The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-09-20
zXANDRIA, LA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1871

p0ndered. a thousand strange ideas
fantastic, some of them, and terrible,
hurried through my mind upon each
others heels. Here was to sleep
alone in this CHASTITY room--its very
form seemed to inspire me with terror;
no soul by, no ear to catch a cry fol
help, no hand that might come to my
assistance For months and months
rthis part of the, building had been de-
serted. After nightfall no one would
venture near it. A chill struck through
my very bones.
rose and locked the door. The
hideous gurgle OF the bolt as the key
forced it into its socket sounded like
the death-rattle of a giant. Then
crept back to the desk and hid my
face in my hands.
Another hour passed. The clock in
the downward distance gave forth its
notes plaintively; the wind caught
them and bore them to me, rs if they
were weird music of the spheres.
felt my heart sink lower and lower.
Clearly l could not better employ
my time than in-reading. Before ME
lay a volume of NJ. de Motesluieu's
Letters to the Able de Guasco. put
forth my hand to reach the book, and
in doing SO looked up.
What met my gaze, and newly tor
tured my already overstained magma
ton?
The Red Picture!
There upon the margin l could see
the name in tall, gannt characters, like
letters of blood, Gle Portrait Rouge
1t was the portrait of Miss Jennings,
whose story is told in the Memoirs of
Grammont. The painter, could very
readily perceive, had used as basis
simply an engraving, his own fancy
debating the main embellishments af-
forwards. For while l certainly
found relief from the agitation under
which had suffered by basking in the
beauty of the face before me. But, as
l continued to look, that strange feel
ing we all have when viewing por-
trait came over me irresistibly; 1 fam
cied that the eyes were alive! 1t was
an old illusion-a fayorite one in my
boyhood, l remembered when | used
to steal away to a painting of my
mother, and stand before it-and SO I
now, at first, laughed.
But, great Heaven there they were,
the eyes of the Red Picture keenly
staring down! moved rapidly across
the chamber; they followed me;
came back, they returned too! 1 re-
treated backwards to the door, and
still their steady glance tracked my
footsteps.
Overcome with sickening terror,
dropped into the chair, and rested my
face upon my knees. How long I may
have sat thus l can not tell; but when
raised myself erect, tlere-there, by
the Deity above us-were the eyes
again! No light came from them
there was no fire in their orbs; the
mysterious spark we call soul had
never existed in their depths; but
they saw, nevertheless of the blind
so look the glaring balls of the corpse.
Something is gone from both. As
they seemed, to look the sightless pu-
pills we know not what. But 1 swear
these eyes of the picture, ghostly and
dead, saw me! l felt myself freeze
with horror in their unearthly pres
ence.
And yet they smiled. The express
sion of the face was strangely sweet
nay, angelic. The woman seemed.
just bursting into a mischievous laugh.
The arch turn of the half-parted lips,
the naive dimplq%in the cheeks, the
comic pose of the head, were things
absolutely bewitching. In life could
have kissed her who possessed them
until | spent my being in kisses. But
now the fatal eyes overshadowed all.
Madly clenched my fingers, and
rushed forward to beat the internal
vision into nothingness. Poisonous
delusion, it should not kill me by the
lingering death of fright. But only
halfway across the apartment the tas-
cination of the Unknown stopped me
short. could but glare back at it,
tearing my hair from the root, and
crushing my teeth together. r Ii e
Precipitation poured down my face, and
yet my whole body was ice itself. /
essayed to shrek, but my tongue was
stiifened to the roof of my month.
And still the eyes, the haunting
eyes, shone down. 1 fell upon my
knees before the thing of canvas, and
lifted my hands beseechingly. I only
asked, thus mutely, for mercy, mercy
Yet it came not. The eyes seemed to
mock me instead with their internal
smileD
Then, driven to the desperation o.
manical despair, ] stood up and seized
the flaming candelabra. Holding il
high above MY head, the lights sway
ing and smoking like 50 many torches