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The Siren by Tarleton Collier. With
an abrupt jerk, Joe Wilson, from

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lying on a cot in a little
tent, lifted himself on his elbow in

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an attitude of intent. Listening.
There was no sound except the hum of

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a sleepy breeze through the pines,
the sleepier contralto of a mocking bird,

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and the purring undertone of rippling water. That's her, he whispered with an

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effort. He sat erect and again
told himself that's her. All. At

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once there came a crackle of words
without and sound of thudding footsteps. Joe

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flung himself back on the cot and
closed his eyes with furious energy, as

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the flap of the tent was lifted
and the engineer and the doctor peered within.

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He's asleep, said the engineer,
in a low voice. Hum said

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the doctor. He was a wizzened
little man with spectacles. Then he let

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the flap drop, and his voice
came to Joe brusquely through the canvas.

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Well, we'll come back. I
want to talk to him. He's probably

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not very sick, but by God, man, we've got to keep your

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men from the water around here,
or you'll never finish your railroad. They

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were walking away as he spoke,
and to Joe the voice seemed to fade.

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I tell you polluted fever. Then
they were gone, and the sound

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of them swallowed up by the ripples
of the little creek over the rocks.

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With a start, Joe again was
erect, his eyes furtive, glancing about

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the little canvas chamber. He tiptoed
to the flap and lifted it a bare

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inch, peering out upon the receding
figures of the two men as they asked

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beneath the water oak. With no
less caution, he crept to the other

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end of the tent and stepped through
the flap into the open. For a

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moment he stood irresolute, his eyes
closed, as if he were dizzy.

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Keep away from the water, you
fool, he whispered. There was no

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other sound of life in the woods
now, the breeze had died, and

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the mocking bird was silent, only
the prattle of a nearby stream over its

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rocky bed. With a stumbling,
nervous stride that was almost a run,

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Joe Wilson went toward the sound of
the water, and at last he plunged

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through a thick clump of willows,
and stood stiff, half crouching at the

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top of a bank of damp green
moss that sloped steeply to the little stream,

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with pools like black wells, still
and silent, only the silver shallows

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between pool wouls rippled with life.
At the foot of the bank was a

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shell of rock, splotched with green
moss, reaching into the stream, barely

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an inch above the water. Upon
it, Joe's glance rested, as if

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held by a power outside himself.
He drew back into the willows, his

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sunken eyes closed in his pale face. Then with a sudden spring, he

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was over the bank and perched upon
the rock. Something like a smile lightened

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his face, as if with the
leap he had settled a troublesome matter.

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He sat down as easily and comfortably
as he might, his legs doubled,

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his hands clasped about his knees,
and stared intently at the bleak pool at

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his feet. And then, between
a closing and an opening of his eyes,

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a woman was there where he was
looking for her. There was no

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sense of suddenness about the apparition.
Only when he closed his eyes against dizziness

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there was the water and nothing else. When he opened them. An instant

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later, she was standing in the
midst of the pool, almost where he

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could touch her, and it was
as if she had been there all the

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while. The water reached a little
above her ankles. Her legs were bare

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to the knees clothed above that,
and her body as well, in a

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soft, clinging garment of white that
seemed a part of her white. Throat

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and arms were bare. Her face
was alive with a pleasant smile. Her

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eyes, of green and gray together
were alive and pleasant too. You are

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late, she said, There was
something of the stream's bright ripple in her

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voice. Joe Wilson could only smile
and answer. Then his smile faded,

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and his face was scornful and somewhat
stubborn. He said, and I came

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near, not coming at all.
I swore I wouldn't, but you came,

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she said, still smiling, only
to tell you that this is the

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last time. Her smile merrier now, was accompanied by a sound that might

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have been the gurgle of the little
whirlpool in the rapids, or it might

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have been a low note of laughter. You didn't mean it then, that

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you love me, she chided,
coming nearer. It was not by a

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step that she moved, or by
any perceptible effort. The space between them

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all at once was lessened nothing else. Joe had lost his careless air and

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posture. He was on his knees, a fury in his words. I

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didn't mean it. You can say
that I have become less than a man.

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I love you so you bring me
here every day to do as you

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will, and I would die if
I didn't come. I love you so

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for you. I have broken my
word to my friends back there in camp.

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And I don't know who you are
or what you are. Again that

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gentle sound that might have been a
sudden swirl of water or her laughter.

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Then she was nearer, and her
pleasant eyes looked into his mockery in them.

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You don't know who I am,
she asked softly, And yet I

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am yours. The stubborn lines in
Joe's face vanished, A quick throb of

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blood choked into a gulp. The
word he would have spoken, and he

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stretched out his arms. She was
suddenly beyond his reach. Yours, she

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said again, and that she laughed. There was no doubt. This time.

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Joe's eyes were hungry. Joe leaned
forward upon his stiffened arms and stared

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at her like a wistful dog.
I don't know who you are, he

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whispered. I don't know who you
are. I am whoever you want me

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to be. She said, I'll
call you Sadie. He said, Sadie.

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Her lids drooped, veiling her eyes, but their narrow glimmer was keenly

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alive. Yes, there is a
girl between two words. She was close

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before him, at the edge of
the rock. I am yours, she

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said, in a fierce, low
voice. What do you care for any

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girl? I am all woman,
and you have me. What do you

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care for the world? You have
me? He felt her breath on his

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face. There was warmth and fragrance
in it. Her white beauty was greater

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than that of the dogwood blossoms showering
there through the gloom. Under A sudden

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breeze, and a dizziness struck him
so that the trees swam before his eyes.

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I have you, he repeated,
thickly. Raised to his feet,

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and the girl, Sadie, she
asked, You are Sadie. Only you

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I have forgotten. He put out
his arms, but she was beyond his

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reach. Again, her eyes mysterious. With outstretched arms, he begged her

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to return. I love you,
he said, for a full breath.

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She looked at him gravely. Then
we shall see, she said, plunging

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her hands into the stream. As
she arose, her hands were cupped and

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brimming with water. She moved toward
him, smiling. Terror gathered in Joe's

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white face. Drink, she tempted
him. He whispered, and the refusal

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seemed to strengthen him, for when
she said again, drink, he shouted

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no. She dropped her hands and
the water went splashing back into the stream.

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And smiling still, she came nearer
until she was beside him upon the

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rock, her wet feet glistening silver
upon the greenish brown surface. Her eyes

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held fast his wide, frightened stare. Why she asked him, when she

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was so close that he was aware
of the warmth and fragrance of her person.

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He answered her steadily, I will
not. That's why I must not.

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I have told you I must not
every day that I have come here,

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and yet I have always drunk this
water. It has made me less

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than a man. It has made
me break my word and my own rules.

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Once more, her eyes were grave, You must not, she asked.

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Her voice might have been that of
the purring shallows. There was no

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escaping her gaze, and before it
his eyes wavered and shifted. His shoulders

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drooped. You will not, the
purring voice went on, not for me,

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and you say you love me.
It is so little, that I

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asked. There was a pain in
his voice as he cried, don't,

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Sadie, I have promised the rule. It was she whose figure drooped now,

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and her face that was mournful.
But you have broken the rules before

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this for me, She murmured.
I came to day to say that I

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would no more. But it is
so little, I asked, and I

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am yours. He pleaded, don't
With sudden abandon she flung herself against him,

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and for the first time, his
arms closed about her. She yielded

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to his fierce embrace, her head
against his breast. You do not love

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me, she whispered, Sadie.
His arms tightened with his cry, and

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the red mist blinded him as he
felt her warm, vital body closer against

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him. She lifted her face and
looked at him. You will, she

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asked, smiling, No, he
said, almost with a moan. She

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kissed him to drink, Only to
drink, she said, softly. It

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is so little I have given you
myself, isn't that something? With one

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arm she clung to him as tightly
as he held her. The other arm

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was free, and with her hand
she stroked his face. Her kisses were

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hot upon his lips. His eyes
were closed, and he swayed with a

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dizziness that was mightier than any other
he had known. Only to drink,

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she said, do you not care
for me? And I have given you

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myself? What are those men in
the camp to gi? They and their

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rules? You will not drink?
Yet I give you this. Her lips

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met his in an eternity of giving
and taking. No, he said again,

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but his voice quivered and broke with
the plain message of surrender. With

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a little cry, she knelt at
the edge of the pool, her arms

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still about him, so that he
was forced to kneel with her. She

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plunged her hands into the water and
lifted them to him with their silver freight.

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With an eager, moaning sound.
He drank the cool water, and

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as he did so, the red
mist before his eyes thickened, and his

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ears roared with a thunder of blood
within. To drink became then his passion,

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and he cupped his own hands,
filled them with water, and drank.

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For a moment the mist cleared and
the roaring eased. He saw that

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he was alone on the rock.
Sadie, he called. The answering sound

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might have been only the prattle of
the stream, or it might have been

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low laughter. The thought came to
him that perhaps she had fled to the

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bank, and with prodigious labor,
he clambered up the tiny slope. She

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was not there. He parted the
soft blown curtain of the willows, and

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through the fronds that were so light
a bird might have flown through them.

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He gasped with the effort it cost
him. Staggering into the sunlight beyond the

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fringe of trees, he found that
she was not there either. He tried

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to run, but only stumbled,
lifting himself painfully to stagger onward. Then

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the midst of his delirium closed upon
him, and the blood at his ear.

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Drums pounded, and the tumult came
out of the earth and sky to

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overwhelm him. The doctor and the
engineer going fishing stumbled upon his crumpled form.

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An hour later, the former wizzened
spectacled little man bent over him and

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studied him with eyes that seemed to
see everything. He studied the young fellow's

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pulse, loosened his shirt, stared
into the pupils of his eyes. At

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last, he turned to the other, frowning, and said, fever,

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and maybe that damned typhoid. He's
the sickest man I ever saw. Then

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his voice rose with a flare of
anger. Say can't you keep these fools

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away from this water? He asked, there's death in it. The End

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of the Siren by Tarlton Collier