Rocky Ford enterprise., 1914-03-27
| weirdness. For silence is in reality a

weirdness. For silence is in reality a
composite of many lesser noises. In a
woodland almost inaudible insects
hum, breezes blow. leaves and grasses
rustic; at sea the tiny waves lap the
sides and equally tiny breaths of air
stir the cordage; within the confines
of the human shell the mere physical
acts of breathing. swallowing, wink
ing, the mere physical facts of the
circulation of the blood, the beating
of the heart. produce each its sound.
Even a man totally deaf feels the
subtle influence of these latter phys
ical phenomena. And underneath all
sound. perceptible alike to those who
can hear and those who can not. are
the vibrations that accompany every
activity of nature as the manifesto
lions OF motion or of life. An Or
binary deep silence is not SO much
an absence of sound as an absence of
accustomed or loud sound. And in that
unusual hush often for the first time a
man becomes actutely aware of the
singing of the blood in his ears.
But this silence was absolute. All
mated.
For a moment Boss Mccarthy star
ed; then showed back his chair with a
violent motion, and rose. He was like
shadow on screen. The filching
from the world of one element of it's
everyday life had Unexpectedly rem
dered it all phantasmagoric.
AS Mccarthy shouted, and no sound
came; as he moved from behind his
desk, and no jar accompanied his
heavy football, he appeared to lose
blood and substance. to become unreal.
AS no sound issued from his contorted
face, so 1t seemed that no force would
follow his blow. were he to deliver one.
He stumbled forward. dazed and
cropping as though he were in the
dark, instead of merely in silence; a
striking example in the uncertainty
OF his movements of how closely our
senses depend on one another.
Jack spoke twice. then closed his
lips in grim straight line. He held
his elbows close to his sides. and
looked ready for anything.
A look of mild triumph illumined
Percy Darrow's usually languid coun-
enance. He stepped quickly to the
wall, and turned the button of the In
cadenscent globe. The light instantly
glowed. At this he nodded twice more
From his pocket he drew notebook
and pencil. wrote in 1t a few words.
and handed 1t to the dazed and un-
certain boss.
81 was right" Darrow had scrawled
This proves 1t. It's by no means the
end. Better be good"
McCarthy's bulldog courage had re-
covered from its first daze. He began
to see that this visitation was not en-
tirely personal. but extended also to
his two companions. This relieved
his mind for he had suspected some
strange new apoplexy.
Did you expect this?" he wrote.
barrow nodded.
Together the three ghosts left the
phantom office. and glided down the
phantom halls. Other ghosts In vari-
GUS stages of alarm were already max
ing their way down the stairs. Some
Of them spoke. but no sound came.
One woman, her eyes frightened,
reached out furtively to touch her
neighbor. apparently to assure herself
of his reality. Urged by an uncon-
trollable impulse. a man thrust his
hand through the ground glass of an
office door. The glass shivered, and
crashed to the tile floor. The pieces
broke-silently. 1t was as though the
man had been the figure in a cinemato-
graph Illusion. He stared at his cut
and bleeding hand. The woman who
had touched the man suddenly threw
back her head and screamed. They
could see her eyes roll back, her face
change color. could discern the strain
ing of her throat. No sound came.
At this a panic seized them. They
rushed down the stairs, clambering
over one another. pushing. scrambling.
falling. A mob of a hundred men
fought for precedence. Blows were
struck No faintest murmur of tumult
came from their futile heat. 1t might
have been the riot OF wax-works in
a vacuum.
They fell into the lower hallway.
and fought their way to the street.
and stood there dazed and staring,
strange, wild-eyed, white-faced. bloody
crew. The hurrying avenue stopped to
gaze on them curiously, gathering com.
pact a mob that blocked all traffic.
Policemen pushed their way in and