Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-11
BEYOND THE GREAT OBLIVION
lSnn1clt TO The Nncnnl WnrllN
(Sequel to "The Vacant WorId'O
BY GEORGE ALLAN ENGLAND
conyrtght l0le Oy Fronh 4. Mlnscy compnny

right obow Tho arm dropped helpless.
| The boulder which. nuug with accurate
aim. had destroyed his aim rolled at his
| feet. The pistol Clattcrcd over the Wet
/ shining stones.
stern cursug madly, lcapcd aud
| snatchod for it with tine other hand.
I Before he could even reach it swift
| foot trippcd him powerfully icadlonG he
| fell And in second one of the very
| ropes that had been used to drag the
| Paullac from the depths was lashed about
his wrists, his ankles his struggling, light
ing body.
Beatrice, Shoot! KIN" he shouted
| Help here Help! Tie machtnc-they'u
| wreck il! EyerythnE--lost Help"
His speech died in a choking humble
| stIacd by the wet and sodden gag they
| forced into his mouth.
About him the mob sccthcd. Through
| his brain quick anguish thrilled, the
/ thought OF Beatrice unaided and alone.
| Then came wonder when the death stroke
| would fall-a frightfu sick despair that
| on the very eve of triumph, Of salvation
| for this Folk and for the world as well
a. for Beatrice and himself this unfore-
seen catastrophe should have befalen
lie struggled stll to catch some glimpse
Of Beatrice to cry aloud to her. to shield
| her; hut alone against five hundred, he
| was pcwCrlcss,
Nowhere could he catch even glimpse
| Of the girl. In that showing, pushing,
! shouting npTNc, lolNlIlE tOulC ne Uiiut out
| lie knew not even whether civil war had
| hlaZed or whether all alike had owned
the rule OF Enmrou the Terrible.
Like buoys tossing upon the surface OF
a raging sea the laring torches pitched
and danced rose fell And from n multi
tudc Of throata, from beach and causeway,
walls and town strange shouts rang up
into the all-embr1C!ng. vague, enshrouding
vapor.
Still striving to fight, bound as he was,
he felt a great force driving him along,
on, on UP the beach and toward the VIII
lage,
Mute. desperate, stark mad. he knew the
Folk were halt-carrying, half-dragging him
up the CauscWay,
As in dark dream, he vaguely saw the
great fortified gate with its huge. torch
lighted mouothic Intel Even upon this
some Of the Folk were crowded now to
watch the strange, /. credible spectacle OF
the man who had once turned tho tide OF
battle against the Lanskaarn and had
saved all their lives now hailed like a GRIM
inal back into the community he had res
Cued in its hour Of sOrest need.
His mind leaped to their first entry into
the villa se-it seemed months ago-ulso as
prisoners. In a flash he recalled all that
had happened since and bitterly he Knocked
himself for having dared to dream that
their influence had really altered these
strange, barbarous souls, or uplifted them
or taught them anything at all.
NOW now just as the rescue of these
people was at hand, just as the machine
might have carried us and them back into
the world, slowly, one by one-uow comes
defeat and death :"
An exceeding great bitterness filled his
soul once more at this harsh. cync turn
Of fate. But most Of all he yearned toward
Beatrice That he should die mattered
nothing; but the thought of this girl per-
lshlnE at their hands there in the lost
Abyss was dreadful as the pangs OF all
the tabled hells.
Again he fought to hold back, TO try for
some sight, even heetlng glimpse Of Bea-
trice but the Folk with harsh cries drove
him roughly forward.
He could not even see the patriarch. All
was confusion glare smoke noise as he
was thrust through the fortified gate out
into the thronged plaza
And through all his rage and bitter baf-
fement and pain sudden great desire
welled up IN him TO see this chief OF the
Folk, at last-to lay eyes on this for
midable, this terrible one--to stand face
10 face with him in whose hand now lay
everything. Kamrou
Across the dim-fog-coyered expanse Of
the plaza he saw the blue-green simmer
OF the great flame,
Thither, toward that strange, eternal
fire and the CHASTITY circle of the head
less skeletons the Folk were drifting now.
Thither his captors were dragging him.
And there, he knew kamrou awaited |
Beatrice and him. There doom was TO
be dealt out to them. There, and at once
on, on the Folk bore hun All at once
he saw again that two-pronged torch
raised before him, going ahead; and a
way cleared through the press.
Along this way he was carried, no
longer struggling but eager now 10 know
the end TO meet 1t brayely and with calm
philosophy, "as tits a man.
And quite at once he found himself in
sight Of the many dangling skeletons,
Now the quivering Jet OF flame grew
visible. Now, suddenly he was thrust
forward into a smooth and open space.
Silence fell
Before him he saw Kamrou, Kamrou the
Terrible, at last.