The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-02-20

| lay aside my pen and prepare for slRn
Der. As l fOIdsd my paper I hsPPene<
to glance toward the couch.
Was it the gleam Of a human eye oh
serving me through the board partition
or was it nv own fancy? There was
crack there, but only blank darkness be
yond, yet could have sworn that some
thing had sparkled balefuUy at me.
l toSk out my wateh-it WAS on
O'CLOCK. 1t was scarcely worth while fo
NE TO undress for three hours sleep;
would lie down in my clothes and snstcl
what slumber I could s., placing my
valise close to the head Of ny bed, sDE
barric4ding the lockless door with twt
chairs, I extingUished ths light and lsy
down.
At first I was very wakeful, but grad
uslly soft drowsiness seemed to stea
over me like q misty mantle, until, al
of a sudden, some startling electric thIil
COursed through my veins, and l sat uI
excited and trembling.
A luminous sOftness seemed to glow
through the ro0m-no light of the moor
or stars was ever SO penetrating-and by
the little window l saw Alice, my wife
dressed in floating garments of white
with her long, golden hair knOtted bacE
by blue ribbon. Apparently she va.
coming TO me with outstretchsd hands
and eyes fuli of wild, anxious tenderness
| sprang to my feet and rushed toward
her, but as / reached the window the faiI
apparition seemed to vanish into tine
stormy darkness, and I was LETT alone
At the Eelf-same instant the sharp report
of the pistol sounded-I could see the
jagged stream Of FIRE above the pillow
straight through the very spot where ten
minutes since my head had lain.
With an instantaneous realization Oi
my danger l swung myself over the win
dow, jumping some eight or ten feet into
tangled bushes below, and as ! crOUehed
there recovering my breath / heard the
tramp of footsteps into my room,
Is he dead ?" cried a voice up the
ladder-the smooth, deCeitful voice of the
woman with the half closed eyes.
30. course he is" grSwied a voice
back that cEarge would have killed
ten men. A light there, quick and tell
Tom TO be ready"
a cold, agonizsd shudder ran through
me. What den of midnight murderer,
had I fallen intoi And how 1earfulIy
narrow had been my escape
With the speed inst only mortal ter
TOT and desdly peril can give, I rushed
through the woods, now Illuminated By
faint glimmer of starlight. I know
not what impulse guided my toOtsteps-
l never shall know how many times
crossed my own track, or how close
stood to the brink OF the de8dly rsviRe
but a merciiul Providence encOm paEseC
me with a guiding and protecting care
for when the morning daWned, viii
faint, red bars OF orient light sgsinst
the stormy eastern sky, was clese Il
the high road, some seven miles from
R
Once at the town, l told my story t.
the police, and q detachment was SEN
with me to the spot.
After much searching, and many falss
alarms, we succeeded in finding the ruin
Gus old house but it WA empty-Oul
birds had Rown nor did I recover my
valise, and watch, and chain, which lat
ter ] had left under my pillsW.
It's Drew's gang" said the leader o.
the police, "and they've troubled Vi
these two years. I don't think, though
they'll come hack here just at present
Nor did they.
But the strangest part Of my story i
yet TO come. Some three weeks subse-
quently received lettar from my sister
who was with Alice in her English home
"a letter whose intelligence filed me
with surprise.
g must tell you something very, very
strange" wrote my sister, hat hsp
pened on the night Of the 18th of JeUO
Der. Alice had not been we'll for some
time; in fact, she had been confined -
her bed for nearly a week, and l WA
sitting beside her reading. 1t was Late
the clock had Just struck One-wheI
all at once she seemed TO faint away
growing white and rigid as q corpse.
hastened to call assistance, but all Oul
efforts TO restore animation was in vain
| was just about sending for the doctor
when her senses returned as suddenly q!
they had lett her, and she sat up in bed
pushing up her hair and looking wildly
around her.
Alice" I exclaimed, how you hav,
terrified US all Are you i'll ?"
" Not III" she answered, but 1 fee
90 strange. Oracle, I have been will
my husband
" And all our reasoning failed to cen
vince her of the impOgsibiity of be
/ assertion, She persists to this momen
/ that ehe saw You and WAS with you Ol
! the 18th of OctObeT--or rather on tn
morning of the 18th. Where and hOV
she can not tell, but we think it mus
have been a dream. She is better now
and | wish you could see how last she
improving"
This Is my plain unyarnished tale.
do not pretend to explain or account 70
lis mysteries l simply relate facts
| Let psychologists unravel the labyrin
thical skein. 1 am not suPeTstitioui
neither do believe in ghosts, wraiths o
apparitions; but this thing do know
that, although my wife was in ERglan
in body Oh The morning OF the 17th {
October, her spirit surely stood baior
me in New York in the moment OF tn
deadly peril that m"naced me. 1t ma
b. that 10 the subtle instinct an
strength Of wife's holy love all thing
are possible; but Alice surely saved m