Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-02-01
CHnerrR III

do IL" say I, rather family.
gests Jane, little crest-fallen at the insult 20
her feather beds implied by my wakefulness
"Some people can never sleep the first night in
strange bed, and stupidity forgot to ask whe
thfr you liked the feather bed mattrsss at the
top"
Yes, did sleep" answer. gloomily. al
"Wish-to-heaven-y0u- repeats
Jane, slowly, with a slight, astonished pause be-
| tween each word. ''My dear child, for what
other purpose did you go to bed?"
al had bad dreams, !" say /, shuddering a
little, and then taking her hand, roses and all,
in miw. s'Dear Jane, do not think me quite
run mad; but.but have you got a Bradshaw
ga Bradshaw What on earth do you want
with Bradshaw saws nv hostess, her face
frightening considerably. and a slight tincture
of natural cOldness coming into her tone.
81 know it seems rude-insultingly rude
say L, still holding her hand, and speaking al
most lachrymosely; 'tbut do you know, my dear
really am afraid that-that-I shall have to
ITO leave u.s." repeats she, withdrawing her
hand and growing angrily red. what! when
not twenty.fou hours ago you settled to stay a
then and now to disgust you with us?'
"Nothing-nothing," cry eagerly; chow can
you suggest such a thing? never had a kinder
welcome, nor eve, saw place that charmed me
%Bat f %i6asas asks Jane, her color subsdnp
and looking q little mollfed.
cit Is best to tell the truth, I suppose" saw /
signing, seven though 1 know that you will
laugh at me-will call me vaporish-sottishly
superstitious; but had an awful and hideOas
dream last night"
els that all?' she says, looking relieved, and
beginning to arrange her roses in an old china
bowl. "And do you think that all dreams
are confined to this house? L never heard be-
fore Of their affecting any one special place
more than another. Perhaps no sooner are You
back i'm Dublin, in your own room and your own
bed, than you will have still worse and uglier
one !
I shake my head. "But it was about this
hOuse-abeut you"
About me?" she says, with an accent of
"About you and your husband, ~ answered.
earnestly. "Shall tell it yOu? Whether you
say Yes or No. i must Perhaps it came a.
a warning; such things have happened. Yes.
say what you will, l cannot believe that any
vision so consistent-so tangibly real and utterly
free from the jumbled incongruities and UNI
hkelness of ordinary dreams-could have
meant nothing. Shall begin?''
down in an armchair and smiling easily. Il
am quite prepared to listen-and disbelieve."
"YOu know" say L narratively, coming and
standing close before her, show utterly tired
out was when you left me last night. I could
hardly answer your questions for yawning /
do not think 1 was ten minutes in getting into
bed, and it seemed like Heaven when laid my
head down on the pillow. L felt as II could
sleep till the Day Of Judgment. Well, Won
know, when one is asleep one has, of course, no
measure Of time, and have no idea what hour
il was really; but at some time, in the blacklist
and darkest OF the night, seemed to wake. 1t
appeared as If a noise had woke me-a noise
which at first neither frightened or surprised
me in the least, but which seemed quite natu-
raj, and which accounted for in the mud,lled,
drOwsy way in which one does account for
things when half asleep. But. as / gradually
grew to fuller consciousness, found ont, with d
cold shudder, that the noise / heard was nor
one that belonged to the nj hit; nothing that one
could lay on wind in the chimney, or mice b%
hind the wsinscOt, or ill-ftting boards. 1t was
sound of muftied struggling, and once heard
a sort of chOked, strangled cry. sat up in bed.
perfectly numbed with fright, and tor moment
could hear nothing for the singing of the blood
in my head, and the loud batterins OF my heart
against my side. Then thought il il were any,
thing bad-if were going to be murdercd-l
had, at least, rather be in the light than the
dark. and see i'm what sort OF shape my fate
was coming; so slid out of my bed and threw
my gown over my shoulders. 1 had stupi,lly
forgotten, in my WEAKNESS overnight; TO put
the matches by the bedside, and could not for
the life of me recollect where they were. Also.
my knowledge of the geography of the room
was 50 small that, in the utter blackness, with
So1 eyenh e s way bv 1se" che win
which direction the door lay. can feel now
the pain of the blow 1 gave this right side
against the sharp corner Of the table in PASSING:
Twas surprised this morning not TO find mark OF
bru1se. At last, in my cropping, came upon
the handle, and turned the KEY in the lock- Ii
gave little squeak aud again stopped for a
moment, overcome by ungovernable fear. Then
l silently opened the door and looked out You
know that your door is exactly opposite mine.
By the line OF red light underneath it, could
see that, at all events, some one was awake and
astE within, for the light was brighter than
that given by a night-Iight. BY the broader
band Of red light on the right side of it could
perceive that the door was aiar. 1 stood stock
still and listened. The two sounds of strug-
Cling and chokedly crying had both ceased
All the noise that remained was that as of some
Perhaps James dog Smart is i'll, and she is sit
ting up with 1t; she was saying, last night,
remember, that she was afraid it was beginning
with the distemper: Perhaps either she or the
old man has been taken with some temporary
sickness. Perhaps the noise of CRYING out, that
certainly heard, was one of them fighting with
the nightmare Trying, by such-like sug
gestiOns, to hearten myself up, stole across
the passage and peeped in"
pause in nay narrative.
.Well?' says Jane, little impatiently.
odorous, dewy confusion in her lap. She is
listening rather eagerly. cover my face with
my hands. "Oh, my dear!'' 1 cry,.I do not
think can 60 on. 1t was too dreadful! Now
that am telling it, seem to be doing and
hearing II over again"
II do not call It very kind to keep me on the
Probably am imagining something much
worse than the reality. For Heavens sake,
speak up. What did YOU see?"
1 take hold of her hand and continue: '.You
know that in your room the bed exactly faces
the door. Wen, when 1 looked Unlocked in
with eyes blinking at first, and dazzled by the
,ong darkness they had been in, il seemed to
me as il that bed were only one horrible sheet
of crimson; but, as my sight grew clearer Il saw
what Ii was that caused that frightful i'm
preston Of universal red" Again 1 paused
with gasp and feeling of oppressed breathing.
go on! 60 on" cries my companion, lean
ing forward, and speaking with some petu-
lance: care you never going to get to the
point?''
''Jane," say T. solemnly, edo not laugh at
me, nor pOoh-poOh me, for it Is Gods truth-as
clearly and wildly as / see you now strong
fOurishing and alive, so clearly, 50 wildly with
no more Of dream hazlness nor of contradiction
in details than there is in the view now have
of this room and of you'll saw you both-you
and your husband, lying dead-murdered-
drowned in your own blOos!''
"What, both of us?" she says trying to laugh
but her healthy cheek was rather paled.
both Of YOU" / answer, with growing ex-
element. ''You, Jane, had evidently been
the one first attacked-taken off in your sleep
for you were lying just as you would have lain
IN slumber, only that across your throat from
there to there" touching first one ear and
then the other,) ''there was huge and yawn-
"Pieasant." replies she, with slight shiyer.
81 never saw any one dead,r continue L.
earnestly, "never until last night. had not
the faintest idea how dead people looked, even
people who died quietly, nor has any picture
ever given me at all n clear conception OF
deaths dread look. How, then, could have