Say, I'm sick--sick to death."
Jeff left his packhorse and moved forward amongst the blackened limbs.
The reek of burnt wood hung heavily upon the air. He threaded his way
carefully toward the charred remains of an extensive abode, now plainly
visible amongst the black tree trunks.
It was a wide rambling structure, and, though burnt to cinders, much of
its general shape, and the great logs which had formed its walls, still
remained to testify to all it had been under the hands of those who had
originally wrought there.
Jeff glanced back at the man he had left behind. He had not stirred.
He sat in the saddle just gazing at the destruction. That was all. So
he turned again to the ruins, and, dismounting, he proceeded on foot to
explore.
* * * * * *
They were eyes wide with repulsion and a certain horror that gazed down
upon the object at Jeff's feet. It was the rotting, charred remains of
a human figure. It was beyond recognition, except in so far as its
human identity was concerned.
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