The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1880-02-05

tall man with students bend and blue
glasses, but had some sconce,-do you
think [ was wise or foolish %
I sew CLEAN behind the spectacles,
and two hands moving in the strangers
coat pockets, where he everlastingly car
ried them, and then he answered il his
| high voice:
| ''Wise, sir,-wise, Of course"
ga Daniel" returned the agent,
| loosely. ''Now that questions settled,
I'll proceed. Excuse me, gentlemen, but
I saw that one or two of you looked as if
you thought was a little scarish about
nothing, but our umpire has settled
the question. Now let's see how near
the mark he hit. ;" The agent cast light
ming glance upon the stranger, which I
think no one noticed but myself, ,and thus
went On with his story.
81 heard heavy steps below, and some
mumbling from the inn-keeper, and
squeaking from the crone, and then all
was silent. l threw myself on the bed,
without disrobing, and was lost in the
weird enjoyment OF the tempest. My
candle I left burning, though the con-
slant flashes of lightning rendered its
light unnecessary. AS l lay on the bed
| one hour, and then two hours, listening
to the thunder as it died away, and then
burst upon me again, grew weary Of the
deafening sounds and dazzling lights,
| and found myself sinking into those
states of semi-slumber, as l term them,
| or waking dreams, which one often ex-
periences while watching with the sick
| and dying. I heard voices in the thun-
der, and there seemed to be warning
! all around me. There was q horrid feel
ing coming over me, which / found it
impossible to throw off.
L saw by the expression working over
the agents face that some awful denoue-
ment was approaching, and I observed
that the original five or our number were
bracing themselves for some fearful
revelation. The stranger in the blue
glasses worked his coat pockets, end
seemed to draw back from the lightning
that blazed necessarily. The rain poured
harder than ever, and the thunder was
now one continuous roll. [ don't know
why it was, but that stranger, with his
blue glasses, and mass of dark beard,
brought to my mind stories of storm
demons; and it really seemed to me that
the storm Of that night suddenly increas-
ed on his entrance into the inn, and was
kept mp in fury by his presence. Some
mystery about him made my blood creep,
and found a certain comfort in forget
ting him for time, in the story Of the
agent.
"Well," continued the agent, II grew
more and more drowsy, waking by fits
and starts, as some vivid flash would
illumine the room with its blue light, or
burst of thunder shake the inn. But as
if voice whispered into my ear during
momentary hull and state of.partial wake
fullness, | heard the words, BetUarc! the
chamber is drugged Gods, gentlemen
[ know not to this day whether those
words came from an unearthly source, or
were the warnings originating from the
abnormal state of.mY brain. =. seized my
pistol ana the knife, and leaping from
Al, Z! j. e.,
blow Of my fist l smashed pane of
glass, and the rain beat in Upon the floor.
The candle was just flickering, prepar-
atory to going out, but the lightning lit
the chamber as bright as day.
"The breaking of the glass gave me
new life, and [ was prepared for any
emergency that my awakening magma
ton could conjure. Am / making a fool
of myself, or am L not?' said half mus
ingly. AS if in answer to my brief soil
loquy, puff of wind blew out the dying
light of the candle, and the lightning
ceased for a season, leaving me in utter
darkness.
Il was now in high state Of excite
ment, for this sudden darkness seemed
an omen Of evil. I can tell you that l
| clutched my revolver and knife with
dread and determination combined /
peered into the biackness, but couldn't
see a yard ahead of me. l bent my ear
to listen, but aside from a creaking some
where in the chamber which, attributed
to powerful gust of wind that just then
passed over the inn, could hear nothing
to cause alarm. This creaking alarmed
me for an instant, but silence following
| Immediately gave it no further heed.
''For two or three minutes I stood by
the window, vainly peering into the room,
and listening. to convince myself that [
had some reason for placing myself on
guard. At last a sheet of electric flame
threw light into that chamber, so that
1 saw everything in it. Yes, gentlemen,
every object seemed preternatual, so WV
| idly was it revealed to me. There was
the stand, the bed, the old mantle, and
the two old chairs.-but gentlemen
great God, gentlemen there stood be-
yond the bed, confronting me like hor-
rible spectre, the dark towering form Of
the thnkeeper! L have seen many sights
that have chilled my blood, and have
passed through many perils, but the
sight of that shadowy form, the great
hand upraised with glittering knife, and
the murderous gray eyes fastened like
two devilish fire balls upon me,-that
sight froze my blood in my veins, and
made my hair to stand on end. For a
moment L was helples, but at the light
ming went out, leaving us both in blacker
darkness than before, I felt the blood
surging back into my veins; and at the