Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-02-14
THE
GREAT HESPER
By FRANK BARRETT


With this resolve / drew away from
the door toward that part of the
room where, as i fancied, the carved
press stood. / keep my arms free
my body crouched together, and ev-
cry muscle tense and ready.
| hacked a few feet from the door
and then i stopped, as the reflection
crossed my mind that l might be
backing toward my Adversary Then
] regretted that | had left the door,
where at least l might have stood
safe from a rear attack.
! could hear nothing but the
throbbing of the blood in my temples
! and the quick tic-tac, tic-tac-tic-tac,
/ tic-tac, tic-tac, of my watch behind
/ me, yet ] knew the murderer must
be moving.
He had his work 10 do, and must
have made up his mind how TO do it
before putting out the light. ! could
see nothing, and the silence and
darkness were horrible, with the
possibility of his falling upon me
from behind. Yet now was | to
guard against that attack, not
knowing where he was? Possibly
his visual power was stronger than
mine.
| knew by the ticking of my watch
that the bed was somewhere behind
me, and that ] ought to be facing
the oTiel; as ! strained my eyes to
catch any rays Of light that might
exist, fancied | detected a dim gray
seam in tn blackness before me-pos-
sibly the curtains making the oriel
were lightly parted.
AS | continued to stare in that di-
rectiOn, / became convinced that this
was the fact, and slight though the
assurance was, it gave me some feel
ing OF security; III that direction |
might know OF my foes approach.
And, sure enough, at that very mo-
ment the gray seam was blocked out.
He was there, between me and the
oriel My first impulse was to end
the terrible suspense, and spring for
ward upon him; but prudence checked
me.
He might he closer to me- or he
might he close to the oriel-it was
impossible for me to tell merely by
the absence of faint light. IT, in
spIinging forward, | fell short of
him, il would he all over with me.
My force expended in the spring, he
would have me at his mercy. and a
short death was the only kind of |
mercy | had TO expect. Again, what |
feeble li%ht there was must fall upon
me, az / raced tan advantage for |
him. terrible peril for me.
/ resolved to back toward the wall |
at the upper end of the room, and |
guided still by the ticking OF my
watch, drew back with the stealthy |
caution OF a cat
Suddenly | saw the gray seam of |
light again. Had he gone To the |
right or left? ! knew not. Quickly |
stretched my foot out behind me; ] |
felt something, and for the instant |
thought ] had touched the fellow
but, as turning about ] CROPPED my !
hand forward, | encountered the cold |
woodwork of the bedstead 1t was |
one of the carved pillars. 7 drew my
self up, and got my back against it.
Now, at least, that dreaded stab in
the back was less probable.
] am not a coward, yet ! own that |
the terror of the following minutes
thrills me now as | look back upon
it. The impenetrable darkness, the |
by contrast with the perpetual tic-tac,
behind me, were made terrific by the
awful uncertainty of my position.
] stood there waiting for the at
tack, until the suspense growing in
tOlerable, ] felt that l must end it
by shouting aloud to Brace, and pre-
cipitating the final struggle.
II will wait FIVE minutes longer,
and no more" | said to myself, re-
solving to calculate the space fairly.
and with due allowance for false i'm
preston. / calculated that two min
utes had passed, when I fancied /
heard the bed creak behind me. Was
this one of the false impressions ]
had promised myself to guard against,
or was the sound caused by the man
upon the bed behind me?
The hair bristled upon my head as
thought heard the creak repeated;
yet / stood there, and counted another
minute, with every nerve and fibre
prepared to spring away.
"Now. surely four minutes are up"
thought and drew my head down
into my shoulders, for as surely as if
my eyes had been turned that way
and the full light Of the sun shining
IN the room, knew that the man was
behind me upon the bed.
| drew deep inspiration, resolved
10 shout my loudest to Brace, but
before the sound bad passed my lips {
? towel was drawn tight upon my
face, and my head jerked back
against the post behind me. A fold
If the towel gagged me completely:
{ was with difficulty ! breathed.
but in vain, to wrench my
self away; a quick and sure hand
1ad knotted the towel. I threw up
ny hands TO tear the thing off; in !
an instant they were enveloped in
he thick curtains, and though the
fellow had not sufficient strength to
lie them down to my side, he at
east baffled my attempts to free my '
read. ] drew my feet from the
yround, hoping that my weight would ;
lrag my head from the towel; / only
in drawing the knots tight
r, and half strangling myself. {
As / could not release my head ]
rot my arms down, and tried to seize
he rascal's feet, but he kept them be-