Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-09-10

/ t0at my residence unQcT their IooI ZOE
becoming more and more painful and
uncomfortable.
The summertime had arrived, and fol
some days the weather had been almost
insufferably sultry. 1 could scarcely
breathe in my murky, oppressive apart
ments. The nodded ceiling and the
parchcd walls seemed now To absorb all
the air as well as the light.
| was sitting in the third room ut the
back of my bedroom, remember, winch
was comparatively cooler than the oth'
ers, for 1t was not subjected TO the fierce
| glare of the afternoon sun, as they were.
II was night; a very still, airless, sum
mer night. The moon was shining
through sultry mist. / was smoking a
cigar / had abandoned article after
article of dress, and was certainly in
| rather an unattired condition. But cloth
clothes were not to be borne In such
| weather.
In quest Of more air ] had stepped
from nv window on to the leads be
meath the roof of Messrs. Reklam's
back shop. The plane tree and the lilac
bushes, looking more pallid than ever as
the moonlight blancbed their leaves, were
on nv left hand. Before me was the
raised skylight of the shop below, the
dusty panes redeemed by the cleaning
of a light burning beneath. Scarcely
thinking OF what did, as ] smoked,
leaned over the skylight, and endeayored
TO peer through its glass. | could dis
Germ, but only in a vague sort OF way,
the figures of my landlords moving
hither and thithcr, and employed l
know not precisely how. There was no
mistaking 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.
| They were surrounded by papers and
books-so much / could clearly per
ceive--and by various packages and
bundles, which they seemed TO be pass
| ing from right to left, as though they
were counting and taking note Of them;
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. Probably my
| figure, seen with the moonlight behind
me, presented a dark object that was
only to be explained by the fact that
some one was looking down upon him
and observing his proceedings; or 1t
might be that he had detected me by the
light of my cigar. For moment 1t
seemed TO me there cleaned upon me
the strange glare Of his prominent, scin-
tllating green eyes. Then all was dark
ness. He had turned off the gas. could
see nothing more. In some trepidation
/ retreated to my bed-chamber.
! slept very i'll that night, remember;
not merely because of the oppressive heat
of the weather, and the lack of freshness
in the air; but was greatly disturbed in
mind Moreover, my forehead burned,
my heart beat distressingly; was in a
state of feverish restlessness. When
sleep at last came to me my dreams were
terrible i underwent an agonizing
nightmare--the Brothers Reklam haunt
cd me. could never lose sight of their
pallid faces. In all kinds of strange sit
uations 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 / became
convinced that they were bent upon my
destruction, now by this means, now by
that Their only hesitation was as to the
kind of death they should infiict upon
me- They were at a loss TO decide upon
one sufficiently painful. At length, as
thought, they had resolved upon my
assassination by varied system Of in
tense and horrible cruelty, to be gradu-
ally applied, with yieW to my greater
suffering.
awoke in dreadful panic. 1t seemed
to me that rope circlcd my neck, and
that my landlords by slow degrees were
tightening IL more and more. / expe-
rienced an agonizing sense of sufiocation
In my alarm, know, / leaped from my
bed and stood for moment swaying to
and fro upon the floor like a drunken
man. What had happenedY / asked
myself. Something dreadful, knew.
There was 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. 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 with
ing of mounting flames The house of
Messrs. Reklam Brothers was on tirel
There was not minute to lose.
hastily gathered about me few articles
of dress. My alarm and agitation were
extreme, but had the sense to perceive
that could only hope to escape with
life--if even that was still possible. at
once abandoned all thought of rescuing
aught else from the flames. Yet IL was,
even in that moment of panic, with a
sigh of deep anguish turned my back
upon all my household treasures and pos
sessions. One glance Of farewell, and
then | hurried from them to the door
of my front room leading to the staircase.
10 acds locked on tie outside. So also were
the two other doors that permitted egress
from my apartments. The possibility of
my escape had been foreseen and pro-
vided against. was prisoner, and the
fire was drawing Every moment nearer
and nearer to me. Already the smoke
was so dense, binding and Supplying
that was crouching on my knees to
avoid II as much as possible.
Much valuable time wasted In labor
ing to prize the locks of my doors, and
In convincing myself that they had really
been made secure against me from with
out. Then, with desperate violence, and
with all the strength l could muster, l
dashed heavy chair against the door of
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