Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-08-23

ored,into a horrible pHrpiish blue, and
vet the woman who had once been his.
As he stood there looked Ut him in
amazement. l saw nothing, and told
him again that 9he needed but rest 10
escape his: haunting pifantoin.. Pres
entity he Became calt1Tel.,S dnd acknow4-
edged that I was right; and SO great
even then was the power OF his mind
over his nerves that, though we both saw
the horrible signr. he lretehtted that it
had passed away. knew thar+now he
was utterly i'll my power, for his mind,
accustomed TO dwell nDon itself and per-
sue a train Of thought once established,
would follow this and develope il. Nor
was l in error, for, drawn TO his chamber
By u horrible fascination, he saw week
after week The body OF his wife, undergo
the processes of decay, changing, shrink
ing, putting, liyid, green, aud blue and
delic uescent. besOtted and bloated. L
could hear himt az night stealing about
the halls or treading IKE cat to the
door Of my chamber, from which he
would presently go, mnttering TO him
self, back to the room OF death.
One night he came to my room, re
maining at the door for full two hours
by the clock which licked monotOnousiy
at. the footo nay bed Nhete. lay listen-
ing in exuitatiOn at the success of my re-
yenge. At last he knocked timidly, but
1 did not answer; then louder, but still [
made .nn reply pRtis his .pe,lnding be-.
came furious, and tlieTl4 sarese. WenttO
The door, and opened il, rubbing my
eyes as il awakened from heavy sleep.
He seized my arm and whispered that
there was q fine sight III his room; she
had come to life again and was stirring !;
she was not dead. saw that my work
was done, and that the man was stark
mad. Hastily. throwing on a. dressing
gown, Ftlireaded- unslfed the long halls
Through which the wind shrieked and
howled like a thousand demons. Emile
Held my hand and brought me to his
room. The mirror was set as I had left
it, and seating himself la the fantenil in
front of it, De Guressen told me to W atch,
l did so, and, as j live, the body was
moving, turning slowly and wfifhing,
the mouth working horribly. and the
cheeks now pulled out and now cOllap-
sed as i'm gfimaces. | knew nO5 what
could be the cause Of these strange phe-
nomena until l reflected that the gases
confined in the viscera of the body were
gradually making their escape through
The softened tissues. The incoherent
gibbering of Emile de Guresson could
hot. if | would put upon this page: he
Hill utiDtlC Will anu HIS
face made answering griniaces to those
of the corpse. L was not prepared for
what was shortly to follow, and talked
calmly to Emile, Offering him what con-
ISOLATION could, and Insisting that he
was ill--these things were but creatures
of the imagination; rest would do
much: a change of scene, other thoughts
and occupations. He heard as one who
hears not, and with his finger pointe1
out or rather followed the direction of
the varying changes in the body OF the
dead. The sight became sicllening to
me, although / was sustained by the
thought of my full revenge. | rose to
go, and Emile rose with me, but stepped
Immediately to the mirror and tapped
upon it. The body seemed to rise. turn
ed quickly on one side, and then, with
IA loud report, the glass was shattered,
and fragments of the loathsome cadaver
and ali intolerable stencil filled the room.
The confined gases walled wirhin the
niche, having no means of gradual
escape, had burst through the glass, COW
ering Emile and me with pntrii matter
too horrible to name. Emile de Gnres-
| son fell forward on his face IA corpse, his
head hanging within the niche. My re-
yenge was accomplished.