Page 699 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

the table, and North, peering into it, with one hand me-
chanically thrust into the bag, started in insane rage at the
pale face and bloodshot eyes he saw there. What a hateful
wretch he had become! The last fatal impulse of insanity
which seeks relief from its own hideous self came upon him,
and his fingers closed convulsively upon the object they had
been seeking.
‘It is better so,’ he muttered, addressing, with fixed eyes,
his own detested image. ‘I have examined you long enough.
I have read your heart, and written out your secrets! You
are but a shell—the shell that holds a corrupted and sinful
heart. He shall live; you shall die!’ The rapid motion of his
arm overturned the candle, and all was dark.
Rufus Dawes, overpowered by the revelation so suddenly
made to him, had remained for a few moments motionless
in his cell, expecting to hear the heavy clang of the outer
door, which should announce to him the departure of the
chaplain. But he did not hear it, and it seemed to him that
the air in the cell had grown suddenly cooler. He went to
the door, and looked into the narrow corridor, expecting to
see the scowling countenance of Gimblett. To his astonish-
ment the door of the prison was wide open, and not a soul
in sight. His first thought was of North. Had the story he
had told, coupled with the entreaties he had lavished, suf-
ficed to turn him from his purpose?
He looked around. The night was falling suddenly; the
wind was mounting; from beyond the bar came the hoarse
murmur of an angry sea. If the schooner was to sail that
night, she had best get out into deep waters. Where was the

For the Term of His Natural Life