THE HALO Copyright, 1907 By Bettina von Hutten Copyright Bettina von Hutten Published October, 1907 TO THE MEMORY OF A DEAR LOST FRIEND I DEDICATE THIS BOOK Bettina von Hutten Thun, Switzerland, September 5, 1907 Bettina von Hutten Thun, Switzerland PROLOGUE A straight stretch of dusty Norman road dappled with grotesque shadows of the ancient apple-trees that, bent as if in patient endurance of the weight of their thick-set scarlet fruit, edged it on both sides. Under one of the trees, his back against its gnarled trunk, sat an old man playing a cracked fiddle. He played horribly, wrenching discords from the poor instrument, grinning with a kind of vacant malice as it shrieked aloud in agony, and rolling in their scarred sockets his long-blind eyes. Beside him, his tongue hanging out, his head bent, sat a yellow dog with a lead to his collar. Far and wide there was to be seen no other living thing, and in the apple-scented heat the screeching of the violin was like the resentful cries of some invisible creature being tortured. "Papillon, mon ami," said the old man, ceasing playing for a moment, "we are wasting time; the shadows are coming. See the baby shadow apple-trees creeping across the road." The yellow dog cocked an ear and said nothing. "Time should never be lost, petit chien jaune—never be lost." Then with a shrill laugh he ground his bow deep into the roughened strings, and the painful music began again. The yellow dog closed his eyes....
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