t there are times when we seem to be walking in
a land of strange sounds and sights and of shadows that fan our cheeks
as they flit by."

"Oh, well," I said, "when two fond young people are together the limits
of the visible world are apt to undergo undue extension."

"Let me be specific," said Pinckney. "We first became aware of this
state of things some weeks ago. We were walking one afternoon at
twilight through a stretch of woods not far from the shore when all at
once we were conscious that the familiar aspect of things had vanished.
The park had become a virgin forest. Two savage figures girded with
skins were panting in deadly combat. One had sunk his thumbs into the
eye-sockets of his opponent, who, in turn, had buried his teeth in the
flesh of the other's arm. A wild creature, almost hidden in the long
tangle of her hair, crouched there, the only spectator of the battle,
chanting in weird tones: 'Ai! Ai! the call of the wild summons you to
the death-grapple, oh Men, and me to sing who am Woman! Fight on, oh
Men; for it is Good! The Race, the Sons of your strong loins through the
dizzy whirl-dance of all time, are watching you. Match man-strength
against man-strength, breath-rhythm against breath-rhythm, and
knee-thrust against knee-thrust!' And then one of the combatants fell,
and the victor with a yell of triumph seized the woman by the hair and,
flinging her over his shoulder, staggered off, and we heard them call
to each other, 'Oh, my Male!' 'Oh, my Female!' Then we were in our own
grove by the beach and Alice whispered dreamily, 'Dearest, how tame are
our lives.'"

"I think I begin to understand," said I. "What happened was simply that
you had walked right out of the Advertising Supplement into the Fiction
pages; and that was Jack London. Had you other experiences of the kind?"

"On another occasion," he resumed, "we were walking on the beach and
again in a flash we had lost our footing in the world we knew. We were
in a magnificent ballroom. The chandeliers were Venetian, the orchestra
was Hungarian, the decorations were priceless orchids. Every woman wore
a tiara with chains of pearls. There were stout dowagers, callow youths,
gamblers, and blacklegs, and, among the many handsome men, one of about
five-and-thirty, with a wonderfully cut chin, bending sedulously over a
glorious, slender girl whose eyes attested the purity of her soul and
fidelity unto death. 'Dearest,' she was saying, 'what does it mat