The dark star

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dark Star, by Robert W Chambers This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Dark Star Author: Robert W Chambers Illustrator: W D Stevens Release Date: March 29, 2009 [EBook #28440] Language: English *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DARK STAR *** Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE DARK STAR “My darling Rue—my little Rue Carew––” The Dark Star By ROBERT W CHAMBERS Author of “The Girl Philippa,” “Who Goes There,” “The Hidden Children,” Etc emblem 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’métier-là, faut rien chercher à comprendre RENÉ BENJAMIN ALAK’S SONG vii Where are you going, Naïa? 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, Naïa? 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, Naïa? 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, Naïa? In the still noon— viii 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, Naïa? 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, Naïa? 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 ... 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... FROM FOUR TO FIVE TOGETHER EN FAMILLE JARDIN RUSSE THE CAFÉ DES BULGARS THE CERCLE EXTRANATIONALE A RAT HUNT SUNRISE THE FIRST DAY 305 312 325 337 347 358 377 395 410 THE DARK STAR xviii THE DARK STAR PREFACE... the most beautiful thing in all the world was love of Fatherland Over these, and millions of others, brooded the spell of the Dark Star Even the world itself lay under it, vaguely uneasy, sometimes startled to momentary seismic panic Then, ere mundane self-control restored terrestrial equilibrium, a