r crime, and turned, and beckoned, and pointed to me,
and whispered 'Come.' As my imagination wrought within me I grew
silent; not even Mordaunt could rouse me. But he guessed what was
happening, and would often come to me and say, 'Don't get
down-hearted. Whatever Spurling does, I still hold to my promise. You
and I are partners with a common fund. We have eleven thousand dollars
already, so cheer up.'

"But it wasn't envy of your wealth had driven me mad; it was fear lest
you should go off and leave me behind, and should get to Guiana and to
El Dorado first. I couldn't shake off my hallucination however much I
tried--which wasn't much; always and everywhere I could see you dead.
You know that the Klondike with its few hours of winter daylight, its
interminable nights, its pale-green moon which seems to shine forever
in a steely cloudless sky, and its three long months when men rarely
see the sun, is not a much better place than Keewatin in which to heal
a crippled mind. So, with the passage of time, there was worse to
come.

"One morning as I came to the shaft, I found a stranger waiting there.
It was dark, I could not see his face; since he said nothing, I passed
him and, descending to the bed-rock, commenced to scatter the last
night's burning that I might get at the thawed-out muck. Presently I
heard the sound of someone following, and the creak of the rope as he
let himself down in the bucket. I thought it was you, so I did not
turn, but sulkily went on with my work. The footsteps came after me
wherever I went, standing behind me. At last I swung round in anger,
supposing that you had come to torment me; at that moment I had it in
my heart to strike you dead. In the light of the scattered fire, I
discovered that it was not you, but instead a man of about my height
and breadth. 'What d'you want?' I asked him. He did not answer. 'Who
sent you here?' I said. He was silent. Then I grew frightened; seizing
a smouldering brand, having puffed it to a blaze, I thrust it before
his face--and saw _myself_.

"I was down there all alone and underground; no one could have heard
me had I cried for help. In my terror I grew foolish and laughed
aloud; _it seemed to me so odd that I should have such fear of
myself_. When I had grown quiet, 'Who sent you here?' I asked again.

"At last he answered, 'You called me.'

"'What have you come for?' I questioned.

"'To murder Spurling,' he replied.

"Then in a choking whisper I m