DARK STAR
By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
THE DARK STAR
By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
Author of "The Girl Philippa," "Who Goes There,"
"The Hidden Children," Etc.
[Illustration]
WITH FRONTISPIECE
By W. D. STEVENS
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers--New York
Published by Arrangement with D. Appleton & Company
Copyright, 1917, by
ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
Copyright, 1916, 1917, by the International Magazine Company
Printed in the United States of America
TO MY FRIEND
EDGAR SISSON
Dans c'mйtier-lа, faut
rien chercher а comprendre.
RENЙ BENJAMIN
ALAK'S SONG
Where are you going,
Naпa?
Through the still noon--
Where are you going?
To hear the thunder of the sea
And the wind blowing!--
To find a stormy moon to comfort me
Across the dune!
----
Why are you weeping,
Naпa?
Through the still noon--
Why are you weeping?
Because I found no wind, no sea,
No white surf leaping,
Nor any flying moon to comfort me
Upon the dune.
----
What did you see there,
Naпa?
In the still noon--
What did you see there?
Only the parched world drowsed in drought,
And a fat bee, there,
Prying and probing at a poppy's mouth
That drooped a-swoon.
----
What did you hear there,
Naпa?
In the still noon--
What did you hear there?
Only a kestrel's lonely cry
From the wood near there--
A rustle in the wheat as I passed by--
A cricket's rune.
----
Who led you homeward,
Naпa?
Through the still noon--
Who led you homeward?
My soul within me sought the sea,
Leading me foam-ward:
But the lost moon's ghost returned with me
Through the high noon.
----
Where is your soul then,
Naпa?
Lost at high noon--
Where is your soul then?
It wanders East--or West--I think--
Or near the Pole, then--
Or died--perhaps there on the dune's dry brink
Seeking the moon.
THE DARK STAR
"The dying star grew dark; the last light faded from it; went out.
Prince Erlik laughed.
"And suddenly the old order of things began to pass away more
swiftly.
"Between earth and outer space--between Creator and created, confusing
and confounding their identities,--a rushing darkness grew--the
hurrying wrack of immemorial storms heralding whirlwinds through which
Truth alone survives.
"Awaiting the inevitable reлstablishment of such temporary conventions
as render the incident of human existence possible, the brooding Demon
which men call Truth stares steadily at Tengri under the high stars
which are passing too, and which at last shall pass away and leave the
Demon watching all alone amid the ruins of eternity."
The Prophet of the Kiot Bordjiguen
CONTENTS
Preface. Children of the Star
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Wonder-Box 1
II. Brookhollow 18
III. In Embryo 30
IV. The Trodden Way 38
V. Ex Machina 47
VI. The End of Solitude 60
VII. Obsession 71
VIII. A Change Impends 80
IX. Nonresistance 88
X. Driving Head-on 102
XI. The Breakers 112
XII. A Life Line 122
XIII. Letters from a Little Girl 137
XIV. A Journey Begins 157
XV. The Locked House 162
XVI. Scheherazade 180
XVII. A White Skirt 193
XVIII. By Radio 202
XIX. The Captain of the Volhynia 216
XX. The Drop of Irish 223
XXI. Method and Foresight 239
XXII. Two Thirteen 246
XXIII. On His Way 253
XXIV. The Road to Paris 261
XXV. Cup and Lip 280
XXVI. Rue Soleil d'Or 290
XXVII. From Four to Five
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