Mexico Missouri message., 1913-01-23
IN. average healthy man can 20 ten


ard. SIR"
see that he's kept there, Mr.. Mac
Leod," told him. I'D feel better II
you put watch on him tonight. To
morrow wen run in to Gloucester and
look up his people and frienda"
Very good, sir"
Thank you"
thought OF having look at Peter
Johnson, myself, for was somewhat
| curious to study that face again when
It was sentient, and had eyes open.
but on second thought | decided to
wait until morning. It seemed silly
to suspect this seemingly honest but
unfortunate fisherman.
We had not been speeding so well
during the afternoon; there was some
trouble reported from the engine
room, and 1t was question whether
we had made over fifteen knots an
hour since two o'clock. l lhow that
at ten o'clock that night, when the
moon went down, We were somewhere
east of Nantucket, and directly In the
path OF the transatlantic liners.
The night was balmy as night in
springtime, and Cameron and / In
light overcoats sat on the after-deck,
watching the moon slide slowly below
the dark horizon line. Our chairs were
close together, facing the lee rail; his
the farther astern. We talked OF
many things, remember. He was al
ways interested in my work, and es-
pocia1Iy IL, ,,,v ,,,hitipps ~ p,olfa Tho
Week a power for national good; and,
| remember that we discussed several
projects | then had in mind for bring
ing about reform in high places. But
the subject which then interested me
most, and regarding which | still eX-
perienced a vague, unreasoning uneas-
iness, he had avoided throughout the
to me studied intent.
The sudden cessation Of hostillties
on tho part of those whom he had
been given every reason to look upon
as his implacable enemies, was GER
tainly strange enough to have invited
endless debate; and ! marveled that,
after having accepted my falsehood
as truth, he had not chosen TO 20 over
with me the whole marvelously per-
picking business.
His mind, knew, was relieved by
what had made him believe. or he
would not now be the man he was;
but despite that, 1t appeared to me,
Il would be most natural for him, on
this day OF all days-the twenty-hrst
Of the month--to question, at least.
my previously emphatically stated
conclusions.
There had been a moment OF silence
between us, and these reflections were
dominant with me. as six bells, ring
| ing out unsteady, announced that
midnight was but an hour distant At
that instant, while in time 10 the
bells strokes, there echoed In my
brain the words: Know then, that be
fore the morning OF the eighth day
! hence" Cameron, lowering his CT
gar. turned to ME with:
Clyde, wonder il you have for
gotten what day this Isl"
l don't know why. coming at Just
that particular juncture, the question
should be more upsetting than IL II
had come at some other time OF day,
but | know II seemed so to me.
For little space my tongue refused
its office. There was lump in my
throat which demanded &c be swal-
lowed, and | made a pretonce Of
coughing to hide my plight At length
answered, bit lamely:
No. haven't forgotten. It's
Wednesday. the twenty-irst Of Octo-
| ber."
He returned his cigar to his lips and
smoked in silence for a full minute.
Then, he said, quietly:
IT'S seven days since that empty
envelope came"
Yes" l returned.
There was another slight pause and
he went on:
81 have been thinking that possibly
you were wrong about the significance
OF that empty envelope. Possibly
those enigmatical persons intended
that absence of definite threat TO
imply the inconceivably terrible"
Now that he had started TO talk
about II, / wished that he had contin-
ued his silence. l could not under
stand how l had convinced him be-
fore. knowing all the while that l was
without truth TO support me. Ger
tainly, now, pervaded as l was with
that grim disquietude, It would be
even more difficult to carry conviction
with my words.
Whatever they intended" l ven.
tured. yielding q fraction OF a point,
1T seems to me that they'll have some
difficulty IN carrying it out. There
are no portraits here 10 mutilate and
no mirrors 10 smash. For the previ-
Gus performances there must be some
more or less simple explanation.
Neither you nor I believe in the SUI
pernatural; therefore the things that
happened at Cragholt were brought
about by natural means, seemingly in.
| eXplicAble as they were. Now no nat