They are out of the world there--no road,
no paths, nothing to bring even a tourist. I could have imagined
such a spot in Arizona, Elizabeth, but in England--no!"
"Has he any amusements at all?" she inquired.
The man's hands were shaking; once more his eyes went longingly
toward the cupboard.
"He has made--a doll," he said, "carved it out of a piece of wood
and dressed it in oddments from his ties. Mathers showed it to
me as a joke. Elizabeth, it was wonderful--horrible!"
"Why?" she asked him.
"It is you," he continued, moistening his lips with his tongue,
"you, in a blue gown--your favorite shade. He has even made blue
stockings and strange little shoes. He has got some hair from
somewhere and parted it just like yours."
"It sounds very touching," she remarked.
The man was shivering again.
"Elizabeth," he said, "I do not think that he means it kindly.
Mathers took me up into his room. He has made something there
which looks like a scaffold. The doll was hanging by a piece of
string from the gallows. Elizabeth!--my God, but it was like
you!" he cried, suddenly dropping his head upon his arms.
For a moment, a reflection of the terror which had seized him
flashed in her own face. It passed quickly away. She laughed
mockingly.
"My dear father," she protested, "you are certainly not yourself
this morning."
"I saw you swinging," he muttered, "swinging by that piece of
cord! There was a great black pin through your heart.
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