| Show ae SE FE N F I 1 A L STORY e T 0 O THE MAKER 0 0 JJ 0 0 N S by ROBERT W CHAMBERS 0 illustrations by J J sheridan copyright G P putnam s sons SYNOPSIS tl TI e story in new york roy car delhue tie tl e story teller inspecting a queer beer reptile 0 ened by george godfrey of tiffany s roy and barris and pierpont pont two friends depart on a I 1 trip to cardinal woods a rather obscure local ity barris re rev baled tl ti e fact that he I 1 ad joined the secret service tor for the purpose of running down a gang of gold makers prot prof lagrange on discovering the bangs formula had been mysteriously killed barr barrs s received a telegram of in he and pierpont pont set out to locate the gold making gang A valet re ported seeing a queer chinaga in the supposedly untenanted woods roy went hunting lie he fell asleep in a dell on awakening he beheld a beautiful girl at a email small lake A birthmark resembling a dragon claw on roy roys s forehead had a mysterious effect upon tie tl e girl who said her name was suddenly she d 9 appeared ipp eared I 1 fleeing in terror roy beheld a horrible clinese cl inese visage peering at him from the woods barris and P erport re turned barris ted a reptile like that owned by godfrey A ball of s p posed gold ae 1 e held suddenly became alive auve he told of the kuen euln a CM chi nese inese nation of sorcerers numbering too and explained that the moon ma her ker their ruler whose crescent symbol was a dragon claw was supposed to have recently rp returned turned to earth barris pier bont t and I 1 oy tailed failed to find ysonde s dell M later ter roy hunting came to the beautt fold tul g spot ant v here he found ysonde sl SI e t told him in how her stepfather e evidently a chinaman made gold and of his oua ous actions suddenly all turned black find nd roy awoke to find himself stunned stu d and an d bleeding on his own doorstep poy roy recovered quickly barris under a mys gerlous spell told of his stay among the chinese chinee sorcerers his love there and its false end ng CHAPTER vil cont continued aued yian ylan I 1 have lived there and loved there when the breath of my body shall cease when the dragon dragons s claw shall fade from my arm he tore up his sleeve and we saw a white crescent shining above his elbow when the I 1 ot of my eyes has faded forever forever then even then I 1 shall not gorget arget the city of ylan why it Is my in me e mine n ine the diverl ri vert and the thou ind 1 nd brad bridges the beyond fine e sw swee sweet t s scented gardens the lilies the pleasant noise of the summer wind laden with bee music and the music of bells all these are mine do you think because the kuen yuin feared the dragon s claw on my arm that my work with them is ended do you think because could give that I 1 acknowledge his right to take away Is he dangl in whose shadow the white water lotus dares not raise its head no not no not he cried violently it was not from yue laou the cerer the maker of moons that my happiness came it was real it was not a shadow to vanish like a tinted bubble can a sorcerer create and give a man the woman he loves ts Is yue daou as great as dangl then 9 dangl Is god in his own time in his infinite goodness and mercy he ile will bring me again to the woman I 1 love and I 1 know she s he waits walts for me at god 8 feet in the strained silence that followed 1 I could hear my hearts heart s double beat and I 1 saw pierpont pont ponts s face blanched end and pitiful barris shook himself and raised his head the change in his ruddy face frightened me heed I 1 e said with a terrible glance at me the print of the dragon s claw is on your forehead and yue laou knows it it if you must love then love like a man tor for you will suf fer ter like a soul in hell in the end what Is her name ysonde I 1 answered simply CHAPTER VIII vill at nine 0 clock that night we caught oe of the gold makers I 1 do not know how barris had laid his trap all I 1 saw of the aff affair air can be told in a minute or two we were posted on the cardinal road about a mile below the house pierpont rier pont and I 1 with drawn revolvers on one side under a butternut tree barris on the other a winchester across his knes knees I 1 had just asked pierpont pont the hour and he was feeling tor for his watch when far up the road we heard the sound ot of a galloping horse nearer nearer clattering thundering past then barris rifle spat flame and the dark mass horse and rider crashed into the dust pierpont pont had the half stunned horseman by the collar in a second the horse was stone dead and as we lighted a pine knot to ex amine the fellow barris two riders galloped up and drew bridle beside us hm said barris with a scowl its the shiner or I 1 im in a moon shiner we crowded curiously around to see the shiner he ile was redheaded tat fat and filthy and his little red eyes burned in bis his head like the eyes of an angry pig barris went through his pockets methodically while Pier pierpont pout held him and I 1 held the torch the shiner was a gold mine pockets shirt boot legs hat even his dirty fists clutched tight and bleeding were bursting with lumps of soft yellow gold barris dropped this moonshine gold as we had come to call it into the pockets of his shooting coat and withdrew to question the prisoner he came back again in a few minutes and motioned his mounted men to take the shiner in charge we watched them rifle on thigh walking their horses slowly away into the darkness the shiner tightly bound shuffling sullenly be tween them who is the shiners asked pier pont slipping the revolver into his pocket again A co inter feiter forger and high highwayman walman said barris and probably a murderer drummond will be glad to see him and I 1 think it like ly he will be persuaded to confess to him what he refuses to confess to me wouldn t he talka I 1 asked not a syllable pierpont there is nothing more for you to do for me to do doa 9 are you not coming baal w th us barris no aid caid barns barris we walked along the dark road in fit silence for a while I 1 wondering what barris intended to do but he said nothing more until we reached our own veranda here he held out his hand first to pierpont then to me saving sa ing good by as though he were mere go ing on a long journey how soon will you be back I 1 called 0 t to him as he turned away toward tle tte tl e gate he came across the lawn again and again took our hands with a quiet affection that I 1 had never imagined him capable of I 1 am going he said to put an end to his gold making tonight I 1 know that you fellows never suspected m what hat I 1 was about on my little solitary evening strolls after dinner I 1 will tell you already I 1 have unobtrusive ly killed four of these gold makers my men put them under ground just below the new wash washout out at the tour four mile stone there are three left alive the shiner whom we have another cil minal named yellow or teller yeller in the vernacular and the third the third repeated pierpont pont ex the third I 1 have never yet seen but I 1 know who and what he Is I 1 know and it if he is of human flesh and blood his blood will flow to night As he spoke a slight noise across the turf attracted my attention A mounted amounted man was advancing silently in the starlight over the spongy meadowland 7 k a then barris rifle spat fire I 1 when he came nearer barris struck a match and we saw that he bore a corpse across his saddle bow col barris said the man touching his slouched hat in salute this grim introduction to the corpse made me shudder and after a mo ino ments examination of the stiff wide e eed ed dead man I 1 drew back identified said barris take him to the four mile post and carry his effects to washington under seal mind johnstone away amay cantered the rider with his ghastly b irden and barris took our hands once more tor for the last time then he went ment away gayly with a jest on his lips and pierpont and I 1 turned back into the house for an hour we sat moodily smoking in the hall before the fire saying little until pierpont pont burst out with I 1 wish barns barris had tal en one of us with him to night fhe same thought had been run ning in my mind but I 1 said barris knows what he s about this observation neither comforted us nor opened the lane to further con vers atlon and after a few minutes pierpont said good night and called for hewlett howlett and hot water when he had been warmly tucked away by hewlett howlett I 1 turned out all but one lamp sent the dogs away with david and dismissed hewlett howlett for the night I 1 m was as not inclined to retire for I 1 I 1 anew new I 1 could not sleep there was a book lang open on the table beside the fire and I 1 opened it and read a page or two but my mind was fixed on other things the window shades were raised and I 1 looked out at the star set firmament there was no moon that night but the sky was dusted all over with spar kling stars and a pale radiance bright er even than moonlight tell fell over meadow and wood mood far away in the forest 11 I 1 1 eard the voice of the wind a soft warm wind that whispered a name ysonde listen sighed the voice of the wind and listen echoed the swaying trees with every little leaf a quiver aquiver I 1 listened where the long grasses trembled with the cricket s cadence I 1 heard her name ysonde I 1 heard it in the rus aling woodbine where gray moths holfred I 1 heard it in the drip drip of the dew from the porch the silent meadow brook whispered her name the rippling woodland streams repeated it ysonde ysonde until all earth and sky were filled with the soft thrill ysonde ysonde ysonde A night thrush sang in a thicket ba b the porch and I 1 stole to the veranda to listen after a while it began again a little further on I 1 ventured out into the road ag tin I 1 heard it tar far away in 10 the forest and I 1 followed it for I 1 knew it was singing of de when I 1 came to the path that leaves the main road and enters the sweet pern fern covert below the spinney I 1 hes stated but the beauty of the night lured me on and the night thrushes called me from every thicket in the starry radiance shrubs grasses field flowers stood out distinctly for there was no moon to cast shadows meadow and brook glove and stream were il laminated lumina ted by the pale glow like great lamps lighted the planets hung from the high domed sl y and through their mysterious cayrl the fixed stars calm serene roared from the heavens like eyes I 1 welded waded on waist deep through fields of dewy golden rod through late clover and wild oats wastes through crimmon fruited sweetbrier blueberry and wild plum until the low whisper of the wier brook warned me that the path had ended I 1 but I 1 would not stop tor for the night air was heavy wath the perfume of mater a ater lilies and far away across the low wooded cliffs and the wet meadow land beyond there was a distant gleam of silver and I 1 heard the murmur of sleepy water fow I 1 would go to the lake the way was clear except tor for the dense young growth and the snares of the moose bish b ish the night thrushes had ceased but edid idid I 1 did not want for the company of living creatures slender quick dart ing forms crossed my path at inter vals sleek mink that fled like shad aws at my step wiry weasels and fat muskrats musk rats hurrying onward to some tryst or killing I 1 never had seen so many little woodland creatures on the move at night I 1 began to wonder where they all were going so fast why they all hurried on in the same direction now I 1 passed a hare hopping through the brushwood now a rabbit scurrying by flag hoisted As I 1 entered the beech second growth two foxes glided by me a little further on a doe crashed out of the underbrush and close behind her stole a lynx eyes shining like coals he ile neither paid attention to the doa doe or to me but loped away toward the north the lynx was in flight from what I 1 asked myself won dering there was no forest fire no cyclone no flood it if barns barris had passed that way could he have stirred up this sudden exodus impossible even a regiment in the forest could scarcely have put to rout these frightened creatures what on earth thought I 1 turning to watch the headlong flight of a fisher cat what on earth has startled the beasts out at this time of night 1 I looked up into the sky the placid glow of the fixed stars comforted me and I 1 stepped on through the narrow spruce belt that leads down to t verj aa 41 ders ers of the lake bf the h stars 13 V wild cranberry and moose ausit bua vi ea twined my feet dewy branches spat pat me with moisture and the thick spruce needles scraped my face as I 1 threaded my way over mossy logs and deep spongy tussocks down to the level gravel of the lake shore although there was no wind the lit tie waves were hurrying in from the lake and I 1 heard them splashing among the pebbles in the pale star glow thousands of water lilies lifted their half closed chalices toward the sky I 1 threw myself full length upon the shore and chin on hand looked out across the lake splash splash came the waves along the shore higher nearer until a film of water thin and glittering as a knife blade crept up to my elbows I 1 could nat not understand it the lake was rising but there had been no rain all along the shore the water was running up I 1 heard the waves among the sedge grass the weeds at my side were awash in the ripples the lilies rocked on the tiny waves every wet pod rising on the swells sinking rising again until the whole lake was glim mering with undulating blossoms how sweet and deep was the fragrance from the lilies and now the water was ebbing slowly and the waves re ceded shrinking from the shore rim until the white pebbles appeared again shining like froth on a brim ming glass TO BE CONTINUED |
