Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1865-10-26

- e~N WN~-
an, passiOnately. Il hate you, you
brute p'
you do, do you 2" sneered be Give
me the bottle, or III breakil over your
head :"
stake it YOURSELF" grOaned she, leav-
ing the bar. ! wish you were dead, and
me too %
The man took The bottle and drank a
6ng draught'fron'it, casting, at the same
time, a menacing look towards the won.
an, and shaking his head at her, threat
eningly. The woman shuddered, and
covered her face with her hands. / could
stand it no longer, and abruptly as&ed to
be showed to my chamber.
The man. taking up the candle, mo-
toned me to follow him, when the dog,
which had been quiet before. eyinced
signs of great uneasiness, and, after try.
ing to arrest my notice by series of
hybrid noises, halfway between a bark
and a whine, seized hold of my panla-
looms, and held me fast.
Course the dog % muttered the man,
with-an awful oath, under his breath.
and adding, "don't mind the cur" he
dealt the poor animal such a kick with
his heavy boot as sent him flying across
the room with yelp Of pain.
Without further delay he conducted
me up narrow flight of stairs, into a
room containing tOlerably decent bed,
wash-stand. table, and a couple of
chairs. Setting the candle down, he left
the room and went down stairs. No
sooner had the door closed behind him,
than / noiselessiy bOlted it, and placed
all the available furniture in the room
against it, which operations considerably
,alleyialed the uneasiness cf my mind
AS turned towards the table to examine
my pistols, / was started at seeing, in a
cheap locking. glass rested against the
wall, the reflection of the end of my
money-bel just visible between my waist
coat and pantaloons. ! commonly wore
this next to my body, but on this morn.
ing had accidentally forgotten it till
nearly dressed, and had therefore strap
ped il around me hastily, as had little
time to spare.
Irecollected, with no small disquictude
the oppor tunty of observing this which
had been afforded by the dark lantern
and the enigmatical remark of the wom-
an, the diabolical look of the man, and
the suspicious behavior of the dog, SIM
ultaneously recurred TO my mind, and
contributed greatly 10 increase this dis.
quietude. My first impulse was not to
go to bed at all but my second was to
apostrophize myself under the title Of
"infernal fool" and following the line Of
conduct implied, although hardly express
ed, in this remark, / took off my clothes
and plunged into bed. ldafs
The wild meanings Of the wind kept
me listening awhile to their gusty music,
enhanced the feeling of awe which ]
strove in vain tc Danish from my breast.
After an hour or two, howeve, as every
thing seemed perfectly still, the fatigue
Of my journey gained the mastery of all
anxiety, and | fell into state akin to
sleep, but distinguished from il by my
retain ing consciousness of where was
anG how ] was circumstanced. / was
powerless to move or act, but seemed
gifted with an almost supernatural a
cuteness of mental activity, by which ]
took cognizance Of the least noise or dis.
turbance. In this abnormal condition
l appeared to remain tranquil for long
time, seeing and hearing altogether in
dependently of physical organs of sens e,
when / became aware in my dream-fOl
it was only an unusual kind of dream
of a scratching noise just outside my
chamber window, which was near thC
head Of the bed This grew louder and
louder, until, bursting the spell of inact
ion which ha6 hitherto bound me hand
and foot, I appeared TO leap up and rusl
TO the window. All without was bidder
in inky klackness. and the candle / haC
left burning on the table was fiickering
in its socket, evidently about 10 expire
With great effort flung up the case
ment and Peered eagerly into The gloom
but / could tiscers nothing, and as / wa
on The point closing the window again
for the wind was high and sent shive
al! over my frame, large object brush
ed against my hands, and leaPed into lb'
room. / started back, and giving hur
rird glauce round the chamber, saw, b,
the latest flicker of the dying candle, ID,
form Of the strange-loOking Cog ha,
seen down stairs. sitting on the bed, Dol
upright, and staring at me. The mex
instant was in utter darkness.
For some momeuts 7 hardly kneu