Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1880-08-19

| dI lChgIu VII my dPpdllcu edl sItuCh tu
chimes of a church clock, while close a
hand distinguished the snow hilocks 0
Il churchyard. Heavens! was this awfu
scene of which was to be the witness t,
take place veritably among the deadp
ELEVEN" grOaned the doomed man
"Gracious Godl but two hours more, ant
that ghostly messenger will bring tn,
summons. Come, come; for mercy's sakC
let us hasten"
There was but short road separating
us now from a wall which surrounded {
large mansion, and along this we hast
encd until we reached IL small door. Pass
ing through this, in Il few minutes VIZ
were stealthily ascending the private stair
case to splcndidIy furnished apartment
which left no doubt Of the wealth of it.
owner. All was intensely silent, however
through the house; and about this room
in particular there was a stiffness that, .,
| gazed around, struck me almost ghastly
My companion glanced at the clock on
the mantel.snelr and sank into large
chair by the side Of the fire with shudder.
"Only an hour and a half longer" he
muttcred "Grcat Heaven! thought
had more fortltudr. This honor unmms
me-" Then, in Il tierccr tone, and clutch,
Ing my arm, he added, "iIa! you mock
me-you think me mad; but wait till you
sce-wait till you sect"
lput my hand on his wrist; for there
was now a fever in hi- sunken eyes which
checked the superstItious chill which had
been gathering over me, and made me
hope that, after all, my first suspicion was
correct, and that my patient was but the
victim OF some fearful halucinalion.
"Mock you!" answered soothngy.
Gar from it; Isympathizc intensely with
you, and would do much to aid you. You
require sleep. Lie down, and lcayc me
to watch. "
He groancd, but rose, and began throw
ing off his clothes, and, watching my op
portunity, | slipped a sleeping powder,
which had managed toPut in my pocket
before leaving the surgery, into the tum.
bier Of clarct that stood beside him.
The more | saw. the more | felt con.
vlnced that 1t was the nervous system of
my patient which required my attention;
and 1t was with sincere satisfaction saw
him drink the wine, and then stretch mm-
self on the luxurious bed.
"Ha," Thought as the clock struck II,
and, instead OF groan, the deep breath
ing of the sleeper sounded through the
room; you won't receive any summons
tonight, and | may maxi myself com.
Portable"
Noselessly, therefore, rcplcnishcd the
fire, poured myself out IL glass Of wine,
and, drawing the curtain so that the fire.
light should not disturb the sleeper, [ put
myself in Il position to follow his example.
How long slept know not, but sud-
denly aroused witha start dudas gho.tly
Il thrill Of horror as ! ever remembered 10
have felt IN my life, Something what,
knOwnot-sgemed near; something namc-
less, bu. unut'crably aw.ui
| ga2ad round. rhe fire emitted faint
blue glow, Just sufficient to enable me to
sec that the room was exactly the same a.
when Iell aleep, but that the long hand
OF the clock wanted but fv, minutes o!
the mysterious hour which was to be the
dca.h.moment of the summoned" man!
Was there anything in it, then AMY
truth in the strange story he had told?
'Ghe silence was intcn,c. | could net |
even hear breath from the bed; and |
was about to rise and approach, when
again that awful horror seized me, and at |
the same moment my eye fell upon the
mirror opposite the dcot, and saw
Great Heaven! that awful Shape--that
ghastly mockery of what had been human
ity-was it really Il messenger from the
buried, quiet dead2 1t stood there in
visible death clothes; but the awful face
was CHASTITY with corruption, and the
aunkcn eyes cleaned forth green, CLASSY |
glare, which seemed Il verltable blast
from the Internal fires below. To move or
utter sound IN that hldcOus presence was
and like statue sat and
saw that h0rGil Shape move slowly toward
the bed.
What was the awful scene enacted there
know not. ! heard nothing, except
low, sliilcd, agoni2ed groan and saw the
shadow OF thai CHASTITY messenger bending
over the bed. Whether it was some dread
ul but wO,dlcss sentence It's brpathlcss
Ips conveyed, as it stood there, know
mt; but for an instant the shadow Of
cw-lke hand, from which tie third
iinier was missing, appeared extended
owe the doomed mans head; and then,
as tie clock struck one clear silvery stroke,
it fell, and q wild shrek ran through the
room-a death shrek.
! am mnOt given to tainting, but | cnr-
tainly onfess that the next ten minutes
OF my existence was cold blank; and,
when | I'D manage to stagger to my feet,
! ga2ed r'und, vainly endeavoring to un-
derstand Tue chilly horror which still pos
sesSed me.
Thank G,d! the room was rid of that
awful presence-l saw that; so, gulping
down some VINE, lighted Il wax.taper
and staggered toward the bed. All, how
| prayed that, after all, might have been
and that my own excited i'm
aglnatioD had but conjured up some
hideous memory of the dssecting.room
But one glance was sufficient to answer
that. No! The summons had indeed
been given and answered
flashed the light over the dead face,
swollen, convused still with the death.
agony; but suddenly shrank back. Even
Is | ga2ed, the expression of the face
seemed to change the blackness faded
INTO n deathly whiteness; the convulsed
eatures relaxed, and, even as if the vic.
I'M OF that dread apparition still lived, a
ad, solemn smile stole oyer the pale lips,
! was intensely horri6ed, but still re-
AIMED sufficient self-Consciousnes TO be
truck professionally by such n phenom.
mon. Surely there was something more !
han supernatural agency in all thisp
Again scrutinized the dead face, and
ven the throat and chest; but, with the !
reception of tiny temple beneath clus. -,
er OF halr not mark appeared. To look
: the corpse, one would have believed
hat the man had, indeed, died by the i
isltation OF God, peacefully, while Sleep '
ng. How long stood there know not,
ut time enough to gather my scattered