Evening star., 1928-12-30

the light of my candle neveB fiickered,
only quivered as if from the compress
sion of the saturated air.
From the palm groves somewhere in
the distance behind the garden sounded
wind instruments in Hindu temple,
mingled with monotonous leaden jan
Cling. The singing that went with the
music betrayed the growing inebriation
of the priestly chorus.
I heard strange noises from inside
the house, a shutting and tapping, a
scraping along the walls small crack
ling sounds among the rafters. At in
tervals I heard the cries of animals,
weird war cries or else love plants.
When I went to bed, the moon had
fully risen. 7 was tempted to stroll In
the moonlit garden, but the dangers
we're too great in this strange place
that had been left deserted so long.
Panya was lying asleep in the hall
on his coconut mat. His snoring reas-
sured me; it was the only familiar
sound in the seclusion. When en-
tered my bedroom found my dog,
Elijah, curled up on the bed
The woodwork of the windows had
rotted and in places was broken; the
window panes had disappeared Here,
too, the impenetrable wall of vegetation
closed the view to the outside and kept
the air from coming in. The flowers
in the room spread a strong, almost
tangible scent, sweet and noxious while
out in the moonlight the. crickets
shrilled louder and louder.
I examined my revolver and moved
my bed away from the window. 1t was
hard for me to have to awaken Elijah;
I knew that the least disturbance was
a grave insult to him, and on this night
of uncertainty I did not want my only
companion to be in bad humor. But
he merely muttered GROSSLY, without
really awakening, and went on sleeping
on the floor. put out the light, as 1t
would draw too many insects, retired
within the protection of the mosquito
netting and tried to sleep.
Outside the noises grew louder and
more passionate every minute. The
animation of the strange animal world
communicated itself to my blood and
excited me, so that felt ! should soon
have to give up all hope of sleep that
night My thoughts busted themselves
with the numerous changes and repairs
necessary for a long stay in the house.
They put me out of sorts, as trifling
practical matters are apt to do when
they forcibly replace the contemplation
of higher and more harmonious rela-
tions
BY degrees, however, my thoughts lost
their grip: outlines became hazy; and
through closed lids had the vague i'm
preston that the room had grown
lighter. and the chirp of the crickets
had dissolved into a sultry and oppres-
sive sea of air in which was drifting
lifelessly. I sank into heavy sleep as
II drugged with opium.
A gentle pressure at my side awoke
me with start, and lay rigidly In the
position in which had awakened un-
til / recognized Elijah, who had crept
under the cover of my bed carrying the
mosquito net before him.
Had not the fearful din in the room
been even greater than my anger, I
should certainly have taught my inno-
cent dog an entirely new kind of SOM
ersault But in a moment I realized
instinctively that it was in sheer terror
that Elijah had come to me. He was
trembling violently and was whimper-
ing in deadly fear. SO I let him be,
pressed him to me, and tried to discover
the cause of the extraordinary noise
which filled the room.
X X X
THE moon had risen so high in the
heavens that the light came into
trees At first I could not make out
anything. The patch of light on the
floor and the pale rays athwart the air
blinded me-
Then saw that the floor was alive
with a swarm of large excited rats,
gathered as if for an attack on one side
of the room. In the corner, facing
them, covered a family of cats, small
long-haired beasts, with their young.
1t was plain that the cats-there we're
four or five fully grown and number
of kittens-were hard pressed and
greatly alarmed. They were fighting a
battle of desperation against the SUI
perior forces of the rats. There was
something wildly terrifying in the
menace of their splitting and miauling
even to the overwhelming strength of
their enemies, and their postureS re-
minded me of an infuriated panther. .
1t was evidently an old feud, which
had gone on for a long time in the
house. and tonight had broken out in
to a battle, one of very many, perhaps,
that had preceded it. The position may
once have been reversed. In former
days. perhaps, the cat tribe had ruled
absolutely, oppressively tyrannizing over
the rats, until the rats gained the upper
hand, which they seemed to hold now.
The rats moved slowly forward, with
hideous cries of sanguinary rage. The
weird illumination and the well-nigh
empty room. with corners shrouded in
semi-darkness, strangely distorted my
sense of size and distance; 1T seemed
to me that huge black monsters over
topping me in size were advancing to
do battle, and that was looking on
from distant hill-crest. .
One of the cats Tan old, experienced
tom-cat. it seemed) sprang forward to
the defense with long, low bound-a
wild leap that alarmed and thrilled me.
The cat did not rely much on. its teeth,
but dealt blow after blow with its claws,
deftly, stubbornly and with fatal pre-
cision. ~