The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1863-10-01

occupied For moment | merely saw an
occupant A step forward and | saw more.
| 1t was occupied by the old man.
| At first | was too Supplied to be Mortified.
Was still dreaming? It was absurd! A
spectre in the heart of Bloomsbury in 1861
| The familiar room was around me, with its
bic dome of blue and warm walls of poly
chrome bindings. There were the familiar
faces of the servants; and ever and anon there
sounded the familiar clang of the book-rests
What singular, optical delusion! To be
accounted for no doubt, by the events Of the
preceding day-not forgetting the venison o.
the evening. So l walked on to my place
and, though a slight tremor thrilled through
my bones, took my seat on my chair.
i There was no doubt about the verisimili
tude of the appearance There was the pic
turesque gray head, tapering down to the
longest hair of the long, scattered beard
There was the thin, worn face, seeming like
the case of some old lantern, through which
bIazed the two bright eyes There were the
weak transparent fingers; and there what
new phantasmagoria did behold ?-there or
the table lay the four old books that 1 had
last seen under the temporary keeping of the
old man. Spell-bound | watched, but did moi
dare to trust to touch. There was no palsy
in the hands, but they wandered over the ia
bic, uneasy and restless. They seemed tc
seek something. and to seek in vain. The
books were open, but the old man was doing
nothing. Doing nothing? How could he?
In an instant the MS. in my pocket flashed
across my recollection. Was this what the
spectre sought?
/ With little reflection on what | was doing,
and with my brain i'll a strange whirl Of won
der and doubt pulled forth the papers, and
placed them on the edge of the table of D. g.
Instantly they were seized. The face seemed
to light up with glance of satisfaction, but
the eyes never turned to me. They were fixed
intently on the book Still Sin amazement
lost" looked and saw the old man rapidly
and eagerly begin to write.
! Then the first terror that had seized me
fled, and | returned with shame to my rea-
son. We had, doubtless, been mistaken. My
friend had been too hurried in his verdict Of
death. The old man was only stunned, and
was back again at his work. No doubt he
is indignant with me for my intrusion on his
privacy, aud would not even thank me for
the service l had done him. began to whis
per explanation and apology. Not word
did the old man answer Not for an instant
did the eyes turn from the page on which the
lines of words were growing.
| got up and went to inquire of the porter
at the door of the inner passage if he had
seen the old man enter and, if so, at what
time?
''OId man? Old man in shabby coat p
Run over yesterday? Yes, know him. and
Eve heard of the accident. He has been here
regularly for the last six months. He'll new
er come again. though, poor old gentleman"
| 'Have you seen him come in here this morn
ing?
''Come in here this morning? He was kill
ed, sir, yesterday. You must have missed
him."
| "IIe is in the room now"
| The man grinned and looked at me inquir-
| ingly.
'lmpossible, sir, there's many like him.
you must be wrong
Invent straight back to the obliging attend
ant, who gives out the reserved books, and
never once turned my head in the direction Of
Row d.
Have you seen the old man that general
y sits at D. s, Mr., Smith ?'
''Yes sir; he was here about quarter of
an hour ago, asking for his books"
Then | went back to Row D. There was
no one sitting at No. 8. There were the mus
ty folos, and there was the book of MS. ly
ing wide open, and saw that the ink upon the
page was wet but there was no old man.
''tinis' was written at the bottom Of the page.
His work was done now, wherever he himself
had gone.
| hurried back to the porter at the door.
''Be sure you stop that old man if he goes
by"
The man looked at me with meaning
glance. He evidently was skeptical as to my
sanity.
Was Imad l replaced the MS in my pock-
ct, and hurried from the building. My head
was burning-my hands were trembling. l
was strangely excited and felt almost inclin-
ed to agree with the porter | must be mad.
| hurried to my friend the surgeon.
Nonsense, nonsense, my dear fellow; |
can explain it in moment. You are of ner
vous temperament Your mind has been full
of this old man for days. You were very much
excited by the accident yesterday. You ate
much of too good dinner. You 90 to the Mu-
scum, and you have morning mare instead of
nightmare. That's all the mystery. Sir,
have some luncheon before we go to the in
quest"
yes that's all very well; but the books
on the table-and the servants-they also saw
him"
you said you had seen him, and they had
no particular reason to suppose that Wednes
day was different from Monday and Tuesday.
And did you examine the books very careful
ly? Are there no two books bound alike in
your library?'
''But the MS-the writing-I saw him write
with my own eyes. | saw the ink wet
here have it in my pocket. | will swear
this last page was not written yesterday l
will swear
''Don't swear till you get to the inquest, and
trust anything rather than your own eyes,
You think the ink was wet. dare say it was
greasy, and shone in the light. You didn't
turn over the last page yesterday. fyou have
no better evidence than this for your ghost, |
think you had better say nothing about it
Come-have sherry and soda and come off
to - street You will find the door of
the old fellows room has been locked since
you left him yesterday"
The invincible unbelief of my friend did lit
tie to satisfy myself, although felt that in the
face Of what he said | could adduce little proof
to satisfy others drove with him to -
street It still wanted some time of the hour
fixed for the inquest. The slattern was ready
to bind herself by any oath to prove that the
door of the old mans room had never been
unlocked since | had left him. We went up
to see the corpse again. gazed with strange
interest. 1t seemed to me-though did not
communicate my thoughts that the face ex-
pressed something more than it did on the
previous day. There was content as well as
rest. 1t might have been mere fancy, but |!
seemed to read in the expression Of the face
satisfaction at having completed labor.
There were the preparatory ceremonies of
the inquest and the verdict of Accidental
Death, and then came the quiet funeral. No
one ever answered my advertisements as to
the TOXIN of James Smith. Indeed, they
would have heard Of little to their advantage
No one had any claim on the little property
except the landlady for an ininitesimall
amount of rent took nnsseSsion Of the books