The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-06-06
Vol. XI-No12s
made me think that was looking at it

made me think that I was looking at it
with my brain as well as my eyes. /
imagine that it must have been a GER
tain sense of surprise at seeing it SO
plainly, allie being obscure. At any.
rate, / could now, make out the form
and outline CT the animal in strong con-
trast to the half-toned back ground of
the canvas, and in way that ] did not
think had been able. to do before.
Yes, there was the crouehing creature,
whatever it was, dark, and mysterious,
though with sirideseent light upon it,
that made it palpable, plain even, to my
imperfect vision. A leopard or cheetah
surely, painted with an immense force
and life-like vigor, and represented in
that writhing, crouching attitude which
Immediately precedes the spring upon
the prey. A subdued flashing fire was,
visible in the animals eyes, the long
curved tail seemed upon the point of
lashing itself with the 1.-THE rage of the
wild beast. / grew quite excited as i
descerned these details, these striking
evidences of the artists skill. Really
the creature seemed almost alive, almost
moving. So true to nature was it that,
as the fact impressed me, the chill and
dread under which / had before been
laboring were immensely increased, and,
nervous and miserable as was, there
started cold drops upon my brow.
Shrinking more and more within myself,
my teeth chattering, and with horri
BILE sense of sitting, was about to rise
in sheer dismay, when / was brought to
my feet, aghast and in actual terror, by
plainly seeing the animal move. Yes,
undoubtedly, for moment, distinctly,
there was writhing motion, and then
with one angry sweep of the tail, the
creature seemed to spring forward into
the blackness of the room, and there re-
manned nothing upon the chair appar=
emily but the pale, plain, even-tinted
tone of the canvasl rushed to the
door panic-stricken, seized my hat from
thetable in the ante-room, fled down the
stairs, and out of the house.
The pleasant evening air revived me; !;
i began to collect myself little, and to
question whether had not been great
fool-a nervous, highly wrought, unreas-
oning fool. Was l not like frightened
child, dreading to be alone in the dusk,
and who in its panic endows with life the
shadow of some simple object and thinks
it has seen a bogie7 No, ] refused quite
to accept this as an explanation. Out of
condition as 1 was, l was not quite an i'm
beetle; my wits had not all deserted me,
and nothing, upon further considera-
ton would ever persuade me that I had
been the prey of mere hallucination.
That there had been an unaccountable
knock at my door, / would swear with
my last breath, and that cold lshiyering
state which had supervened was no fancy.
1t was gone now; ] was perfectly calm
and save for one great anxiety-my
sight-untroubled. Turning and look
ing up at the house as it stood formal
and gloomy in the twilight, for an in
slant thought of re-entering, but re-
coiled from the idea as soon as formed.
No: could not go back alone; weak,
idiotic as my conduct might seem, /
shrank from the thought of entering
those ausky rooms without a companion.
Twas not forbidden to go out of doors
in twilight or at night, and / determined
to walk round to my doctor, and as he
knew the rooms to confde in him,
and ask him as favor to go back with me
for awhile. Unluckily, as then thought,
he was away from home-had gone into
the country, and would not return
until the following morning. Clearly l
could not expose my weakness, if such
it was, to any one else. knew no one
else in the place, and not speaking Ger
man could not attempt an explanation,
even had been willing, with the porter,
or with the waiter from the hotel
whence I had arranged my meals were
to be sent. There was nothing for it
then but to go back alone, unless | choose
to rouse my servant, and really that
would be toe foolish; no, / must face it
myself. So, plucking up courage: I
went straight back, re-entered the rooms,
the doors of which / found Just as l had
left them, slightly ajar; lighted can
die, walked boldly up to the picture on
the chair and examined it. There was
the animal, a spotted beast, panther,
cheetah, whatever it was, exactly as my
first casual look at it had suggested a
large and vigorous sketch in oil, evil
IDENTIFY from a master hand. While /
was looking at it the waiter brought my
supper. He spoke some English, but 1
disdained referring to what had hap
pened; and without any return of the
shivering sensation, l soon after went to
bed and slept-slepttill my servant, now
seemingly all right again, brought me
my coffee and roll in the morning.
"Bahl What an ass l have BEEN" I
said to myself; but directly l thought
straight back on the affair, I was more
convinced than ever that, whatever my
conduct, its causes we're facts.
It was bright sunshiny morning,
with that sort of. dazzling light every
where which / was above all things to
avoid exposing myself to. So after
breakfast sat in the darkened studio,
with my men in the bedchamber reading
to me. Well, we had thus been sitting
for an honr or SO, and I began to be
deeply interested in what was listening
to, when suddenly all my thoughts were
distracted, all my wits scared, bys the
knock at the studio door, exactly as
before-the single, gentle knock,
exactly like that last night. With it,
too, on the instant came the slight re-
newal of the creepy goose-fesh feeling.
My man ceased reading; he had heard
the knock as plainly as I.
What was that, sir?" he asked pres
emily. .5 -r.s.....,R L.. ,.,I.,g
1 called him in, and whispering told
him part of my experience on the pre-
vious evening. .---....,.- r..
"Keep quiet and listen;," I said, my
teeth ali chattering;, "you will hear it
again in few minutes.'1 4 r "
We were both silent, and, sure
enough, after a short interval there il
was. He was going forward toward the
door; I checked him. A 1Eg#} :
"No," / went on;'slook out the bed
room door; go on tiptoe and open it
very softly, and see what you can make
out"
81 need not open it at all, sir" he an
swered; "there is window in it with q
curtain across it."
l followed him as he went back to the
bedroom, and saw him gently draw aside
the curtain, which I had noticed.
What do you seew 1 whispered.