| Show THE FATAL REQUESTOR REQUEST-OR FOUND OUT L Harrl Author of Micro Own Fnmlll yy A Familiar Friend etc h 1981 by Oasaet l fA 11 I qp t A I J 9 0 J b n f1 Uornpany pap y r IT V 8 t r t t tt 9m i t A r f CHAPTER IIContinued I flurrltts face became flushed yr jlc started to his feet with tho Ite and Indignation which would Te done credit to one of half his its James he cried with pas Is tills the way you speak roe 0 this the Avy your treat your old theDoes lad Does lie fidelity of half a time count for nothing Why Ie eD your name has been preserved Inviolable secrecy and nt this very omcnt not ono single soul besides yet Is awaro of the object of my rues or of the Identity of tho In r vldual I have come to meotl and Ij Is all you have to say lo me I ad better return home at ono with I It more delay lie was evidently much moved and I e other man could not but recognize al the emotion he betrayed was yen ne So he too rose from his seat d catching Mr Burrltt by tho arm sld My dear follow dont mlsunder and mol Surely you did not take e seriously Just now It Is not that doubted you for a moment Silas i t Ho passed his hand over J eyes as though to clear away ay jtnethlng which obstructed his vision ben after a moments hesitation he o sttlnued I only landed in the old i gantry this morning and it has r ught It all back againall thee the-e ume and sorrow all tho suffering ok d remorseIt seems as fresh as D OUghas though It had all happened ssterday instead of twenty years ago cannot but realize the fact that In f Ite of all my wealth honestly ed too every penny of It I swear I i Jam I a pariah an outcast No dont terrupt me I cell youwlth a bit I II < r mirthless laughI feel more liken like-n returned convict than anything else La James exclaimed Mr Burrltt on shock me you grieve me more z I can say I His friend interrupted him You t 0 eI Believe me Jim ho said falling tt back again into the old familiar style It 01 address you have nothing to fear Your secret Is safe enough with rue rI never doubt it lIe spoke kindly r even affectionately but his fatigue J a as evident and his friend could not 1 but observe It i Silas ho said you are worn out I We will continue the subject sometime t r other some-time i They turned to leave the room to j Kther Mr Burrintt passed out first his companion lingered behind him i As he did so his brief assumption of J the cheerfulness fell from him his taco changed and darkened and tho whole I Presalon altered h All death but one no whispered to Unnd that one The sen tcnce was eft unfinished CHAPTER III I i Midnight Reflections r lrtf Sir Burritt Passed a very restless Perhaps his dinner had Uls greed with him More Probably it try M the result of the agitation and excitement caused by the meeting with the old friend he had not seen for so many years At any rate whatever the cause there was no doubt as to the effect for he found It Impossible to sleep or to do any thing but toss from side to side as hour after hour wearily wore Itself away By some peculiar action of the brain he also found himself compelled to review all the past scenes of his life and mentally step by step retrace re-trace the path ho had trodden during those fifty years or so which went to make up tho sum of his existence on this planet At last In despair he rose and going go-ing to the window looked out upon the night It was a very moonlight nighttoo much so In fact There was something almost weird and ghastly in Its effect So he dropped the blind with a crash and went back to bed again hoping that this time he might be able to sleep But It was the same thing over again Only this time his thoughts concentrated themselves upon his family and his home life Ho remembered remem-bered with a seine of remorse that he had been a little only a little Irritable at breakfast that morning and that ho had spoken rather sharply when Interrogated as to the purpose of his sudden expedition Certain of his friends sayings had grated upon his car and caused a chill feeling of dissatisfaction and regret re-gret Thank God he had said when he heard of the deaths of those others cut off more than one of them before be-fore they had attained their proper span Mr Burritt turned uneasily in his bell as he reflected upon this and remembered re-membered that he was the only one left who know all Tho only ono his friend had to fear To fear Surely that was not the right way to put It nl nir T97 at h I I hT T 7 fi IL i U What brings you here i sneered you aro the immaculate r ktJzen tho man without a past ieJViathavo you to do with such an ono I U There was a bitter sarcasm his tone a morbid jealousy In his iiWxik Mr Burrltt refused to recognize Cffwe presence of either wBBut you will return with me will JHBOU not ho said you will let me In uce you to them and make their I qualntance Take us on your way i yd spend at least one night under my d fo foYou You are very good Silas said his end Ah if they were all like aUbut you forget there are others ho hoMr Mr Burrltt interrupted him I t now what you are going to say and UI relieve your mind at once Of all iose and they were not many six t the outsidewho were Intimately tqualnted with your past history d ho hesitated a moment and t unhappy affair not ono Is living i csldes myself What cried the other man In at excitement All dead All but myself was the answer Thank God for that burnt from I the others lips Will you swear that rt thIs is sothat they are Indeed all dead who are connected with the S last except yourself I Mr Burrltt bent his head in reply the strain of tho interview was beginS begin-S to tell upon him together with the hurried Journey and ho felt the d Deed of repose To fear Could It bo possible that his old friend believed that he had cause to fear him But what had been his own words on the subject You can ruin mo Silas in the eyes of my child as well as in those of the world whenever you please The question was had he at the time really meant what ho said Had he for an instant believed him capable of such baseness as this If sogood heavens it was a dreadful thoughtwould ho not have still greater reason to exclaim thank God when he heard of his death He scarcely dared to breathe it to himself but the Idea having once occurred oc-curred clung to him and refused to bo set aside but returned again and again In spite of his steadfastly rejecting re-jecting It as unworthy and dishonorable dishonor-able At the same time ho found himself him-self wondering whether his friend the object of these painful thoughts who occupied an adjoining room was also lying awake and indulging in unprofitable unprofit-able reflections Or perhaps ho was more pleasantly employed in thinking of his daughter anticipating their meeting and picturing her as sho would be after five years separation Whatever else ho might or might not be ho was evidently an affectionate affection-ate parent devoted to this one child Mr Burritt was getting sleepy at last No doubt It was something which he had eaten at dinner that had upsot his digestion and filled his mind with all these morbid fancies There was nothing like Indigestion for making ono see everything In a bad light Then ho slept and as ho slept he dreamed a dream Ho thought he was lying on the edge of a precipice precipice which went sheer down many hundreds of feet But although he occupied such a dangerous position he felt no uneasiness uneasi-ness at first only a little gentle surprise sur-prise as to what ho was doing there and a little wonder as to what was going to happen Then a hand came up and out of the abyss and grasped him drawing him nearer and nearer to tho giddy verge of the precipice and lie felt himself dragged slowly but surely to destruction destruc-tion In vain he clutched at tho grass and stones and projections of tho cliff he was still drawn on until at last he was poised upon the very edge and could look down into tho depths of tho chasm beneath For a few secondsduring which ho seemed to experience a lifetime of agony he remained In that Awful position Then lo felt himself falling falling from an immeasurable heightand woke What a hideous dream he thought How weird how awful how real I would rather llffitawake tho whole night through that dream Just such another 1 wonder what the time Is Ho felt for his watch and the matches and struck a light Just half past threeno more As ho restored tho articles again to their places bethought be-thought ho heard faint sounds of movement In tho next room Evidently I am not tho only restless rest-less person ho said to himself as ho lay down again I have a companion In misfortune Tomorrow morning wo shall be able to compare experiences I experi-ences Suppose I were to knock at the wall and speak to him But then I might disturb someone else and alarm them That would never do I expect It must have been tho cucumber cucum-ber that gave mo the nightmare I hope I shant have another such dream It I do Ill never touch cucumber cucum-ber any more as long as I live lUll eyes closed and In a few moments his deep and regular breathing showed that ho had again fallen asleep And again ho dreamt and tho dream was as follows He was lying In his bed or at least so he thought and after a while It seemed to him that It became very hard and narrow 30 that he had no room to move in It It was also very dark He tried to turn over upon his side but found as In the other dream that he could stir neither hand nor foot And what appeared to him along I a-long time ho began to hear sounds over his head Sometimes In ono place sometimes In another and at tho same time ho began to experience a difficulty In breathing And still tho sound went ontho sound of someone some-one hammering some one hammering ham-mering nails The sound of some one hammering nails into a coffin And with that all at once tho awful truth broke upon him Ho was dead and they were nailing him up in his coffindead I His heart stopped beating as he grasped the full horror of the situation situa-tion They were burying him alive Oh horrible horrible I In vain ho tried to burst the bondi of the Insensibility in which ho was held In vain ho made frenzied of forts to cry aloud The most frantic endeavors wore unavailing He was unable to utter a sound or produce the smallest movement Then It seemed as though some ono were trying tc raise tho lid of the coffin There was a faint creaking sounda faint glimmer glim-mer of light was perceptible overhead It increased and widened Oh joy He was savedsaved The cofilnlld was raised little by little higher and higherIn another moment he should be free It was done He saw a face bending bend-ing over hima familiar face the face of an old friend Already he balled ball-ed him in his heart as his benefactor his deliverer Then what were those words ho heard Words he had heard before when was It You can ruin me whenever you please but now you are In my power pow-er erThe lid was clapped down again leaving him in utter darkness The hammering began again He made one last tremendous effort and woke Woko to find himself sitting bolt upright with the perspiration streaming stream-ing from him Woko to find tho man whose voice ovon now seemed to ring In his ears as ho bent over the open coffin standing beside his bed in tho faint grey Jight of morning What brings you hero gasped Mr Burrltt as soon ns he had realized the fact that the terrible ordeal ho had just passed through was only a dream I couldnt sleep was tho response and I couldnt Ho still any longer so I came to see whether you were awake To bo continued |
