Show df WW KE DEVIL by BEN AMES WILLIAMS service Ser tIcA copyright den ames Wil lami CHAPTER ill III continued 5 the subject is pretty extensive it professor carlisle explained fires ere are a common manifestation appearing in many of the tales he added there was a man named charles fort he is dead now who made a study of such things probably with his tongue in his cheek in one of his books he said these fire phenomena look to him like the survival of a power that may once have been common when primitive men needed fires and know how to make them he talks about vestigial functions in the human body just as you surgeons talk about vestigial organs of course this is all in the highest degree fanciful but its an ah amusing subject for speculation doctor breeding Gre eding insisted your man fort I 1 gather thought these functions were originally of some use to their possessors but what possible good can it do to project a plate across the room and allow it to break against the wall the professor answered good hu mo well fort suggests that these poltergeist disturbances may emanate from some malicious mind if your friend in the haymow wished the hay to burn bum up for instance so that he would not have to work so hard on a hot day doctor breeding Gre eding laughed suddenly expansive like mrs greed ings statuette he suggested she told about that the other night As u matter of fact I 1 had the statuette in my hands when it fell though I 1 dared confess as much to her shed blame me for dropping it but I 1 I 1 was thinking that it was rather hideous when the thing simply simple flew fiew out of my hands and crashed to bits he saw the others curious glance added quickly if this chap had beeri been in the house id suspect him what was his name asked professor carlisle tompkins said doctor greed ing readily but hes dead now the older man was for a moment silent he lighted his pipe afresh looking intently at the bowl but at length he asked curiously did you notice anything unusual about the way the statuette fell you said it flew out of your hands doctor breeding Gre eding nodded forgetting caution exactly he assured the other man it was as though some one snatched it away and I 1 remember it seemed tt hang in the air for a moment before it fell professor carlisle smoothed his pipe bowl bow in his hands he said after a moment well that hesitating uncertain flight is often mentioned in the accounts of poltergeist disturbances he added apologetically put but im afraid im a skeptic at heart I 1 can discuss these absurdities so long as the discussion remains empiric so long as I 1 confine myself to things that are reported to have happened to others far away but when you tell me things that happened to your friend and now to yourself I 1 lack he be co urage courage of my conversation doctor breeding Gre eding felt a faint irritation rising in him at this disbelief he said you sound rather like an incredulous scientist yourself 1 its much less disquieting the professor pointed out to assume that there is a credible explanation for these incredible occurs ances doctor breeding Gre eding watched hirr him narrowly till pique at the others attitude drove him on are arc there then any cases he asked challenging ly of actual injury or death through this sort of thing yes professor carlisle assent ed he was grave now there have been persons found dead their bodies charred to a cinder their clothes not burned at all there art are even one or two cases reported of men killed by a bullet or 01 stabbed but with no ren in their clothing to correspond with the wound in their bodies what does your friend fort say of such incidents he only points out that wounds such as might be imagined by hat ers of people have appeared upon the bodies of people the professor cautiously explained doctor breeding Gre eding nodded 1 I suppose most of us in fits of anger have wished that unpleasant things would happen to certain people he reflected soberly it would be rather disturbing to a man if those malicious wishes on his part began to come true he chuckled nations might enlist an army of good effective haters baters to win a war by wishing their enemies dead I 1 professor carlisle shook his head outside the bounds of course he commented not smiling 1 I wonder whether it is doctor breeding Gre eding stubbornly demurred and he said thoughtfully yo you 1 know the human body has an inal infinite capacity to rise to emergencies if a man loses sight or hearing his other senses become more acute if a vein is destroyed even the jugular others take up the burden if fingers are amputated the thumb redoubles its usefulness it possible that in some som cases when a man approaches old age and the impairment of his muscular strength he may by way ot of compensation pensa tion develop such a power old men acquire wisdom th the e professor pointed out fiat that i is s weapon enough but in a primitive society doctor breeding Gre eding urged old mer when their increasing weakness made them a burden to the tribe would have been eliminated unless as their strength failed they learned other ways to defend themselves for instance to imagine a wound and have that wound appear and he said his eyes gleaming strangely A man able to do that would be a dangerous enemy 11 professor carlisle said reflectively 1 I expect he would be more dangerous to himself than to others the world seems to be organized for the general rather that thal the individual benefit probably some counter force would arise to deal with him yet its a fascinating thought doctor breeding Gre eding insisted professor carlisle retorted gravely 1 I should be inclined to remind such a man that he who eats with the devil will need a long there was something monitory in his tone the doctor felt it and suddenly wary was silent before he could speak again mrs breeding Gre eding came to the door you two have been alone long enough she suggested dan and nancy have disappeared and mary ann and I 1 are talkea dry professor I 1 thought you might care for bridge by all means professor car lisle assented and rose so quickly that doctor breeding Gre eding suspected the other man was glad to see an end to this conversation them the settled at the table in the other room the doctor and mary ann as partners but almost at once the telephone rang and ruth came to call doctor breeding Gre eding when he returned it was with apologies ill have to break up the game he explained this is a call I 1 cant very well refuse up in ken debunk an old friend an emergency he looked at mary mar ann smiled its a grand night for a drive miss carlisle he suggested but if rather not I 1 mrs breeding Gre eding protested ned it cant be necessary to subject subject mary ann to this nor your yourself elf either you could send doctor docto mayhew I 1 mary ann insisted oh I 1 dont mind after all its my job you knowl 1 I dont know at all the older woman argued on the surface there was in her words no more than solitude for mary ann surely your regular work is but doctor breeding Gre eding interrupted tosh myra I 1 he said cheerfully A doctors work is never done and a nurse is just as much abused as a doctor come mary ann and mrs greedier yielded though reluctantly so they were presently upon the road CHAPTER IV there was in doctor breeding Gre eding when he set out konigh ditl mary ann a deep intoxication which he rigorously controlled conti oiled they took the riad roadster ster ano the top lop was don do n the long miles unroll ec in a ribbon before their wheels and the night was vas jeweled by the headlights of ol 01 approaching cars apple orchards were bright with belated blossoms along the roadside and the night was warm and fair doctor breeding Gre eding drove rapidly and surely and mary ann slipped down low in the seat and relaxed there her wrap loose about her hei shoulders her hair flying in the breeze he told her the nature ol of this summons the idiot is an old friend of mine or I 1 go he explained cheerfully some one else coula do it just as well or he could wait till tomorrow but his wife is alarmed wants me she nodded and he said in amused irritation the visited us at the lake last summer I 1 told him the that this operation was inevitable tried to persuade him to take care of it but hes a headstrong old man and he added after a little Y you oil and dan must come up to the lake sometime and your father weve a pleasant place there an island 41 J J outside the bounds of 0 course he commented not smiling of our own a couple of good boats tennis court golf near by if you want it target shooting and so on 11 1 I like tennis she confessed dan and I 1 often play she spoke sleepily relaxed and at ease beside him we go up for all of august he remarked you can take your vacation at the same time 1 I hardly rate a vacation so soon she demurred youve earned one he insisted he added as a saving phrase mrs breeding Gre eding will insist on your coming I 1 know he had he reflected in a faint astonishment ment been near for forgetting gettin 9 that myra would be at the island islan d had thought only of himself and this girl and nancy and dan in sudden caution he curbed his tongue and they were silent for a while through newburyport and beyond the road led smoothly on they drove swiftly once he thought she slept but when he looked at her she was watching him or rather her eyes swung to meet his he was dangerously near nea missing the road before he turned his head away he had never felt so awake so alive he grudged the act that they came presently to theia destination and had a task to io 10 and he attacked this business in haste eager to be done and on the road again with her and mary mar ann became an automaton supplementing his own hands with berj anticipating his least cesire I 1 an hour of this like machines then low toned conversation with the doctor words of reassurance to the patients wife instructions to the nurse so toward two in the morning they set out on the return to cambridge they had been urged to stay the night but doctor breeding Gre eding would not ive five cases scheduled tor for the morning he explained on the road again maly ann said you might have been wiser to stay there arent five cases there are only two and doctor mayhew could do them doctor Gree greeling aing chuckled he shall he assented 1 I 1 intend to sleep till noon but I 1 would rt miss this drive home with you 1 I 1 expect a nights sleep would nave have done you mo more re good she insisted smiling as though his words were a lost jest he shook his head intoxicated alive and after a little he began to talk re he was in a confidential mood and he found himself telling rier ner about ira jerrell and nancy but dont repeat this to dan he warned her that brother of yours is so conscientious he might feel bound to step into the background ana ana give jerrell a clear field I 1 dont want him to do that I 1 want nancy to make up her own mind freely between them 1 I know dan feels he good enough for nancy she admitted and added loyally personally I 1 think ashes lucky to get him dans a peacha she looked at him surprised but I 1 know you lanew knew about them she said 1 I have nancys confidence he retorted and she nodded he can continued did 1 I take the right at attitude ti would you have said the same do you feel that a girl makes make a mistake to marry a man twenty years her senior she was silent for longer than he liked he looked at her smiling tell the truth he insisted not if she loves him said mary ann at last she added almost reluctantly not if there is no reason why she love him and after a moment she remarked half to herself sometimes a girl is wiser to choose a proved man then she knows what she is getting young men may change as they mature he laughed in a sudden swift delight but when she asked why he laughed he would not tell her silence embraced them again drawing them together the car ran smoothly the moon now was low and doctor greetings Gre edings eyes fixed upon the flowing road in a sort of fascination he drove automatically his thoughts elsewhere it may have been that for a moment he slept but at a certain point where the road forked and their way lay to the left he kept straight ahead and where just beyond the fork this right hand road turned he did not turn the car plunged through a shallow ditch and into the meadow beyond his foot jammed home on the brakes and he came to a breathless stop thrown forward against the wheel mary ann in a heap on the floor of the car beside him he was in dismay are you hurt he exclaimed im sorry 1 I 1 must have gone to sleep she scrambled up on the seat again 1 I dont think so she declared laughing no I 1 seem to be all here my eyes were closed I 1 had no warning 1 I must have gone to sleep he repeated she touched his hand on the wheel youre so desperately tired she said gently his blood at the touch of her fingers raced through his veins let me drive TIM rm awake now he looked at her hand on his at her im not tired he said huskily breathlessly she withdrew her hand abruptly but his eyes held hers he thought that even in the moonlight he could see her cheeks flaming then she spoke defensively laughing her head high give me the wheel she insisted you men are all idiots dont know when youre tired cornel comel he did not trust his voice without speaking he got out of the car and went around to take the other seat she backed into the road again now shut your eyes and do go to sleep she commanded he obeyed her he d shut his eyes but he did not sleep it seemed to him he had never been SL wide awake before there may be in the mere circumstance of sharing together even a passing peril something mystic and compelling in its effect on man and woman for a moment it might have happened h that he and mary ann would die together it seemed to him now that after that moment their two lives could never take completely separate ways again but if mary ann had any such thought or feeling he did not betray it somehow she fo found u nd the proper road again somehow she brought them back to ca cambridge rr bridge for all that time he neither spoke nor opened his eyes but his thoughts were a millrace only when she stopped the ar did he rouse from his abstraction can you manage the re res si of the way alone she asked light lightly athen then or shall I 1 take you home and tuck you in they were he saw at her fathers door 1 I can manage of course he assured her she alighted and he got to the ground and extended his hand thanks for taking care 04 0 me he said 1 I needed some one her hand was in his anything might have happened he confes confessed red but nothing didi did she demind ed him smiling excel that its almost daylight and weve lost a lot of sleep 1 impulsively he lifted her hand to nis lips and then he sa sav the startled light in her eyes anc ana was quick with a word to make that gesture meaningless this is tor for a good little girl he said good nighal she turned away quickly to in something like flight darted toward the house he waited till she had disappeared before driving on toward his own hone home the car he left at the side doer upstairs he undressed slowly trying to face and measure this new passion in his life when he be came into the bedroom he and mrs Gir breeding ceding Gre eding shared gray dawn was in the windows his wife roused sleepily her face ace was an unlovely mask of cosmetics her hair awry ned yes myra ht said shortly go back to sleep what time is it he protested irritably what difference does that make its ridiculous she protested pr ot ested for you to be out all night you could have sent doctor he got into his own bed without replying 1 I believe you like this sort of thing she asserted 1 I declare ned you ought to have some sense of your own position D dont 0 nt talk myra he said s sharply im dead tired let me sleep in the morning its morning now she reminded rem ind him and I 1 shant close my eyes again you |