The Grange advance., 1874-08-26

ing Of a light burning beneath. Scarce
| }y thinking of what did, as I smoked,
leant over the sky;ight, and endeav-
ored to peer through its glass. I could
discern, only in a vague sort Of
way, the figures Of my landlords mov-
ing hither and thither, and employed l
! knew not precisely how. There was
| no mistahing the fact, however, that
they were very busy. What they were
doing, was by no means clear to me.
stood for some moments observing
them. UThey were surrounded by
papers and books-so much could
clearly perceive-and by various pack
ages and bundles, which they seemed to
be passing from right to left. as though
they were counting ard taking note Of
them; but even Of this [ could not be
quite certain.
On sudden, and accidentally. for
there could not possibly have been any
design in the matter, Aaron Reklam
raised his eyes from the table before
him, and fixed them on the skylight
above, Then became conscious that
he had perceived my presence. Proba-
bly,, my figure, seen with the moon
light behind me, presented dark OBJ
:ject, that was only to be explained by
the fact that some one was looking
down upon him and observing his pro-
ceedings: or it might be that he had
detected me by the light Of my cigar.
For a moment it seemed to me there
cleaned upon me the strange glare Of
his prominent scintillating green eyes.
Then all was darkness. He had turned
off the gas. could see nothing more.
In some trepidation retreated to my
bed chamber.
1 slept very i'll that night, remem-
ber; not merely because of the oppres-
sive heat of the weather, and the lack
of freshness in the air; but l was
greatly disturbed in mind. Moreover,
my forehead burned; my heart beat
distressihg..y; was in a state of fever
ish restlessness. When sleep at last
came to me, my dreams we're terrible.
I underwent an agonizing nightmare
the Brothers Rcklam haunted me. l
could never lose sight OF thci:. pallid
faces. In all kinds Of strange situa-
tions. their cleaning, menacing eyes
seemed to follow me and find me out,
to scorch me up and pierce
me through and through,
to bring to bear upon
me all kinds of pangs and tortures. I
became convinced that they were bent
upon my destruction, now by this
means. now by that. Their only hcsi-
tation was as to the kind of death they
should intlict upon me. They were at
a loss to decide upon one sufficiently
painful. At length, as thought, they
had resolved upon my assassination, by
a varied system of intense and horrible
cruelty, to be gradually applied, with
a view to my greater suffering.
l awoAe in dreadful panic. It
seemed to me that q rope circled my
neck, and that my landlords by slow
degrees were tightening it more and
more. Experienced an agonizing sense
Of sutIocation. In my alarm, I know, l
leapt from my bed. and stood for mo-
ment swaying to and fro upon the floor
like drunken man. What had hap
pened! I asked myself. Something
dreadful, knew.
There was a strange crimson light
throbbing and Pickering in the room.
The air was thick with smoke, and the
sitting fumes of some drug or spirit of
extraordinary pungency. I could hear,
too, wild cries in the street without,
loud knocking at the outer door Of the
house, and the roaring, cracking sounds
of burning wood, and the licking and
writhiRg of mountain flames. The
house of Mcssrs. Reklam Brothers was
on fire!
| There was not minute to lose.
hastily gathered about me a few articles
of dress. My alarm and agitation
were extreme, but had the sense to
perceive that could only hope to es-
cape with ife-even that was still pos
sible. I at once abandoned all thought
} of rescuing aught else from the flames.
Il Yet it was, even in that moment of
panic, with a sigh Of deep anguish
turned my back upon all my house.
) hold treasures and possessions. One
4 glance of farewell, and then I hurried
} from them to the door of my front
room, leading to the staircase.
, 1t was locked on the outside. So
also were the two other doors that per-
mitted egress from my apartments.
The possibility Of my escape had been
1oreseen and provided against. I was
prisoner, and the fire was drawing
every moment nearer and nearer to
me. Already the smoke was so dense,
binding, and stupefying, that ] was
crouching on my knees, to avoid it as
much as possible.
4 Much valuable time I wasted in la
boring to prise the locks of my, doors,
and in convincing myself that they had
really been made secure against me
from without. Then, with desperate
violence, and with all the strength I
i l.