Asimov, Isaac Magical Worlds of Fantasy Faeries

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Taffertlectures were a real contribution to an obscure subject.But in after-life he was led into fantastic
speculations;and when he found himself unable to convince his col-
NO MAN'S LAND 207
leagues, he gradually retired into himself, and lived prac-tically a hermit's life till his death. His career,
thusbroken short, is a sad instance of the fascination whichthe recondite and the quack can exercise even
on menof approved ability."
And now his own narrative is published, and the worldcan judge as it pleases about the amazing
romance. Theview which will doubtless find general acceptance is that the whole is a figment of the brain,
begotten of someharmless moorland adventure and the company of suchreligious maniacs as the
shepherd and his sister. Butsome who knew the former sobriety and calmness of myfriend's mind may be
disposed timorously and with deep hesitation to another verdict. They may accept the narra- tive, and
believe that somewhere in those moorlands hemet with a horrible primitive survival, passed through the
strangest adventure, and had his finger on an epoch-making discovery. In this case they will be inclined to
sympathise with the loneliness and misunderstanding ofhis latter days. It is not for me to decide the
question.That which alone could bring proof is buried beneatha thousand tons of rock in the midst of an
untroddendesert.
john buchan.
THE PRISM
By Mary E. Wilkins
There had been much rain that season, and the vegeta-tion was almost tropical. The wayside growths
were jun-gles to birds and insects, and very near them to humans. All through the long afternoon of the
hot August day,Diantha Fielding lay flat on her back under the lee ofthe stone wall which bordered her
stepfather's, ZenasMay's, south mowing-lot. It was pretty warm there,although she lay in a little strip of
shade of the tangle ofblackberry-vines, poison-ivy, and the gray pile of stones; but the girl loved the heat.
She experienced the gentlelanguor which is its best effect, instead of the fierceunrest and irritation which
is its worst. She left that to rattlesnakes and nervous women. As for her, in times of extreme heat, she
hung over life with tremulous flutters,like a butterfly over a rose, moving only enough to pre-serve her
poise in the scheme of things, and realizing tothe full the sweetness of all about her.
She heard, as she lay there, the voice of a pine-treenot far away a solitary pine which was full of gusty
sweetness; she smelled the wild grapes, which were reluc-tantly ripening across the field over the wall
that edgedthe lane; she smelled the blackberry-vines; she looked with indolent fascination at the virile
sprays of poison-ivy. It was like innocence surveying sin, and wonderingwhat it was like. Once her
stepmother, Mrs. Zenas May,had been poisoned with ivy, and both eyes had beenclosed thereby.
Diantha did not believe that the ivywould so serve her. She dared herself to touch it, then she looked
away again.
She heard a far-carrying voice from the farm-house at
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THE PRISM 209
the left calling her name. "Diantha! Diantha!" She layso still that she scarcely breathed. The voice came
again.She smiled triumphantly. She knew perfectly well whatwas wanted: that she should assist in
preparing supper.Her stepmother's married daughter and her two childrenwere visiting at the house. She
preferred remainingwhere she was. Her sole fear of disturbance was from the children. They were like
little ferrets. Diantha didnot like them. She did not like children very well underany circumstances. To her
they seemed always out oftune; the jar of heredity was in them, and she felt it,although she did not know
enough to realize what shefelt. She was only twelve years old, a child still, thoughtall for her age.
The voice came again. Diantha shifted her position alittle; she stretched her slender length luxuriously; she
felt for something which hung suspended around herneck under her gingham waist, but she did not then
remove it. "Diantha! Diantha!" came the insistent voice.
Diantha lay as irresponsive as the blackberry-vinewhich trailed beside her like a snake. Then she heard
thehouse door close with a bang; her ears were acute. Shefelt again of that which was suspended from
her neck. Acurious expression of daring, of exultation, of fear, wasin her face. Presently she heard the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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