Argosy, Vol. 118, No. 2 — page 161: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ABOVE GROUND. would be under ground! A great flood of joy surged over him, and he was almost himself again. Funny what a difference a few feet of earth would make! was still a part of the world in which he moved. It was being viewed by persons with whom he came into contact. It was ‘touched possibly by the very air he breathed. It was almost as though the face were yet alive. The dread of it was a reality enhanced by the reality of its exis- tence above ground. But—well, in only a few hours now the face would be removed from the world in which he lived. It would cease to be an earthly thing. It would be hidden from the gaze of everybody. It would have no existence at all—nothing but a memory— and he was sure that memory would fade, and then die, after the face was taken away. Yes, he had but a few hours more of tor- ture to endure—and then all would be well. “Are you going to old Murcell’s fun- eral?”’ a companion asked him on the way to the shop. “No,” said Maxon. “ If it were Sun- day I'd go—but I don’t feel like losing half a day’s work.” He went through the day all right. He fought off the dizzy spells that resulted from his sleeplessness, and he forced him- self to eat—forced himself to appear natu- ral. That evening he read of the funeral. The face was now under ground. He breathed deeply with great relief. Even on the instant he felt easier. There was no denying the fact that a few feet of earth made a vast difference. He sought his bed early that night—and things were as he had imagined. With the face under ground he got his mind completely away from it, and, reading until his eyes drooped, he sank into a long, restful sleep. In the morning he was quite himself again. He went cheerfully about his work. His appetite came back and his bodily vigor returned so, quickly that he couldn’t make himself believe he had ever been dis- turbed. That night he slept even better than he had the night before. And then, next day, the terrible thing happened! The evening paper carried a story that The face. 311 the body had been exhumed and was being held in Corbett’s morgue pending an in- vestigation.“ There was a-great deal of mystery about it. The paper didn’t state what. developments had brought about the exhumation of the remains. It had been ordered by Coroner Fitzman, and that of- ficial refused to state what turn of affairs had led to his extraordinary action. There was nothing to be made public, he said, until his investigation was completed. The paper speculated over a wide range. It hinted of poison, and an investigation by the State chemist. It hinted at mysterious relatives. It hinted at money. It hinted at everything except Hugo Maxon, or any individual. There was not a suggestion that suspicion was directed toward him— but, strange to say, Maxon got but small comfort out of that. The face was again above ground! That preyed upon his mind above everything else. Once more he was confronted by that Sagging jaw and those staring eyes. He knew positively that the jaw did not sag any more, and that the eyes were closed— but still that’s the way he saw them; that’s the way he would see them as long as that face remained unburied. There was no indication in the newspaper story of when the investigation would be completed and the body restored to its grave. Confound them! Why didn’t they remove the vital organs, if they suspected poison, and bury the rest of the body— why didn’t they get the face under ground? Why keep that gruesome exhibit lying on a slab? He read the story again. He gath- ered that the body might be kept above ground a week—and he very much doubt- ed whether he could stand it that long. So far as that night was concerned, it was sleepless—and he felt that the next would be the same, if the body were not buried again by that time. He was again thrown upon his mettle. He forced him- self to eat and to talk naturally. This was harder now than it had been because the exhumation of the old man’s body made a lively topic. He heard it at every meal, he heard it on the way to and from the shop and at the shop. And, known as a friend of the old man, he must join in it! cS Comicboo (E@)