The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-12-01

ON THE FIRE I SAW THE FOOT
PRINT"
II brought it, goblet of brandy, with
some carbonated water. He drank it all
without putting down the glass. &. 4. +.
His face was strange, Excellency 4. ., ..
Then he looked at me.
Put log on the fire. he said.
II went in and added wood to the fire
and came out
| THE Master remained in the doorway:
he re-entered when I came out, and
closed the door behind him There
was long silence after that; then
heard the voice, permitted to the devo-
cation, thin, metallic, offering the barter
| to the Master. 1t began, and ceased be-
cause the Master was on his feet and
before the fireplace. I heard him swear
again. and presently return to his place
| by the table,"
The big Oriental lifted his face and
looked out at the sweep Of country be-
fore the window.
THE thing went on, Excellency the
voice offering its lure, and presenting it
in brief flashes of naturalization, and
| the Master endeavoring to seize and de-
| tain the visitattons, which ceased in
stantly at his approach to the hearth"
The man paused.
II knew the Master contended in vain
against the thing; If he would acquire
possession Of what it offered, he must
destroy what the creative forces of the
spirit had released to him"
Again he paused.
Toward morning he went out of the
house. I could hear him walking on
the gravel before the door. He would
walk the full length of the house and re-
turn. The night was clear; there was a
chill in it, and every sound was audi
BILE.
THAT was all, ExcelIency. The Mas
ter returned a little later and assembled
to his bedroom as usual
Then he added:
"It was when went in to put wood
on the fire that I saw the footprint on
the hearth"
There was a force, compelling and
vivid, IN these meager details, the severe
suppression of things, big and tragic. No
elaboration could have equalled, in effect,
the virtue of this restraint.
The man was going on, directly, with
the story.
1.-THE following night, Excellency, the |
thing happened. The Master had passed
the day in the open. He dined with
good appetite, like man in health. And
there was a change in his demeanor. He |
had the aspect Of men who are deter |
mined to have a thing out at any hazard. !
After his dinner the Master went Into |
the drawing-room and closed the door |
behind him. He had not entered the |
room on this day. It had STOOD Locked |
and close-shuttered!"
The big Oriental paused and made a |
gesture outward with his fingers, as Of |
one dismissing an absurdity.
mo living human being could have |
been concealed in that room. There Is
onlv the bare floor, the Masters table
and the fireplace. The great wood shut
ters were bolted in, as they had STOOD
since the Master took the room for
workshop and removed the furniture.
The door was always Locked with that
special thief-proof lock that the Ameri-
can smiths had made lot It, NO one
could have entered"
It was the report of the experts at the
trial They showed by the casing of
rust on the bolts that the shutters had
not been moved; the walls ceiling and
floor were undisturbed; the throat OF
+ba chimney was coated evenly with old
soo+ ONLY the door was possible as an
entry. and this was always locked ex-
cept when Rodman was hlmsen IN the
room. And at such times the big Or1en-
tai never left his post in the hall before
it That seemed conoltlon OF MS mSs-
FERROUS overcare of Rodman'
Everybody thought the trial court
went tn an excessive care. 1t scrutinized
in minute detail every avenue that could
possibly lead to solution Of the mystery.
Tbe whole country and every resident
was inquisitioned. The conclusion was
There was no human crea-
4ura on that forest crest of the Berk-
sh,res but Rodman and his servant.
But one can see why the trial judge
kept at the thing; he was seeking an
exclamation consistent with the common
o-,ariance of mankind. And when he