Speaker 1: The Siren by Tarlton Collier. With an abrupt jerk, Joe Wilson,
Speaker 1: from lying on a cot in a little tent, lifted
Speaker 1: himself on his elbow in an attitude of intent. Listening.
Speaker 1: There was no sound except the hum of a sleepy
Speaker 1: breeze through the pines, the sleepier contralto of a mocking bird,
Speaker 1: and the purring undertone of rippling water. That's her, he
Speaker 1: whispered with an effort. He sat erect and again told
Speaker 1: himself that's her. All. At once there came a crackle
Speaker 1: of words without and sound of thudding footsteps. Joe flung
Speaker 1: himself back on the cot and closed his eyes with
Speaker 1: furious energy, as the flap of the tent was lifted
Speaker 1: and the engineer and the doctor peered within. He's asleep,
Speaker 1: said the engineer, in a low voice. Hum said the doctor.
Speaker 1: He was a wizened little man with spectacles. Then he
Speaker 1: let the flap drop, and his voice came to Joe
Speaker 1: brusquely through the canvas. Well, we'll come back. I want
Speaker 1: to talk to him. He's probably not very sick. But
Speaker 1: by God, man, we've got to keep your men from
Speaker 1: the water around here, or you'll never finish your railroad.
Speaker 1: They were walking away as he spoke, and to Joe
Speaker 1: the voice seemed to fade. I tell you polluted fever.
Speaker 1: Then they were gone, and the sound of them swallowed
Speaker 1: up by the ripples of the little creek over the rocks.
Speaker 1: With a start, Joe again was erect, his eyes furtive,
Speaker 1: glancing about the little canvas chamber. He tiptoed to the
Speaker 1: flap and lifted it a bare inch, peering out upon
Speaker 1: the receding figures of the two men as they beneath
Speaker 1: the water oak. With no less caution, he crept to
Speaker 1: the other end of the tent and stepped through the
Speaker 1: flap into the open. For a moment he stood irresolute,
Speaker 1: his eyes closed, as if he were dizzy. Keep away
Speaker 1: from the water, you fool, he whispered. There was no
Speaker 1: other sound of life in the woods now, the breeze
Speaker 1: had died, and the mocking bird was silent, only the
Speaker 1: prattle of a nearby stream over its rocky bed. With
Speaker 1: a stumbling, nervous stride that was almost a run, Joe
Speaker 1: Wilson went toward the sound of the water, and at
Speaker 1: last he plunged through a thick clump of willows, and
Speaker 1: stood stiff, half crouching at the top of a bank
Speaker 1: of damp green moss that sloped steeply to the little stream,
Speaker 1: with pools like black wells, still and silent, only the
Speaker 1: silver shallows between pool wouls rippled with life. At the
Speaker 1: foot of the bank was a shell of rock, splotched
Speaker 1: with green moss, reaching into the stream, barely an inch
Speaker 1: above the water. Upon it, Joe's glance rested, as if
Speaker 1: held by a power outside himself. He drew back into
Speaker 1: the willows, his sunken eyes closed in his pale face.
Speaker 1: Then with a sudden spring, he was over the bank
Speaker 1: and perched upon the rock. Something like a smile lightened
Speaker 1: his face, as if with the leap he had settled
Speaker 1: a troublesome matter. He sat down as easily and comfortably
Speaker 1: as he might, his legs doubled, his hands clasped about
Speaker 1: his knees, and stared intently at the bleak pool at
Speaker 1: his feet. And then, between a closing and an opening
Speaker 1: of his eyes, a woman was there where he was
Speaker 1: looking for her. There was no sense of suddenness about
Speaker 1: the apparition. Only when he closed his eyes against dizziness,
Speaker 1: there was the water and nothing else. When he opened them.
Speaker 1: An instant later, she was standing in the midst of
Speaker 1: the pool, almost where he could touch her, and it
Speaker 1: was as if she had been there all the while.
Speaker 1: The water reached a little above her ankles. Her legs
Speaker 1: were bare to the knees clothed above that, and her
Speaker 1: body as well, in a soft, clinging garment of white
Speaker 1: that seemed a part of her white. Throat and arms
Speaker 1: were bare. Her face was alive with a pleasant smile.
Speaker 1: Her eyes, of green and gray together were alive and
Speaker 1: pleasant too. You are late, she said, There was something
Speaker 1: of the stream's bright ripple in her voice. Joe Wilson
Speaker 1: could only smile and answer. Then his smile faded, and
Speaker 1: his face was scornful and somewhat stubborn. Yes, he said,
Speaker 1: and I came near, not coming at all. I swore
Speaker 1: I wouldn't, but you came, she said, still smiling, only
Speaker 1: to tell you that this is the last time. Her
Speaker 1: smile merrier now, was accompanied by a sound that might
Speaker 1: have been the gurgle of the little whirlpool in the rapids,
Speaker 1: or it might have been a low note of laughter.
Speaker 1: You didn't mean it, then, that you love me, she chided,
Speaker 1: coming nearer. It was not by a step that she moved,
Speaker 1: or by any perceptible effort. The space between them all
Speaker 1: at once was lessened nothing else. Joe had lost his
Speaker 1: careless air and posture. He was on his knees, a
Speaker 1: fury in his words. I didn't mean it. You can
Speaker 1: say that I have become less than a man. I
Speaker 1: love you so you bring me here every day to
Speaker 1: do as you will, and I would die if I
Speaker 1: didn't come. I love you so for you. I have
Speaker 1: broken my word to my friends back there in camp.
Speaker 1: And I don't know who you are or what you are.
Speaker 1: Again that gentle sound that might have been a sudden
Speaker 1: swirl of water or her laughter. Then she was nearer,
Speaker 1: and her pleasant eyes looked into his mockery in them.
Speaker 1: You don't know who I am, she asked softly, And
Speaker 1: yet I am yours. The stubborn lines in Joe's face vanished,
Speaker 1: A quick throb of blood choked into a gulp. The
Speaker 1: word he would have spoken, and he stretched out his arms.
Speaker 1: She was suddenly beyond his reach. Yours, she said again,
Speaker 1: and that she laughed. There was no doubt. This time.
Speaker 1: Joe's eyes were hungry. Joe leaned forward upon his stiffened
Speaker 1: arms and stared at her like a wistful dog. I
Speaker 1: don't know who you are, he whispered. I don't know
Speaker 1: who you are. I am whoever you want me to be.
Speaker 1: She said, I'll call you Sadie. He said, Sadie. Her
Speaker 1: lids drooped, veiling her eyes, but their narrow glimmer was
Speaker 1: keenly alive. Yes, there is a girl between two words.
Speaker 1: She was close before him, at the edge of the rock.
Speaker 1: I am yours, she said, in a fierce, low voice.
Speaker 1: What do you care for any girl? I am all woman,
Speaker 1: and you have me. What do you care for the world?
Speaker 1: You have me? He felt her breath on his face.
Speaker 1: There was warmth and fragrance in it. Her white beauty
Speaker 1: was greater than that of the dogwood blossoms showering there
Speaker 1: through the gloom. Under A sudden breeze, and a dizziness
Speaker 1: struck him so that the trees swam before his eyes.
Speaker 1: I have you, he repeated, thickly. Raised to his feet,
Speaker 1: and the girl, Sadie, she asked, You are Sadie. Only
Speaker 1: you I have forgotten. He put out his arms, but
Speaker 1: she was beyond his reach. Again, her eyes mysterious. With
Speaker 1: outstretched arms, he begged her to return. I love you,
Speaker 1: he said, for a full breath. She looked at him gravely.
Speaker 1: Then we shall see, she said, plunging her hands into
Speaker 1: the stream. As she arose, her hands were cupped and
Speaker 1: brimming with water. She moved toward him, smiling. Terror gathered
Speaker 1: in Joe's white face. Drink, she tempted him. He whispered no, oh,
Speaker 1: and the refusal seemed to strengthen him, for when she
Speaker 1: said again, drink, he shouted no. She dropped her hands
Speaker 1: and the water went splashing back into the stream. And
Speaker 1: smiling still, she came nearer until she was beside him
Speaker 1: upon the rock, her wet feet glistening silver upon the
Speaker 1: greenish brown surface. Her eyes held fast his wide, frightened stare.
Speaker 1: Why she asked him, when she was so close that
Speaker 1: he was aware of the warmth and fragrance of her person.
Speaker 1: He answered her steadily, I will not. That's why I
Speaker 1: must not. I have told you I must not every
Speaker 1: day that I have come here, and yet I have
Speaker 1: always drunk this water. It has made me less than
Speaker 1: a man. It has made me break my word and
Speaker 1: my own rules. Once more, her eyes were grave. You
Speaker 1: must not, she asked. Her voice might have been that
Speaker 1: of the purring shallows. There was no escaping her gaze,
Speaker 1: and before it his eyes wavered and shifted. His shoulders drooped.
Speaker 1: You will not, the purring voice went on, not for me,
Speaker 1: and you say you love me. It is so little
Speaker 1: that I ask. There was a pain in his voice
Speaker 1: as he cried, don't, Sadie, I have promised the rule.
Speaker 1: It was she whose figure drooped now, and her face
Speaker 1: that was mournful. But you have broken the rules before
Speaker 1: this for me, She murmured. I came to day to
Speaker 1: say that I would no more. But it is so little,
Speaker 1: I asked, and I am yours. He pleaded, don't. With
Speaker 1: sudden abandon she flung herself against him, and for the
Speaker 1: first time, his arms closed about her. She yielded to
Speaker 1: his fierce embrace, her head against his breast. You do
Speaker 1: not love me, she whispered, Sadie. His arms tightened with
Speaker 1: his cry, and the red mist blighted him as he
Speaker 1: felt her warm, vital body closer against him. She lifted
Speaker 1: her face and looked at him. You will, she asked,
Speaker 1: smiling No, he said, almost with a moan. She kissed
Speaker 1: him to drink, Only to drink, she said, softly. It
Speaker 1: is so little I have given you myself, isn't that something?
Speaker 1: With one arm she clung to him as tightly as
Speaker 1: he held her. The other arm was free, and with
Speaker 1: her hand she stroked his face. Her kisses were hot
Speaker 1: upon his lips. His eyes were closed, and he swayed
Speaker 1: with a dizziness that was mightier than any other he
Speaker 1: had known. Only to drink, she said, do you not
Speaker 1: care for me? And I have given you myself? What
Speaker 1: are those men in the camp to you? They and
Speaker 1: their rules? You will not drink? Yet I give you this.
Speaker 1: Her lips met his in an eternity of giving and taking. No,
Speaker 1: he said again, but his voice quivered and broke with
Speaker 1: the plain message of surrender. With a little cry. She
Speaker 1: knelt at the edge of the pool, her arms still
Speaker 1: about him, so that he was forced to kneel with her.
Speaker 1: She plunged her hands into the water and lifted them
Speaker 1: to him with their silver freight. With an eager, moaning sound.
Speaker 1: He drank the cool water, and as he did so,
Speaker 1: the red mist before his eyes thickened, and his ears
Speaker 1: roared with a thunder of blood within to drink became
Speaker 1: then his passion, and he cupped his own hands, filled
Speaker 1: them with water, and drank. For a moment. The mist
Speaker 1: cleared and the roaring eased. He saw that he was
Speaker 1: alone on the rock. Sadie, he called. The answering sound
Speaker 1: might have been only the prattle of the stream, or
Speaker 1: it might have been low laughter. The thought came to
Speaker 1: him that perhaps she had fled to the bank, and
Speaker 1: with prodigious labor, he clambered up the tiny slope. She
Speaker 1: was not there. He parted the soft blown curtain of
Speaker 1: the willows and through the fronds that were so light
Speaker 1: a bird might have flown through them. He gasped with
Speaker 1: the effort it cost him. Staggering into the sunlight beyond
Speaker 1: the fringe of trees, he found that she was not
Speaker 1: there either. He tried to run, but only stumbled, lifting
Speaker 1: himself painfully to stagger onward. Then the midst of his
Speaker 1: delirium closed upon him, and the blood at his ear.
Speaker 1: Drums pounded, and the tumult came out of the earth
Speaker 1: and sky to overwhelm him. The doctor and the engineer
Speaker 1: going fishing stumbled upon his crumpled form. An hour later,
Speaker 1: the former a wizened, spectacled little man bent over him
Speaker 1: and studied him with eyes that seemed to see everything.
Speaker 1: He studied the young fellow's pulse, loosened his shirt, stared
Speaker 1: into the pupils of his eyes. At last, he turned
Speaker 1: to the other, frowning, and said, fever, and maybe that
Speaker 1: damn typhoid. He's the sickest man I ever saw. Then
Speaker 1: his voice rose with a flare of anger. Say can't
Speaker 1: you keep these fools away from this water? He asked,
Speaker 1: there's death in it. The End of the Siren by
Speaker 1: Tarlton Collier