Genre Fantasy. Page - 15

you get off into the water."

It occurred that way.

The Crimson Candle

A MAN lying at the point of death called his wife to his bedside and said:

"I am about to leave you forever; give me, therefore, one last proof of your affection and fidelity, for, according to our holy religion, a married man seeking admittance at the gate of Heaven is required to swear that he has never defiled himself with an unworthy woman. In my desk you will find a crimson candle, which has been blessed by the High Priest and has a peculiar mystical significance. Swear to me that while it is in existence you will not remarry."

The Woman swore and the Man died. At the funeral the Woman stood at the head of the bier, holding a lighted crimson candle till it was wasted entirely away.

The Blotted Escutcheon and the Soiled Ermine

A BLOTTED Escutcheon, rising to a question of privilege, said:

"Mr. Speaker, I wish to hurl back an allegation and explain that the spot

y rankling in my heart, picked my way homeward by a short cut through the dismalness of a New York slum I longed for steak and stout, slippers and a pipe, with all the pathetic keenness of a troubled soul.

It was a wild, black kind of night, and the weirdness of it showed up as I passed from light to light or crossed the mouths of dim alleys leading Heaven knows to what infernal dens of mystery and crime even in this latter-day city of ours. The moon was up as far as the church steeples; large vapoury clouds scudding across the sky between us and her, and a strong, gusty wind, laden with big raindrops snarled angrily round corners and sighed in the parapets like strange voices talking about things not of human interest.

It made no difference to me, of course. New York in this year of grace is not the place for the supernatural be the time never so fit for witch-riding and the night wind in the chimney-stacks sound never so much like the last gurgling cries of throttled men. No! the world was ver

ishment to the luxuriant and deadly deserts of Western Africa, and to the dull and dreary half clearings of South America, it proved itself a charm, a talisman against ennui and despondency. Impossible even to open the pages without a vision starting into view; with out drawing a picture from the pinacothek of the brain; without reviving a host of memories and reminiscences which are not the common property of travellers, however widely they may have travelled. From my dull and commonplace and "respectable" surroundings, the Jinn bore me at once to the land of my pre-direction, Arabia, a region so familiar to my mind that even at first sight, it seemed a reminiscence of some by gone metem-psychic life in the distant Past. Again I stood under the diaphanous skies, in air glorious as aether, whose every breath raises men's spirits like sparkling wine. Once more I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire from the pure front of the western firmament; and the after glow transfiguring and transforming, as by m

miled slowly, showing a row of very white, strong teeth.

"I know, auntie," she said. "No; I shouldn't think Laurie'll mind much. Perhaps he'll go back to town in the morning, too."

"No, my dear, he's staying till Thursday."

* * * * *

There fell again one of those pleasant silences that are possible in the country. Outside the garden, with the meadows beyond the village road, lay in that sweet September hush of sunlight and mellow color that seemed to embalm the house in peace. From the farm beyond the stable-yard came the crowing of a cock, followed by the liquid chuckle of a pigeon perched somewhere overhead among the twisted chimneys. And within this room all was equally at peace. The sunshine lay on table and polished floor, barred by the mullions of the windows, and stained here and there by the little Flemish emblems and coats that hung across the glass; while those two figures, so perfectly in place in their serenity and leisure, sat before the open fire-place and contemplate

The Twelve Dancing Princesses -- The Princess Mayblossom -- Soria Moria Castle -- The Death of Koschei the Deathless -- The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen -- The Master Thief -- Brother and Sister -- Princess Rosette -- The Enchanted Pig -- The Norka -- The Wonderful Birch -- Jack and the Beanstalk -- The Little Good Mouse -- Graciosa and Percinet -- The Three Princesses of Whiteland -- The Voice of Death -- The Six Sillies -- Kari Woodengown -- Drakestail -- The Ratcatcher -- The True History of Little Goldenhood -- The Golden Branch -- The Three Dwarfs -- Dapplegrim -- The Enchanted Canary -- The Twelve Brothers -- Rapunzel -- The Nettle Spinner -- Farmer Weatherbeard -- Mother Holle -- Minnikin -- Bushy Bride -- Snowdrop -- The Golden Goose -- The Seven Foals -- The Marvellous Musician -- The Story of Sigurd

. The Fakir and His Jar of Butter c. The Fishes and the Crab d. The Crow and the Serpent e. The Wild Ass and the Jackal f. The Unjust King and the Pilgrim Prince g. The Crows and the Hawk h. The Serpent-Charmer and His Wife i. The Spider and the Wind j. The Two Kings k. The Blind Man and the Cripple l. The Foolish Fisherman m. The Boy and the Thieves n. The Man and his Wife o. The Merchant and the Robbers p. The Jackals and the Wolf q. The Shepherd and the Rogue r. The Francolin and the Tortoises 162. Abu Kir the Dyer and Abu Sir the Barber 163. Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman 164. Harun Al-Rashid and Abu Hasan, The Merchant of Oman 165. Ibrahim and Jamilah 166. Abu Al-Hasan of Khorasan 167. Kamar Al-Zaman and the Jeweller's Wife 168. Abdullah Bin Fazil and His Brothers

The Book Of The THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT

When it was the Eight Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,

She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nur al-Din heard the voice singing th

ee, Inshallah!" The old woman pondered for a full hour with brow earthwards bent; after which she raised her head and said to him, "O thou beautiful youth, wilt thou indeed keep compact and covenant?" He replied, "Yes, by Him who raised the heavens and dispread the earth upon the waters, I will indeed keep faith and troth!" Thereupon quoth she, "I will win for thee thy wish, Inshallah! but for the present go thou into the garden and take thy pleasure therein and eat of its fruits, that have neither like in the world nor equal, whilst I send for my son Shahyal and confabulate with him of the matter. Nothing but good shall come of it, so Allah please, for he will not gainsay me nor disobey my commandment and I will marry thee with his daughter Badi'a al-Jamal. So be of good heart for she shall assuredly be thy wife, O Sayf al-Muluk." The Prince thanked her for those words and kissing her hands and feet, went forth from her into the garden; whilst she turned to Marjanah and said to her, "Go seek my son Shahyal w

looking as though it had been but just torn off. One side of the paper was entirely blank -- or at least, if there ever had been any writing upon it, it had disappeared through the influence of time and damp; on the other were some blurred and indistinct characters, so faded as to be scarcely distinguishable, and, in a bold hand-writing in fresh black ink the two letters "Ra".

Since the ink with which these letters were written corresponded exactly with that which I was in the habit of using, I could hardly doubt that they had been written at my table, and were the commencement of some explanation that the spectre had wished, but for some reason found himself unable, to make. Why he should have taken the trouble to bring his own paper with him I could not understand, but I inferred that probably some mystery was hidden beneath those undecipherable yellow marks, so I turned all my attention to them. After patient and long-continued effort, however, I was unable to make anything like sense out of them,