoping they would not notice my be-
ing alone. and into my carriage. evad-
ing Jacks insistence that he must see
me home by shutting the door In his
face.
AS the carriage went laboring Off
down the dark hill ! crouched in a
heap ON the seat. II Estrella and
Laura had seized me by the shoulders
and bodily thrust me out of doors |
outcast. docs every one feel like
that about me, even my ~friends?" l
thought.
All my life | had been taught and
had believed that only good came of
telling the truth. Well, now the OPP
p%ortunity TO prove that had ONE. |
had done what had been demanded of
me. and every one looked upon me as
though | were inhuman. Had all the
laws of the universe been suddenly
turned upside down? Ought my lips
to have been sealed instinctively by
what l saw? Ought / to have been
struck dumb on the witness stand?
Was 1t true. the terrible injustice Of
Laura's words. that because of me-not
alone the story | had told, but my
looks. my misery. my very pity for
him-he had beer convicted?
| was recalled to my surroundings
by the rocking of the carriage.
Great rains. which had fallen lately,
had left the roads quilted and rough
as the sea-. The noon would not rise
until after 1 o'clock and, what made
our progress really dangerous, some
thing had gone wrong with the carri-
age lights. They dwindled and went
out when we were but a block OF our
way. and no scratching of matches
would make them stay lighted for a
minute. At the foot Of the hill the
driver brought the horses to a halt
and informed me that the road ahead
looked impossible.
| peered out of the window.
An unbuilt space was on my right,
and across the dark expanse and across
the street which cut the other side of
it | looked. to the long roofs and walls
of the convent, all a dull monotone
scarcely distinguishable from the
night. Only on the corner a solitary
street lamp illuminated a little space
of the wall and made a pool of light
on the pavement beneath.
The silence was broken by the
sound of voices talking-the jargon of
poems, | thought-and | remembered
that / was alone and driving across a
lonely part of the city. The voices
seemed to be approaching down Pow
ell street. even now perhaps under the
very convent walls. They sounded
loud and joviaI.
Cant you turn into the sand lot and
make a crosscut to Mason street," |
whispered to the driver.
Muttering that sand was "decenter
than mud at least he remounted his
box and swung the horses about. We
turned away into the dark, unlighted
space without the approaching group
being any the wiser of our presence.
But as we went | saw suddenly
emerging from behind the convent wall
and coming out into the pool of light
the swinging serapes and great shad-
owy hats Of the Mexicans. They were
crossing Lombard. They were keeping
straight ON down Powell, probably for
some of the North Beach resorts. but
as with voluble talk and laughter they
passed the opposite curb | noticed Il sin
gular thing-one man who dropped out
of the group silently as if unobserved
by his companions. He seemed to make
one step from the lighted street into
the shadow and was swallowed up in
it as completely as if he had plunged
into a forest. He had entered that very
tract that had entered!
put my head out OF the window and
spoke. softly to the driver. stop.
Keep perfectly still until he gets by"
The hackman seemed TO understand
what | wanted and drew up the team,
and we waited. | heard footsteps.
They seemed TO be coming straight to-
ward the carriage. No: they were pass
ing to the left of it. 1t was probable
that this person was quite unconscious
of our presence. but my heart was
beating so hard it seemed to me he
surely must hear it.
The footsteps stopped. | hardly dared
to breathe. Then | heard the rough
sound of a match, there came a small
blue squirt. and suddenly in the little
u%pthrown illumination l saw the lips
holding tightly the cigarette. \ little
higher the flame stretched, and l saw
the eyes and the black bar of the
brows. | almost screamed. At the
instant he looked up and saw me.
1t was just for an instant we gazed
at each other thus. Then the match
went out. the light of the cigarette
failed. and | saw it drop like IL glow
worm to the ground. | was looking
again into nothing but impenetrable