The Lincoln County herald., 1872-05-23

You arc not rival Of mine, hope p
As she turned away, the maids white
face (now with scowl upon iD, peercd
over the balusters.
After tea Claudia sat rocking to and
fro in the twilight, in her own room. 1t
was a. large % most drawing rooms and
on the ground floor, from which, through
the open doorway, she could look across
the hall to the lawn. Claudia, was no
fragile, delicate creature, who dreaded
solitude, but somehow she felt very lonely
as she sat there. The shadows grew
thicker, and Silence stood out q faint
white outline against the dark wall
For tho 6rst time the young girl felt
anxious or frightened. She was afraid Of
the darkness, the loneliness of the house,
of Sylvia
Her Grandfather, although careful not
to uesdlessly alarm her about Sylvia, had
warned her to turn the key of the girls
room, if left alone with her at night
She remembered the caution, and called
to her: Sylvia, are you in bed ?"
l"Ycs," she answered from her room
Claudia did not wish Sylvia to know that
she was afraid Of her, so she strolled
across the lawn, amid the heavy shadows
Of the pines, till she thought the girl
asleep, then stepping softly upstairs, she
turned the key of her door. She re
turned to her room, and, without lighting
a lamp, retired to rest. In passing
through the hall, she had kissed the
boquet that stood on the pedestal and
gathered few leaves to place under her
pillow III shall dream of Leonard,
then" she said. "and need to change
my cowardly thought"
AS she lay in her bed, looking through
the open doorway into the now dark
hall, her eye rested on the wooden figure,
upon which dim light fell from the
transparency over the hall door. Was
it Imagination? it seemed whittier than
usual. She watched it till her Dyes grew
heavy and closed in troubled sleep.
She awoke with a sense Of suffocatiCn,
the air being thick with coming storm.
The clock struck eleven and she wished
she dare rise and open a window, to
breathe the fresh air; but she seemed
paralyzed by fear, and lay notioness,
glanciug with frightened eyes around the
room.
A newly risen moon. half hidden by
passing clouds, shown through the tran
som Of the great hall door, and on 81
lence, the image on which the terrified
girl fixed her eyes, The warning
hand and finger was raised no longer,
but hung llstless by her side Claudia
strained her eyes, mist came over them,
and when she could again see clearly, tho
) hand was uplifted as usual, the head
bent as If listening.
III was mistaken, how cowardly am
will open the window" but as she
passed by the open door, she glanced
over her shoulder. Great heavens! what
WIS that white object behind tho door |!
: She became as white and immovable as
the image, for, with eyes distended, she
saw the statue of the hall, the wooden
image Of Silence, partly hidden by the
door, holding up that warning finger
But what did it mean Silence stood
in the hall, and yet this duplicate behind
the door "Um full Of fancies," she
thought. Nevertheless, she crept back
to bed without going nearer.
Presence Of mind, where have ye fed,
from a girl who prided herself on her
self possession in an emergency?
Her GOLD flesh quivsred and shook.
| Yes, see the image in the hall does
move the hand falls to the side One
Of the white figures Is alive perhaps
both Can it be that the heavy block Of
wood has stepped from its pedestal to
, walk behind the door2 There it Ger.
tainly stands.
! Trembling with a namcless dread,
, Claudia tries to think Of some way of
, escape. The windows and doors are fas
tened, and Sylvia locked in . far of
, room With another thrill Of terror she
sees the figure in the hall step from the
pedestal and move toward tho bed, and
she now recognizes the pale face of Syl
via, amid the thick folds Of drapery.
, The lids no longer droop over the pale
blue eyes, which now look almost black
as the flash and roll restessly from side
to side. She carries the flowers Leonard
sent to Claudia, aud after Kissing them
ohC tSalo az
under her feet. Then seeing Claudia s
pink dress on chair, sho sezes it and
J rsnds it to tatters.
Claudia. with trembling limbs and
wildly beating heart, slips from the
farther side of the bed, and tries to gain
} the door, but the mad woman is too
quick for her, and closes the door, which
shuts with spring lock.
As the dread figure approaches her
, Claudia springs toward the statue, which
J she now sees is the wooden image, and
clings frauticly to the lifeless block.
. No sound is uttered by either
Claudia's tongue is motionless through
horror, aud the mad woman is too inten
, on her murderous mission. as she bounds
like panther, after the frightened girl
with an old pruning knife in her up
! lifted hand. The stabs fall thick and fas