The Washington herald., 1914-05-10
Pollock sat paraiyzed and stared at the

Pollock sat paraiyzed and stared at the
horror for some tipe. Then he got up
and walked round it-giving 1t wide
berth-and out Of the shed.
He told Perera Of the business a.
though II was q Jest-a Jest to be told
with white lips. You should not have
frishten de dog" said Perera, with poos-
ly simulated hilarity.
The next two days. until the steamer
came, were spent by Pollock in making q
more effectual disposition Of his pos
session. Overcoming his aversion to
handling the thing. he went down to the
river mouth and threw II into the sea
water, but by some miracle II escaped the
crocodiles and was cast up by the tide
on the mud a little way UP the river, to
be found by an intelligent Arab half
breed and offered for sale to Pollock and
Perera as a curiosity. Just on the edge
Of night The native hung about In the
brief twilight. making lower and lower
offers, and at last. getting scared in some
way by the evident dread these wise white
men had for the thing. went on. and.
passing Pollock's shed. threw his burden
in there for Pollock to discover In the
morning.
At this Pollock got into a kind Of
frenzy He would burn the thing. He
went out straightway into the dawn and
had constructed a big pyre Of brushwood
before the heat OF the day. He was In
terrupted by the hooter of the little pad
die steamer from Monrovia to Bathurst.
which was coming through the gap In
the bar. Thank heaven" said Pollock.
with infinite piety. when the meaning Of
the sound dawned upon him. With tremb-
ling hands he lit his pile Of wood hastily.
to pack his portmanteau and make his
adieux to Perera-
That afternoon. with a sense Of infinite
relief, Pollock watched the fat swampy
foreshore Of Sulyma grow small in the
distance.
Good by. Porroh-' said Pollock.
Good by-certainly not au revoir."
The captain OF the steamer came and
leaned over the rail beside him. and wish
ed him good evening. and spat at the
froth of the wake in token Of friendly
ease.
II picked up q rummy curio on the
beach this CO." said the captain IT'S
a thing I never saw done this side Of
Indy before
What might that be-" said Pollock.
Picked ed" said the captain.
''what?" said Pollock.
'Ed-smoked. Ed OF one OF these
Porroh chaps, all ornamented with knife
cuts. Why. What's up? Nothing? I
shouldn't have took you FOR a nervous
chap. Green in the face. By gosh! you're
a bad sailor. All right. Ell? Lord. how
funny you WENT Well. this ed I was
telling you Of is a bit rum in a way. I've
got It. along with some snakes, in a jar
OF spirit in my cabin what I keeps for
such curios. and I'm hanged If it don't
float upsy down. Hello
Pollock had given an incoherent cry
and had his hands in his hair. He ran
toward the paddle boxes with half
formed idea of jumping into the sea, and
then he realized his position and turned
back toward the captain
Here" said the captain. Jack Phil
Ups. just keep him of me! Stand on! No
nearer. mister, What's the matter with
you? Are you mad7"
Pollock put his hand to his head. 1t
was no good explaining. IT believe I am
pretty nearly mad at times" he said.
Its a pain have here. Comes suddenly.
You'll excuse me, I hope"
He was white and in q perspiration. He
saw suddenly very clearly all the danger
he ran of having his sanity doubted. The
captain described the head in detail. All
the while Pollock was struggling to keep
under a preposterous persuasion that the
ship was as transparent as glass and that
he could distinctly see the inverted face
looking at him from the cabin beneath
his feet.
Pollock had a worse time almost on the
steamer than he had at Sulyma. All day
he had to control himself in spite of his
intense perception of the imminent pres
ence Of that horrible head that was over
shadowrg his mind At night his old
nightmare returned. until, with violent
effort, he would force himself awake.
rigid with the horror OF 1t. and with the
ghost Of a hoarse scream in his throat.
He left the actual head behind at Bath
urst. where he changed ship for Tene-
rife. but not his dreams nor the dull ache
in his bones. At Tenerifte Pollock trans
ferred to a Cape liner. but the head fol-
lowed him. He gambled. he tried chess. he
even read books: but he knew the dan
ger Of drink. Yet whenever round
black shadow, a round black object.
came into his range there he looked for
the head and-saw it
So. struggling grimly and silently with
his excited imagination. Pollock reached
England. He landed at Southampton.
and went on straight from Waterloo to
his bankers in Cornhin in a cab. There
he transacted some business with the
manager in a private room: and all the
while the head hung like an ornament
under the black marble mantel and
drirpcd upon the fender. He could hear
the drops fall and see the rcd on the fen
der.
"A pretty fern" said the manager. fol-
lowing his eyes. But 1t makes the fen
der rusty
Very" said Pollock: "a very pretty
fern. And that reminds me-. Can you
recommend me a physician for mind trou-
bles I've got a little-what is it?-halluci-
nation"
The head laughed savagcly, wildly. Pol
lock was surprised the manager did not
notice it. But the manager only stared
at his face.
presently emerged in Cornhill. There was
no cab in sight. and so he went on down
to the western end of the street. and es-
sayed the crossing opposite the Mansion
House. Tho crossing IS hardly easy even