Omaha daily bee., 1921-11-11
The Voice That Came Out OF the
Night.

NlkHt.
For the first few seconds follow.
ing my sudden awakening | was
sure that nightmare must have me
in its grip. The ghosily face in the
moonlight, topping the huddled fig
ure which had materialized within 4
few feet OF me while / slept on the
broad rock by the reservoir shore
was far more like the hgment OF a
diseased imagination than reality.
1T must be dream, a dream"
remember saying the words over 10
myself in whispered chant. as ii
they had some power TO Danish the
sight, which grew steadily more
frighiiul the longer | looked at il.
For with closer scrutiny saw
blood running over the ghostly face,
hideously streaking its deathly white
ness with earmine, and knew by the
eontorted limbs that the man had
been dealt terrible injury.
| saw something else also, the un-
mistakable uniform oi the state
troopers which the unconscious body
wore. The sight, recalling as il did
the man who, according to Mr.. Co.'S
grove, had trailed us down the road.
cleared the cobwebs from my brain
and made me realize that It was not
nightmare, but horrible reality that
faced me in the moonlight.
Where were the others OF our fish
ing partys could hear no sound of
voices or of laughter such as | had
heard before | went TO sleep. Was
fsalone in this desolate placer Did
aid for this desperately wounded
man depend wholly upon me? /
drew myself TO sitting position,
and was almost petritied with horror
to hear low sibilant voice with a
suspicion of foreign accent in it, ut
ter brusque command.
Lie down again, quick, il you
don't want a bullet in you. I've got
you covered"
| obeyed instantly. There was
something in that menacing voice
which would have commanded obe-
dience, | believe, from far braver
folk than /. There was silence for
second or two, while heard the
rustic OF grass, and then the voice
spoke again, mercifully farther away
this time.
A Menacing Command.
What you doing here? A-hal I
knowl That fool fishing party.
Lucky for the rest they're good
half-mile away. Now listen. You
lie there and shut your eyes and
count up to FIVE thousand-slow, the
way your heart beats. There's more
than one of us around here, and
we'll know whether you move or
not And if you move or speak be-
fore that time, the devil help you.
When you've hnished' you can do
what you please for that carrion
yonder, but it won't help any. Now,
remember, we've got you covered" +"
The voice ceased, and again the
rustic of grass came to my ears as
though some one were creeping
through it. Even in my terror,
however, | gave mental tribute to
the person thus moving, for he
rustling was the slightest of sounds,
and if 7 had not been listening for it
| would have attributed it to the
breeze.
For a minute or two, terrorized
by; the suggestion of the menacing
voice, I did exactly as he bade me.
| lay still with eyes closed, mentally
counting as if my very life depended
upon it. Then gradually glimmer
of common sense illuminated my
befogged and benumbed brain, and
| stopped counting and began to
reason out this bewildering thing
which had happened to me.
Had the trooper traced our inno-
cent fishing party, or had he been
on the track Of the stealthy prowler
who had dealt him this awful blow?
These questions I put aside and
turned my attention to the things
I could reason out.
What Madge Decided.
The trooper was grievously
wounded. His assailant was trav-
cling away from the vicinity as fast
as possible. I would not have to
wait until I counted five thousand
before | went to the wounded mans
aid. That number had been given
to frighten me, as had the sugges-
ton that there were others watch
ing me. There were no others, I
was sure. The unknown assassin
with the foreign accent had simply
judged an American woman's cred
ulity and fright by those of the
women to whom he was accus-
toned.
stealthily lifted the wrist upon
which CLEANED the illuminated dial
of my watch, noted the time, and
composed myself to wait until FIVE