ormy solitude and desolation, an uncanny owl
hooted its dismal song.

Hervey did not move.

It was not till he bethought him of those horses lumbering along the
road ever nearer and nearer to that trap of death that he got control of
himself and started off.

It was just the gloom of those dark woods, the play of some freakish and
deceptive shadow conjuring itself into a human presence, that he had
seen.... Who would be out in that lonely wood on such a night?

With a sudden, desperate impulse to challenge his fear and have done
with it, he stepped briskly toward the tree to glance about it and
dispel his illusion. If it was just some branch broken by the wind and
hanging loose....

He approached the trunk and edged around it. As he did so a form moved
around the trunk also. Hervey paused. The pounding of his heart seemed
louder than the noises of the storm. In his throat was a queer burning
sensation. He could not speak. He could not stir. The dark form moved
again, ever so little....

CHAPTER VII

THE LIGHT THAT FAILED

The suspense was worse than any outcome could be, and Hervey, in another
impulse of desperation, took a step to the right, then quickly another
to the left. This ruse brought the two face to face. And in a flash
Hervey realized that he had little to fear from one who had tried so
desperately to escape his notice.

The figure was that of a young man, his raiment torn and disordered and
utterly drenched. He wore a plaid cap, which being pulled down over his
ears by reason of the wind, gave him an appearance of toughness which
his first words belied.

"You needn't be afraid," he said.

"I'm not afraid," said Hervey. "Who are you?"

"Did you hear some one scream?" the stranger asked.

"Scream? No. It was the wind, I guess. Are you lost, or what?"

"I want to get out of here, that's all," the young man said. "This place
is full of children screaming. Did you ever kill anybody?"

"No," said Hervey, somewhat agitated.

The stranger placed a trembling hand on Hervey's shoulder. "Do you know
a person can scream after he's dead?" he said.

"I don't know," said Hervey, somewhat alarmed and not knowing what to
say. "Anyway, I have to hurry; it's up to me to save some people's
lives. There's a bridge washed away along the road."

He did not wait longer to talk with this singular stranger, but thoughts
of the encounter lingered in his mind, particularly the young fellow's
speech about