At length I succeeded in overcoming the feeling which
oppressed me, and, making a step forward, I shouted in a strained
voice,
"'You black Satan!'
"I cannot clearly explain the psychological process which led me to
utter those words. I had never entertained any enmity towards Dr. Syx,
although I had always regarded him as a heartless person, who had
purposely led thousands to their ruin for his selfish gain, but I knew
that he could not help hating me, and I felt now that, in some
inexplicable manner, a struggle, not physical, but spiritual, was
taking place between us, and my exclamation, uttered with surprising
intensity, produced upon me, and apparently upon him, the effect of a
desperate sword thrust which attains its mark.
"Immediately the doctor's form seemed to recede, as if he had passed
the verge of the precipice behind him. At the same time it became dim,
and then dimmer, until only the dark outlines, and particularly the
jet-black eyes, glaring fiercely, remained visible. And still he
receded, as though floating in the air, which was now silvered with
the evening light, until he appeared to cross the immense atmospheric
gulf over Jackson's Hole and paused on the rim of the horizon in the
east.
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