Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-22
PENROD---By Booth Harrington ~

members OF tho household from troub-
ling to put any more matches in the
porcelain slipper.
Thereupon Penrod decided TO go out
doors. The decision itself was . sim
pie matter: action upon II was deferred
because Of extreme hesitation to move
at all. But after Rruesome period OF
inertia he began to tiptoe backward in
the direction OF the door, keeping eyes.
AK and carving knife warily toward
Thus retrogressing, he presently found
himself in the side hnll. which sepa-
rated all tho front part OF the roomy.
oid-fash'oned house from tho dining
room and kitchen. Tho doors leading to
the forward rooms were closed. and the
thought of opening them filled him
with horror, in his minds eye he saw
them, saunt. huge. full Of black shapes
OF furniture. lurking places that might
conceal anything!
An empty house in the nighttime has
few attractions for a boy. Inclosed
darkness sickens his soul and likewise
has a discouraging physical enect. eli
making in the pit Of his stomach. which
Is the seat OF courage. This tabled
point, in the case Of Penrod. was be-
moment He suffered from an unpleas-
ant conviction that he was surrounded
by vital dangers. which became the
deadlier for each slightest movement
that he made These dangers were all
the more dreadful because they were
underlined: the inscrutable darkness held
secrets, and. putting out his hand to
feel the wall near the kitchen door. he
encountered one of them. His fingers
very very briefly closed upon some
thing that felt like a head OF wet, cold
hair. It sank from his touch and there
was a thick sounding thud upon the
floor.
"oofr' moaned Penrod. the question
of going out through the kitchen thus
definitely settled. and when he became
again conscious OF his whereabouts he
was on the second floor at the top of
tho back stairs.
Mops have driven greater than Pen
rod.
He was sorely shaken. but not dis
posed to linger In the vicinity OF stairs
that led toward kitchen inhabited by
surprises of this kind. He fed into his
fathers bedchamber, bruising himself
variously in the passage thereto. and.
abandoning hts weapons for the mo-
ment. slid his hand along the wall until
1t came to a forbidden object that hung
there.
It was an Enfield rife, a muzzle-load-
ing relic. last put to use by Penrod's
grandfather on day in the year 1883.
and 1t was truly unloaded. Penrod got
in the general direction Of the door by
which he had entered and whispered
feNble and TREMENDOUSLY:
Now let's see whu-what you were
goin' to do so mum-much"
He maintained this attitude until the
weight Of the extended rife became in
supportable; then he grounded arms
and leaned back against a bureau.
breathing even more vehemently than
before. His elbow touched bottle; he
seized upon 1t and smelled the con-
tents-spirits Of camphor. Suggestion
was Immediately reused by the mem
DRY OF an unpleasant experience in the
past. He recorlsed the bottle, placed
1t under his arm and muttered:
you betcha, Guess they won't like
this so much. Sprinkle it in their ole
eyes,"
1t now became his purpose to make
his way cautiously to the front stair
way. descend to the front hall. and
thence, by the front door. reach the
motions. he put himself once more In
possession of his ak and carving knife
thrust the latter in the breast of his
Jacket. and though incumbered to the
point Of difficulty by the az, the gun
and the camphor bottle, returned to the
upper hall and began an advance in
force.
He went forward a dozen steps with
some confidence, then halted abruptly
What stopped him was something al
together inside himself. In the darkness
a green vapor appeared (though not at
the other end of the hail. where he
thought 1T did and there emerged from
1t the shocking figure of an Old Man
lying in the rain at the mouth of a
wind-swept cavern. The vision Of the