Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-01-12
CHAPTER XI.-(Continued.)

said Swain. his face flushing with ing
er. that she has beer practilly a pris-
oner ever. since the yogi arrived. Be
sides. even if she had succeeded IN
mailing the letter, it wouldn't have
reached me until too late
I'm what way too late"
Her father seems TO have had g
sudden turn for the worse yesterday,
he became almost violent in insisting
that she consent to his plan. He tod
her that the life of his own soul. as
we'll as that of hers. depended upon 1T.
He threatened-I ont know what. the
yogi talked to her afterwards. He. ol
course, believed, OF pretended 10 pc
licvc. rs her father did; moreover. he
told her that her father would certain
ly suffer a serious mental shock III she
refused. perhaps II fatal one. In de-
spair, she finally agreed, on the condi-
| ton that she be given three days m
! which to prepare herself. If she did
not hear from me i'm that time, n had
made up her mind to consent
swain stopped again. and lay back
i'm my chair, wondering il such things
were possible in his Twentieth cen
fury. here within the boundaries Oh
Grcater New York! My brain reeled at
the absurdity of 1T!
vaughan was undoubtedly surfer
ing from lldlllo, sdlu III
p low voice. 'The symptoms, as Mr..
Swain describes them, are unmlstak-
able" :,
1T was that argument ! used,' salu
Swain. Il told her that. since he was
clearly mad, she must, i'm self defense,
place herself beyond his reach. But
she refused to leave him. Then, l ar
have him committed to some lnstltu.
ton where he would be taken care OF,
and where he might, in time, regain ms
sanity. l told her that it would be
criminal folly to permit him to remain
longer under the influence of the yogi.
She had to agree with me, and sne
finally consented to sign an affidavit to
the facts as / have told them. and a
petition asking that a commission be
appointed to examine her father. o
were to have drawn up the papers to-
day, Mr.. Lester, and | was to have
taken them to her for signature tonlsht.
rha would nave settled the mat
ter" said Godfrey, thoughtfully. It's
too bad it wasn't settled in that way.
What else happened, Mr.. Swain"
Miss Vaughan had grown very
nervous, with all this discussion, and
at last she sprang to her feet and said
she must go, or her father would dis
cover her absence. We rose to leave
the arbor, and at that instant, a
NI~lllG-IODDctt IISutC SPhaiS w DSi oAHSt
seized her and ore her away from me-.
l was too startled for an instant to
resist; then, as I started toward them,
Marjorie pushed me back.
"'Go! Got she cried. 1T is my
fault
But he stopped me. In a voice shak-
ing and husky with rage, he warned
my life would be forfeit. l can't re-
peat the horrible things he said. 1
could see his eyes cleaning like a wild
beasts. He cursed me. l had never
been cursed before" and Swain smiled
thinly, and l confess it wasn't pleas
n Then he led his daughter away.
II stood staring after them. / didn't
man myself. / sat down and tried to
collect my thoughts. l saw that some
new plan must be made-that there was
no hope of meeting Marjorie again. 1
was sick with fear for her: l thought
of following to the house and compell-
ing her to come with me at once; And
then, suddenly, l saw two eyes gleam-
ing at me. They were not human eyes
they were too close together-and
they were swaying gently back and
forth in the air. about a foot from the
ground. I gazed at them, fascinated,
and then / heard a soft, low whistle.
followed by a faint kissing as the eyes
fell forward.
I'm a flash. l knew what it was-the
cobra: knew why it was there
Vaughan had said my life was forfeit.
l sprang up with a shrek, dashed along
tho seat to the door and out into the
darkness. I struck my head against
something's tree. l suppose: but I
kept on. and reached the wall and got
over 1t somehow-it is all confused,
after that. I seem to remember hear
Ing Marjorie scream, and finding her
lying beside her father, who was dead
I can't put things together and
he rubbed his head helplessly.
I'll put them together for you," said
Godfrey. "When you ran into the tree,
you suffered a partial conclusion. It's
lucky it wasn't total. Dr. Toto would
have got you!"
"Toto?"
"rhat. 1 believe. is the cobra.s
Name" explained Godfrey. with a
smile: unless, of curse. there are two
of them" And he told Swain in detail
OF the events which had followed.
Swain listened with staring eyes. l
did not blame him. Indeed. I felt that
my own eyes were staring a little,
though l already knew the story. But
Godfrey. with a gift or narration born
OF long newspaper experience, told 1t
IN a way that made its horror salient
and left n gasping.
you. SWAIN" he said, in conclusion,
"and I want you to think carefully be-
fore o answer it. During your alter
cation with Mr.. Vaughan. did you at
any time touch him?"
Touch him? No. of course not and
Swain shook his head decidedly.
You are sure of that::" asked God
frey earnestly.
Perfectly sure said Swain. lookins
Mt him In astOnishment. Il was never
within three feet Of him."
Godfrey sprang to his feet with q
gesture Of relief.
Il seem ia need q cocktail" he said,
Ia another tone. Isn't that the pre-