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The Coming of Abel Behenna · Dracula's Guest & Other Weird Tales

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The Coming of Abel Behenna. This is a LibriVox recording. All liberyvox recordings
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are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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LibriVox dot org. Recording by Kate Mackenzie. The Coming of Abel Behenna by
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Bram Stoker. The little Cornish port of Pencastle was bright in the early April,
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when the sun had seemingly come out to stay after a long and bitter
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winter. Boldly and blackly, the rocks stood out against a background of shaded
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blue where the sky, fading into mist, met the far horizon. The
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sea was of true Cornish hue sapphire, save where it became deep emerald green
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in the fathomless depths under the cliffs, where the seal caves opened their grim
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jaws. On the slopes, the grass was parched and brown. The spikes
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of furze bushes were ashy gray, but the golden yellow of their flowers stream
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along the hillside, dipping out in lines as the rock cropped up and lessening
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into patches and dots, till finally it died away all together. Where the
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sea wind swept around the jutting cliffs and cut short the vegetation, as though
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with an ever working aerial shear. The whole hillside, with its body of
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brown and flashes of yellow, was just like a colossal yellow hammer. The
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little harbor opened from the sea, between towering cliffs and behind a lonely rock
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pierced with many caves and blowholes, through which the sea in storm time sent
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its thunderous voice, together with a fountain of drifting spume. Hence it wound
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westwards in a serpentine course, guarded at its entrance by two little curving piers
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to left and right. These were roughly built of dark slates, placed endways
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and held together with great beams browned with iron bands. Thence it flowed up
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the rocky bed of the stream, whose winter torrents had of old cut out
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its way amongst the hills. This stream was deep at first, with here
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and there where it widened patches of broken rock exposed at low water, full
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of holes where crabs and lobsters were to be found at the ebb of the
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tide, from amongst the rocks rose steady posts used for warping in the little
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coasting vessels which frequented the port. Higher up the stream still flowed deeply,
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for the tide ran far inland, but always calmly. For all the force
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of the wildest storm was broken below some quarter mile inland. The stream was
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deep at high water, but a low tide there were each side patches of
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the same broken rock as lower down, through the chinks of which the sweet
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water of the natural stream tickled and murmured after the tide had ebbed away.
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Here too rose mooring posts for the fishermen's boats. At either side of the
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river was a row of cottages down almost on the level of high tide.
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They were pretty cottages, strongly and snugly built, with trim narrow gardens in
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front full of old fashioned plants, flowering currants, colored primroses, wall flower
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and stone crop. Over the fronts of many of them find clematis and wisteria.
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The window sides and doorposts of all were as white as snow, and
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the little pathway to each was paved with light colored stones. At some of
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the doors were tiny porches, whilst others were rustic seats cut from tree trunks
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or from old barrels. In nearly every case, the window ledges were filled
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with boxes or pots of flowers or foliage plants. Two men lived in cottages
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exactly opposite each other across the stream. Two men, both young, both
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good looking, both prosperous, and who had been companions and rivals from their
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boyhood. Abel Behenna was dark, with a gypsy darkness which the Phoenician mining
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wanderers left in their track. Eric Samson, which the local and aquarian said
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was a corruption of Sagomanson, was fair, which the ruddy hue which marked
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the path of the now wild Norsemen. These two seemed to have singled out
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each other from the very beginning, to work and strive together, to fight
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for each other, and to step back to back in all endeavors. They
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had now put the coping stone on their temple of unity by falling in love
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with the same girl. Sarah t Refuses was certainly the prettiest girl in Pencastle,
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and there was many a young man who would gladly have tried his fortune
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with her, But that there were two to contend against, and each of
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these the strongest and most resolute man in the port except the other. The
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average young man thought that this was very hard, and on account of it,
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bore no good will to either of the three principles, whilst the average
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young woman, who had less worse should befall to put up with the grumbling
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of her sweetheart and the sense of being only second best, which it implied,
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did not either be sure regard Sarah with friendly eye. Thus it came
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in the course of a year or so. The rustic courtship is a slow
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process that the two men and women found themselves thrown much together. They were
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all satisfied, so it did not matter, And Sarah, who was vain
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and something frivolous, took care to have her revenge on both men and women
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in a quiet way. When a young woman in her walking out could only
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boast one not quite satisfied young man, it is no particular pleasure for her
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to see her escort cast sheep's eyes at a better looking girl, supported by
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two devoted swains at length. There came a time which Sarah dreaded, and
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which she had tried to keep distant, the time when she had to make
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a choice between the two men. She liked them both, and indeed either
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of them have satisfied the ideas of even a more exacting girl. But her
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mind was so constituted that she thought more of what she might lose than of
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what she might gain, And whenever she thought she had made up her mind,
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she became instantly assailed with doubts as to the wisdom of her choice.
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Always the man whom she had presumably lost became endowed afresh with a newer and
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more bountiful crop of advantages than had ever arisen from the possibility of his acceptance.
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She promised each man that on her birthday she would give him his answer,
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and that day, the eleventh of April, had now arrived. The
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promises had been given singly and confidentially, but each was given to a man
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who was not likely to forget. Early in the morning she found both men
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hovering around her door. Neither had taken the other into his confidence, and
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each was simply seeking an early opportunity of getting his answer and advancing his suit
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if necessary. Damon, as a rule, does not take pittheous with him
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when making a proposal, and in the heart of each man, his own
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affairs had a claim far above any requirements of friendship, so throughout the day
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they kept seeing each other out The position was doubtless somewhat embarrassing to Sarah,
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and though the satisfaction of her vanity. That she should be thus adored was
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very pleasing. Yet there were moments when she was annoyed with both men for
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being so persistent. Her only consolation at such moments was that she saw through
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the elaborate smiles of the other girls, when in passing they noticed her daughters
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doubly guarded the jealousy which filled their hearts. Sarah's mother was a person of
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commonplace and sordid ideas, and seeing all along the state of affairs, her
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one intention, persistently expressed to her daughter in the plainest words, was to
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so arrange matters that Sarah should get all that was possible out of both men.
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With this purpose, she had cunningly kept herself as far as possible in
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the background in the matter of her daughter's wooings, and watched in silence.
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At first, Sarah had been indignant with her for her sordid views, but
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as usual, her weak nature gave way before persistence, and she had now
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got to the stage of acceptance. She was not surprised when her mother whispered
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to her in the little yard behind the house, go up the hillside for
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a while, I want to talk to these two. They're both reared heart
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for you, and now's the time to get things fixed. Sarah began a
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feeble remonstrance, but her mother cut her short. I tell you, girl
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that my mind is made up. Both these men, aren't ye i'd only
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one can have yer. But before you choose, you'll be so arranged that
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you'll have all that both have got. Don't orgy, child, go up
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the hillside, and when you come back, I'll have it fixed. I
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see you away quite easy. So Sarah went up the hillside through the narrow
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pass between the Golden Firs, and Missus Traffusus joined the two men in the
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living room of the little house. She opened a tack with a desperate courage,
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which is in all mothers when they think for their children. Howsoever mean
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the thoughts may be. The two men, you're both in love with my
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Sarah. Their bashful silence gave consent to the bare faced proposition. She went
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on, neither of you has much. Again, they tacitly acquiesced in the
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soft impeachment. I don't know that either of you could keep a wife.
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Though neither said a word, the luxe and bearing expressed distinct descent missus trefusis
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went on, but if you'd put what you both have together, you'd make
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a comfortable home for one year. And Sarah she eyed the men keenly,
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with a kind of eyes half shut as she spoke. Then satisfide satisfied from
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her scrutiny that the idea was accepted, she went on quickly, as if
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to prevent argument. The girl likes you both, and mayhap it's hard for
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her to choose. Why don't you toss up for her first? Put your
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money together. You've each got a bit put by, I know. Let
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the lucky man take the lot and trade with it a bit, and then
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come home and marrier. Neither of you is afraid, I suppose, and
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neither of you'll say that you won't do that much for the girl that you
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both say you love. Abel broke the silence. It don't seem a square
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thing to toss for the girl. She won't like it herself, and it
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doesn't seem respectful like to her. Eric interrupted, He was conscious that his
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chance was not so good as Abel's in case Sarah should wish to choose between
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them. You're afraid of the hazard, not me, said Abel boldly,
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Missus Troffusius, seeing that her idea was beginning to work, followed up the
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advantage. It is settle that you put your money together to make a home
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for her, whether you toss for her or leave it for her to choose.
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Yes, said Eric quickly, and Abele agreed with equal sturdiness. Missus
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Effusus's little cunning eyes twinkled. She heard Sarah step in the yard and said,
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well, here she comes, and I leave it to her. Then
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she went out. During her brief walk on the hillside, Sarah had been
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trying to make up her mind. She was feeling almost angry with both men
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for being the cause of her difficulty, and as she came into the room
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said shortly, I want to have a word with you both. Come to
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the flagstaff rock where we can be alone. She took her hat and went
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out of the house up the winding path to the steep rock crowned with a
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high flagstaff, where once the wreckers firebasket used to burn. This was the
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rock which formed the northern jaw of the little harbor. There was only room
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on the path for two abreast, and it marked this of things pretty well.
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When by sort of implied arrangement. Sarah went first, and the two
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men followed, walking abreast and keeping step. By this time each man's heart
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was boiling with jealousy. When they came to the top of the rock,
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Sarah stood against the flagstaff. Then the two young men stood opposite her.
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She had chosen her position with knowledge and intention, for there was no room
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for anyone to stand beside her. They were all silent for a while.
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Then Sarah began to laugh and said, I promise the both of you to
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give you an answer today. I've been thinking. I've been thinking and thinking
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till till I began to get angry with you. Both are blaming me so
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and even now I don't see many nearer than ever I was to making up
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my mind. Eric said, suddenly, let us toss for it last.
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Sarah showed no indignation or terror at the proposition. Her mother's eternal suggestion had
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scolded her to the acceptance of something of the kind, and her weak nature
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made it easy for her to grasp at any way out of the difficulty.
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She stood with downcast eyes, madly picking at the sleeve of her dress.
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Seemed to have tusly acquiesced in the proposal. Both men, instinctively realizing this,
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pulled each a coin from his pocket, spun it in the air,
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and dropped his other hand over the palm on which it lay. For a
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few seconds, there remained thus all silent. Then Abel, who was the
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more thoughtful of the men, spoke, Sarah, is this good? As
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he spoke, he removed the upper hand from the coin and placed the latter
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back in his pocket. Sarah was nettled. Good or bad, It's good
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enough for me. Take it or leave it as you like, she said,
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to which he quickly replied, nay Las aught the consonance you is good
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enough for me. I did, but think of you lest you might have
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some pain or disappointment hereafter. If you look very bad, RAMI God's name,
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say so, and I think our manner not to stand inside. Likewise,
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if I'm the one, don't make us both miserable for life. Face
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to face with a difficulty, Sarah's weak nature proclaimed itself. She put her
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hands before her face, I'm began to cry, saying, with my mother,
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she keeps telling me. The silence which followed was broken by Eric,
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who said hotly to Abel, let the last alone, can't you she wants
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to choose this way, let her it's good enough for me and for you
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too, She said it now must abide by it. Hereupon, Sarah turned
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upon him in sudden fury and cried, hold your tom what is it to
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you at any rate? And she resumed her crying. Eric was so flabbagasted
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that he had not a word to say, but stood looking particularly foolish,
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with his mouth open and his hands held out, with the coin still between
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them. All was silent till Sarah, taking her hands from her face,
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laughed his derecly and said, as you two can't make up your minds,
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I'm going home, and she turned to go. Stop, said Abel in
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an authoritative voice, Eric, you hold the coin and I'll cry now before
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we settle it. Let us clearly understand. The man who wins takes all
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the money that we both have got, brings it to Bristol and ships on
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a voyage and trades with it. Then he comes back marry Sarah, and
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they too keep all whatever there may be as a result of the trading.
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Is this what we understand? Yes, said Eric, I'll marry him on
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my next birthday, said Sarah, having said it the intolerably mercenary. Spirit
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of her actions seemed to strike her, and impulsively she turned away with a
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bright blush. Fire seemed to sparkle in the eyes of both men, said
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Eric, a year, so be the man that wins is to have one
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year. Toss cried Abel, and the coin spun in the air. Eric
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caught it and again held it between his outstretched hands. Heads cried Abel,
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a pallace swooping over his face as he spoke. As he leaned forward to
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look, Sarah leaned forward too, and their heads almost touched. He could
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feel her hair blowing on his cheek, and it thrilled through him like fire.
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Eric lifted his upper hand. The coin lay with its head up.
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Abel stepped forward and took Sarah in his arms. With a curse. Eric
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held the coin far into the sea. Then he leaned against the flagstaff and
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scowled at the others, with his hands thrust deep into his pockets. Abel
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whispered wild words of passion and delight into Sarah's ears, and as she listened,
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she began to believe that fortune had quidly interpreted the wishes of her secret
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heart, and that she loved Abel best Presently Abel looked up and caught sight
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of Eric's face as the last ray of sunset struck it. The red light
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intensified the natural ruddiness of his complexion, and he looked as though he were
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steeped in blood. Abel did not mind his scowlful now that his own heart
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was at rest, he could feel unalloyed pity for his friend. He stepped
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over me need to comfort him, and held out his hand, saying,
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it was my chance, old lad. They'll gudge it me. I'll try
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to make Sarah a happy woman, and you shall be a brother. Twis
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both brother be damned was all the answer Eric made as he turned away.
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When he had gone a few steps down the rocky path, he turned and
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came back, standing before Abel and Sarah, who had their arms around each
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other. He said, you have a year. Make the most of it,
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and be sure you're in time to claim your wife. Be back to
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have your bands up, in time to be married on the eleventh of April.
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If you're not, I tell you, or he shall have my bands
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up and you may get back too late. What do you mean, Eric,
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you're mad, no more mad than you are able than Hennah, you
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go, that's your chance for he stake that's mine. I don't mean to
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let the grass grow under my feet. Sarah cared no more for you than
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for me five minutes ago, and she may come back to that five minutes
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after your God, you won by a point. Only the game may change.
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The game will change, said Abel shortly. Sarah, you'll be true
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to me. You won't marry till I return for year, added Eric quickly.
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That's the bargain. I promise for the year, said Sarah. A
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dark look came over Abel's face, and he was about to speak, but
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he mustered himself and smiled. I mustn't be too hard or get angry tonight.
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Come Eric. We played and fought together. I won fairly. I
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played fairy all the game of our wooing. You know that as well as
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I do. And now when I'm going away, I shall look to my
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old and true comrade to help me. When I'm gone, I'll help you
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none, said Eric. So help me. God, it was God help
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me, said Abel. Simply. Then let him go on helping you,
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said Eric angrily. The devil is good enough from me, And without another
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word, he rushed down the steep path and disappeared. Behind the rocks.
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When he had gone, Abel hoped for some tender passage with Sarah, but
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the first remark she made chilled him. How lonely all seemed without Eric,
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and this note sounded till he had left her at home and after early on
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the next morning, Abel heard a noise at his door, and on going
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out, saw Eric walking rapidly away. A small canvas bag full of gold
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and silver lay on the threshold. On a small slip of paper pinned to
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it was written, take the money and go. I stay God for you,
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the devil for me, Remember the eleventh of April, Eric Samson.
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That afternoon Abel went off to Bristol, and a week later sailed on the
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Star of the Sea, bound for Pahan. His money, including that which
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had been Eric's, was on board, in the shape of a venture of
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cheap toys. He had been advised by a shrewd old mariner of Bristol,
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whom he knew and who knew the ways of the Chersonese, who predicted that
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every penny invested would be returned with a shilling to boot. As the year
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wore on, Sarah became more and more disturbed in her mind. Eric was
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always at hand to make a love to her in his own persistent, masterful
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manner, and to this she did not object. Only one letter came from
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Abel to say that his venture had proved successful, and that he had sent
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some two hundred pounds to the bank at Bristol and was trading with fifty pounds
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still remaining in goods for China, whither the Star of the Sea was bound,
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and whence she would return to Bristol. He suggested that Eric's share of
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the venture should be returned to him with his share of the profits. This
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proposition was treated with anger by Eric in a simply childish by Sarah's mother.
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More than six months had since then elapsed, but no other letter had come,
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and Eric's hopes, which had been dashed down by the letter from Pahn,
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began to write again. He perpetually assailed Sarah with an if if Abel
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did not return, would she then marry him? If the eleventh of April
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went by without able being in the port, would she give him over?
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If Abel had taken his fortune and married another girl ahead of it, would
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she marry him Eric as soon as the truth were known? And so on
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In an endless variety of possibilities, the power of the strong will and the
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determined purpose over the woman's weaker nature became in time manifest. Sarah began to
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lose her faith enable and to regard Eric as a possible husband. And a
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possible husband is in a woman's eye, different to all other men. A
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new affection for him began to arise in her breast, and the daily familiarities
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of permitted courtship furthered the growing affection. Sarah began to regard Abel as rather
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a rock in the road of her life, and had it not been for
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her mother's constantly reminding her of the good fortune already laid by in the Bristol
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bank, she would have tried to have shut her eyes altogether to the fact
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of Peopel's existence. The eleventh of April was a Saturday, so that in
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order to have the marriage on that day, it would be necessary that the
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band should be called on Sunday, the twenty second of March. From the
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beginning of that month, Eric kept perpetually on the subject of Abel's absence,
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and his outspoken opinion that the latter was either dead or married began to become
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a reality to the woman's mind. As the first half of the month were
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on, Eric became more jubilant, and after church on the fifteenth he took
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Sarah for a walk to the flagstaff rock. There he asserted himself strongly.
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I told Abel and you too, that if he was not here to put
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up his bands in time for the eleventh or put up mine for the twelfth,
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Now the time has come when I mean to do it. He hasn't
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kept his word. Here, Sarah struck in out of her weakness and indecision.
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He hasn't broken it yet. Eric ground his teeth with anger. If
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you mean to stick up for him, he said, as he smoked his
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hands savagely on the flagstaff, which sent forth a shivering mum. Well and
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good, I'll keep my part of the bargain on Sunday, or he shall
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give notice of the bands, and you can deny them in the church if
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you will. If Abel is in Pencastle on the eleventh, he can have
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them counseled and his own put up till then, Oh take my course,
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and woe to anyone who stands in my way. With that, he flung
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himself down the rocky pathway, and Sarah could not but admire his Viking strength
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and spirit. As crossing the hill, he strode away along the cliffs towards
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Beude. During the week, no news was heard of Abel, and on
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Saturday Eric gave notice of the bands of marriage between himself and Sarah Suffuses.
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The clergyman would have remonstrated with him, for although nothing formal had been told
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to the neighbors, it had been understood since Abel's departure that on his return
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he was to marry Sarah. But Eric would not discuss the question. It
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is a painful subject, sir, he said, with a firmace, which
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the parson, who was a very young man, could not but be swayed
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by. Surely there is nothing against Sarah or me. Why should there be
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any bones made about the matter. The parson said no more, and on
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the next day he read out the bands for the first time, amidst an
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audible buzz from the congregation. Sarah was present, contrary to custom, and
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though she blushed furiously, enjoyed her triumph over the other girls whose bands had
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not yet come. Before the week was over, she began to make her
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wedding dress. Eric used to come and look at her at work, and
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the sight thrilled through him. He used to say all sorts of pretty things
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to her at such times, and there were to both delicious moments of love
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making. The bands were read a second time on the twenty ninth, and
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Eric's hope grew more and more fixed, though there were to him moments of
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acute despair, when he realized that the cup of happiness might be dashed from
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his lips at any moment, right up to the last. At such times
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he was full of passion, desperate, and remorseless, and he ground his
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teeth and clenched his hands in a wild way, as though some taint of
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the old berserker fury of his ancestors still lingered in his blood. On the
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Thursday of that week, he looked in on Sarah and found her amid a
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flood of sunshine, putting Finish's touches to her white wedding gown. His own
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heart was full of gayety, and the sight of the woman who was so
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soon to be his own so occupied filled him with a joy unspeakable, and
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he felt faint with languorous ecstasy. Bending over, he kissed Sarah on the
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mouth and then whispered in her rosy, ear your wedding dress, Sarah,
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and for me. As he drew back to admire her, she looked up
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saucily and said to him, perhaps not for you. There is more than
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a week yet for able, and then cried out in dismay. For with
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a wild gesture and a fierce oath, Eric dashed out of the house,
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banging the door behind him. The incident disturbed Sarah more than she could have
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thought possible, for it a web all her fears and doubts and indecision afresh.
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She cried a little by her dress, and to soothe herself, went
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out to sit for a while on the summit of the Flagstaff Rock. When
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she arrived, she found that there a little group anxiously discussing the weather.
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The sea was calm and the sun bright, but across the sea with strange
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mines of darkness and light, and close into shore, the rocks were fringed
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with foam, which spread out in great white curves and circles as the current
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drifted. The wind had backed and came in sharp cold puffs. The blowhole,
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which ran under the Flagstaff Rock from the rocky bay without to the harbor
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within, was booming at intervals, and the seagulls were screaming ceaselessly as they
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wheeled about the entrance of the port. It looks bad, she heard an
26:44
old fisherman say to the coastguard. I seen it just like this once before,
26:48
when the East Indiaman cormandel went to pieces in Desert Bay. Sarah did
26:55
not wait to hear more. She was of a timid nature where danger was
26:59
concerned, and could not bear to hear of wrecks and disasters. She went
27:04
home and resumed the completion of her dress, secretly determined to appease Eric when
27:10
she should meet him with a sweet apology, and to take the earnest opportunity
27:14
of being even with him after her marriage. The old fisherman's weather prophecy was
27:19
justified. That night a dusk or wild storm came on the sea, rose
27:26
and lashed the western coasts from sky to silly, and left a tale of
27:30
disaster everywhere. The sailors and fishermen of Pencastle all turned out on the rocks
27:36
and cliffs and watched eagerly. Presently, by a flash of lightning, a
27:41
ketch was seen drifting under only a jib about half a mile outside the port.
27:47
All eyes and all glasses were concentrated on her, waiting for the next
27:51
flash, and when it came, a chorus went up that it was the
27:53
Lovely Alice trading between Bristol and Penzance, and touching at all the little ports
28:00
tween. God help them, said the harbor master, for nothing in this
28:04
world can save them when they are between beudented tadule and the wind on shore.
28:11
The coast guards exerted themselves, and aided by brave hearts and willing hands,
28:15
they brought the rocket apparatus on to the summit of the flagstaff rock.
28:18
Then they burned blue lights so that those on board might see the harbor opening
28:22
in case they could make any effort to reach it. They worked gallantly enough
28:27
on board, but no skill or strength of man could avail. Before many
28:32
minutes were over, the Lovely Alice rushed to her doom on the great island
28:36
rock that guarded the mouth of the port. The screams of those on board
28:41
were faintly borne on the tempest as they flung themselves into the sea in a
28:45
last chance for life. The blue lights were kept burning, and eager eyes
28:49
peered into the depths of the waters in case any face could be seen,
28:53
and ropes were held ready to fling out in aid. But never a face
28:59
was seen, and the warning arms rested idle. Eric was there amongst his
29:03
fellows. His old Icelandic origin was never more apparent than in that wild hour.
29:08
He took a rope and shouted in the ear of the harbor master.
29:12
I shall go down on the rock over the seal cave. The tide is
29:15
running up, and someone may drift in there. Key bark man, came
29:21
the answer, are you mad? One slip on that rock and you were
29:25
lost. No man could keep his feet in the dark on such a place,
29:29
in such a tempest. Not a bit came the reply. You remember
29:33
how able the hen has saved me there on a night like this, when
29:36
my boat went on the gull rock. He dragged me up from the deep
29:38
water in the seal cave. And now someone may drift in there again as
29:41
I did. And he was gone into the darkness. The projecting rock hid
29:48
the light on the flagstaff rock, but he knew his way too well to
29:51
miss it. His boldness and sureeness of foot standing to him. He shortly
29:56
stood on the great round topped rock, cut away beneath by the action of
30:00
the waves over the entrance of the seal cave, where the water was fathomless.
30:04
There he stood in comparative safety, for the concave shape of the rock
30:08
beat back the waves with their own force, and though the water below him
30:11
seemed to boil like a seething caldron, just beyond the spot there was a
30:17
space of almost calm. The rock, too, seemed here to shut off
30:22
the sound of the gale. And he listened as well as watched as he
30:26
stood there, ready with his coil of rope poised to throw, he thought
30:29
he heard below him, just beyond the whirl of the water, a faint
30:32
despair and cry. He echoed it with a shout that rang into the night.
30:37
Then he waited for the flash of lightning, and as it passed,
30:41
flung his rope out into the darkness, where he had seen a face rising
30:44
through the swell of the foam. The rope was caught, for he felt
30:48
a pull on it, and he shouted again in his mighty voice, tie
30:52
it round your waist and I shall pull you up. Then, when he
30:56
felt that it was fast, he moved along the rock to the far side
30:59
of the sea cave, where the water was something stiller and where he could
31:03
get footholds secure enough to drag the rescued man on the overhanging rock. He
31:07
began to pull, and surely he knew from the rogue taken in that the
31:11
man he was now rescuing must soon be closed to the top of the rock.
31:15
He steadied himself for a moment and drew a long breath that he might,
31:18
at the next effort, complete the rescue. He had just bent his
31:22
back to the work when a flash of lightning revealed to the other, each
31:26
to the other. The two men, the rescuer and the rescued Eric Samson
31:33
and Abel Behenna, were face to face, and none knew of the meeting
31:37
save themselves and God. On the instant, a wave of passion swept through
31:41
Eric's heart. All his hopes were shattered, and with the hatred of cane,
31:48
his eyes looked out. He saw, in the instant of recognition the
31:52
joy in Abel's face that his was the hand to succor him, and this
31:56
intensified his hate. Whilst the passion and was on him, he started back
32:00
and the rope ran out between his hands. His moment of hate was followed
32:06
by an impulse of his better manhood, but it was too late before he
32:10
could recover himself. Abel encumbered with a rope that should have aided him,
32:16
was plunged with a despairing cry, back into the darkness of the devouring sea.
32:23
Then, feeling all the madness and the doom of Cain upon him,
32:28
Eric rushed back over the rocks, heedless of the danger, and eager only
32:30
for one thing to be amongst other people whose living noises would shut out that
32:36
last cry, which seemed to ring still in his ears. When he regained
32:40
the flagstaff rock, the men surrounded him, and through the fury of the
32:45
storm, he heard the harbour master say, we feared you were last when
32:49
we heard a cry. How white you were where as you rope? Was
32:52
there anyone drifted in? No one? He shouted in answer, felt that
33:00
he could never explain that he had let his old comrade slip back into the
33:04
sea, and at the very place and under the very circumstances in which that
33:08
comrade had saved his own life, he hoped, by one bold lie to
33:14
set the matter at rest forever there was no one to bear witness, and
33:20
he should have to carry that still white face in his eyes and that despairing
33:23
cry in his ears for ever more, at least none should know of it,
33:29
No one, he cried more loudly. Still I slept on the rock.
33:34
The rope fell into the sea, so saying, he left them,
33:38
and, rushing down the steep path, gained his own cottage and locked himself
33:42
within the remainder of That night, he passed lying on his bed, dressed
33:47
and motionless, staring upwards and seeming to see through the darkness a pale face
33:53
gleaming wet in the lightning, with its glad recognition turning to ghastly despair,
33:59
and to hear cry which never ceased to echo in his soul. In the
34:04
morning, the storm was over, and all was smiling again, except that
34:07
the sea was still boisterous with his unspent fury. Great pieces of wreck drifted
34:14
into the port, and the sea around the island rock was strewn with others.
34:17
Two bodies also drifted into the harbor, one the master of the wrecked
34:22
catch, the other a strange seaman whom no one knew. Sarah saw nothing
34:28
of Eric till the evening, and then here he looked in for a minute.
34:32
He did not come into the house, but simply put his head in
34:36
through the open window. Well, Sarah, he called out in a loud
34:39
voice, though to her it did not ring truly. Is the wedding dress
34:45
done Sunday week? Mind Sunday week? Sarah was glad to have the reconciliation,
34:51
so easy but womanlike. When she saw the storm was over and her
34:55
own fears groundless, she at once repeated the cause of affe Sunday. So
35:00
be it, she said, without looking up. The fable isn't there on
35:04
Saturday. Then she looked up saucily, though her heart was full of fear
35:08
of another outburst on the part of her impetuous lover. But the window was
35:13
empty. Eric had taken himself off, and with a pout she resumed her
35:17
work. She saw Eric no more till Sunday afternoon, after the bands had
35:22
been called the third time, when he came up to her before all the
35:25
people, with an air of proprietorship which half pleased and half annoyed her.
35:31
Not yet, mister, she said, pushing him away, as the other
35:35
girls giggled. Wait till Sunday next, if you please, day after Saturday,
35:38
she added, looking at him saucily. The girls giggled again, and
35:44
the young men go forward. They thought it was the snub that touched him,
35:47
so that he became as white as a sheet as he turned away.
35:51
But Sarah, who knew more than they did, laughed, for she saw
35:55
triumph through the spasm of pain that overspread his face. The week passed under
36:01
bentfully. However, a Saturday, June, Sarah had occasional moments of anxiety,
36:07
and as to Eric, he went about at night time like a man
36:10
possessed. He restrained himself when others were by, but now and again he
36:15
went down amongst the rocks and caves and shouted aloud. This seemed to relieve
36:21
him somewhat, and he was better able to restrain himself for some time.
36:23
After all Saturday he stayed in his own house and never left it, as
36:30
he was to be married on the morrow. The neighbors thought it was shyness
36:34
on his part and did not trouble or notice him. Only once was he
36:37
disturbed, and that was when the chief boatman came to him and sat down,
36:42
and after a pause said, Eric, I was over and Bristol yesterday.
36:47
I was in the roape makers getting a coil to replace the one you
36:51
lost the night of the storm, and there are sair Michael, heavens of
36:53
this place. He was a salesman there. He told me that Abel Bahenna
36:59
had come home the week he were last on the Star of the Sea from
37:00
Canton, and he had lodged a sign of money in the Bristol Bank in
37:04
the name of Sarah Bahenna. He told Michael so himself, and that he
37:09
had taken passage on the lovely Alice to Pencastle. Bear up man, for
37:16
Eric had, with a groan, dropped his head on his knees with his
37:20
face between his hands. He was your old comrade, I know, but
37:24
couldn't help him. Must have gone down with the rest that awful night.
37:30
I thought I'd better tell you, lest it might come some other way,
37:34
and you might keep Sarah Refusus from being frightened. They were good friends once,
37:37
and women take these things to heart. Would not do to let her
37:42
be pained with such a thing on her wedding day. Then he rose and
37:46
went away, leaving Eric still sitting disconstantly with his head on his knees.
37:52
Poor fellow, remembered the chief bowman to himself. Takes it to heart.
37:57
Oh well, right enough, Why would you comrades once, and theyble saved
38:00
him. The afternoon of that day, when the children had left school,
38:07
they strayed, as usual on half holidays, along the quay and the paths
38:10
by the cliffs. Presently some of them came running in a state of great
38:15
excitement to the harbor, where a few men were unloading a cold catch,
38:19
and a great many were superintending the operation. One of the children called out,
38:23
there was a pop poise in the harbor mouth. Saw it come through
38:27
the blowhole, had a long tail, and it was deep under the water.
38:30
It was no pauperise, said now there was a seal pread, a
38:34
long tail came out of the seal cave. Did the children bore various testimony,
38:38
but on two points there were unanimous. It, whatever it was,
38:44
had come through the blowhole, deep under the water, and had a long,
38:46
thin tail, a tail so long that they could not see the end
38:52
of it. There was much a merciful chaffing of the children by the men
38:55
on this point. But as it was evident that they had seen something,
39:00
quite a number of persons, young and old, male and female went along
39:04
the high paths on either side of the harbor mouth to catch a glimpse of
39:07
this new addition to the fauna of the sea, along tailed paupers or seal.
39:14
The tide was now coming in. There was a slight breeze, and
39:16
the surface of the water was rippled, so that it was only at moments
39:21
that anyone could see clearly into the deep water. After a spell of watching,
39:25
a woman called out that she saw something moving up the channel just below
39:30
her she was standing. There was a stampede to the spot, but by
39:35
the time the crowd had gathered, the breeze had freshened and it was impossible
39:38
to see with any distinctness below the surface of the water. And being questioned,
39:45
the woman described what she had seen, but in such an incoherent way
39:49
that the whole thing was put down as an effective imagination. Had it not
39:52
been for the children's report, she would not have been credited at all.
39:58
Her semi hysterical s statement that what she saw was like a pig with the
40:01
entrails out was only thought of anything by the old coast guard, who shook
40:07
his head but did not make any remark. For the remainder of the daylight,
40:14
this man was seen always on the bank, looking into the water,
40:16
but always with disappointment manifest on his face. Erica rose early on the next
40:22
morning. He had not slept all night, and it was a relief to
40:27
him to move about in the light. He shaved himself with a hand that
40:30
did not tremble, and dressed himself in his wedding clothes. There was a
40:35
haggard look on his face, and he seemed as though he had grown years
40:38
older in the last few days. Still there was a wild, uneasy light
40:45
of triumph in his eyes, and he kept murmuring to himself over and over
40:49
again, this is my wedding day. Abel cannot laybord now, living or
40:53
dead, living or dead, living or dead. He sat in his arm
40:59
chair, waiting with an uncanny quietness for the church hour to arrive. When
41:05
the bell began to ring, he arose and passed out of his house,
41:07
closing the door behind him. He looked at the river and saw the tide
41:13
had just turned. In the church, she sat with Sarah and her mother,
41:17
holding Sarah's hand tightly in his all the time, as though he feared
41:22
to lose her. When the service was over, they stood up together and
41:25
were married in the presence of the entire congregation, But no one left the
41:30
church. Both made the responses clearly, Eric's being even on the defiant side.
41:37
When the wedding was over, Sarah took her husband's arm and they walked
41:40
away together, the boys and younger girls being cuffed by their elders into a
41:45
decorous behavior, for they would fain have followed close behind their heels. The
41:51
way from the church led down to the back of Eric's cottage, a narrow
41:53
passage being between it and that of his next neighbor. When the bridal couple
41:59
had passed this, the remainder of the congregation, who had followed them at
42:02
a little distance, was startled by a long, shrill scream from the bride.
42:08
They rushed through the passage and found her on the bank, with wild
42:12
eyes, pointing to the river bed opposite Eric Samson's door. The falling tide
42:17
had deposited there the body of Abel Behenna Stark upon the broken rocks. The
42:24
rope trailing from its waist had been twisted by the current round the mooring post
42:29
and had held it back while the tide had ebbed away from it. The
42:32
right elbow had fallen in a chink in the rock, leaving the hand outstretched
42:37
towards Sarah, with the open palm upward as though it were extended to receive
42:40
hers, the pale, drooping fingers opened to the clasp. All that happened
42:47
afterwards was never quite known to Sarah Samson. Whenever she would try to recollect,
42:53
there had become a buzzing in her ears, and the dimness in her
42:57
eyes, an all would pass away. The only thing that she could remember
43:01
of it all, and this she never forgot, was Eric's breathing heavily,
43:07
with his face whiter than that of the dead man, as he muttered under
43:09
his breath devil's health, devil's faith, Taviol's price, The end. End
43:22
of the Coming of Abel Behenna Recording by Kate Mackenzie, Zurich, Switzerland,