Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-05-27

there was now fever in his sunken
eyes which checked the supersti-
tious chill which had been gathered
over me, and made mo hope that.
after all, my first suspicion was
correct, and that my patient was
but the victim of some fearful hallu
oination.
Mock youl l answered soothing
ly. Ear from it (; / sympathixe in
tensely with you, and would do
much to aid you. You require
sleep. Lie down, and leave me to
watch
He groaned, but rose, aud began
throwing off his clothes, and, watch
ing my opportunity, slipped q
sleeping powder, which | had nan.
aged to put in my pocket before
leaving the surgery, into the tum-
bier of claret that stood beside him.
The moro / saw, the more | felt
convinced that it WAS the nervous
system of my patient which requir.
cd my attention; and it was with
sincere satisfaction | saw him drink
the wine, and then stretch himself
on the luxurious bed.
sHa,' thought [ as the clock struck
IL, and, instead Of q groan, the deep
breathing Of the sleeper sounded
through the room; you won't re.
ceive any summons TO. night, and
may make myself comfortable.
Noiselessly, therefore replen>
ished the fire, pouring myself out
grass of wine, and, dra wing the cur
tain so that the freight should not
disturb the sleeper, | put myself in
a position to follow his example.
How long l slept / knew not, but
suddenly arose with start and
as ghostly q thrill of horror as ever
remembered to have felt in my life.
Something--what, [ knew not
seemed nearer; but unutterably
awful.
/ gazed around. The fire emitted
faint blue glow, just sufficient to
enable me to see that the room was
exactly the same as when | fell
asleep, but that the long hand of the
clock wanted but five minutes of the
mysterious hour which was to be
the death-moment of the SUM
moned" mani
Was there anything IN il, then
--aDy truth in the strange story he
had told
The silence was intense. l could
not even hear a breath from the
bed and l was about to rise and
approach, when again that awful
horror seized me. and at the same
moment my eye fell upon tho mir
ror opposite the door, and | saw
Great Heaven that awful Shape
that CHASTITY mockery of what
had been humanity-was it really q
messenger from the buried quiet
dead ? 1t stood there in visible
death clothes, but the awful face
was CHASTITY with corruption, and
the sunken eyes cleaned forth 8
green, CLASSY glare, which seemed a
veritable blast frora the internal
fires below. TO move or utter a
sound in that hideons presence was
impossible; and like q etatue | sat
and saw that horrid Shape move
slowly toward the bed.
What was the awful scene enact
cd there | know not. I heard moths
ing, except low. stified, agonized
groan, and l saw the shadow of
that CHASTITY messenger bending
over the bed. Whether it was some
dreadful bat wordless sentence its
breathless lips conveyed, as it stood
there, / know not; but for an 10.
slant the shadow of claw-like
hand, from which the third finger
was missing, appeared extended ov.
err the doomed mans head and
then, as the clock struck one clear
silvery stroke, it fell, and wild
shrek rang through the room-a
death shrek.
am not given to fainting, but |
certainly confess that the next ten
minutes of my existence was q cold
blank !; and, when | did manage to
stagger to my fee', | gazed round,
vainly endeavoring to understand
the chilly horror which still pos.
sessed me.
Thank God the room was rid
OF that awful presenoe-I cav that;
so, gulpirg down some vino, |
lighted a wax taper and staggered
toward the bed. Alb, how l prayed
that, after oil, | might have been
dreaming, and that my OVID excited
imaginatioa had but ooniured up
some hideous memory of the dis.
secting room
But one glance was sufficient to
answer that. mol The summons
had indeed been given and an
swered.
l. / flashed the light over the dead
face, swollen, convulsed still With
the death-agony but suddenly
shrank back. Even as | gazed. the
expression of the face seemed to
change, the blackness faded into a
deathly whiteness the convulsed
features relaxed, and, even as if the
victim of that dread arparltion still
| lived, sad, solemn smile stole over
the pale lips.
| / was intensely Mortified, but still
/ retained sufficient self conscious,
ness to be struck professionally by
such q phenomenon. Surely there
was something more than supernas-
ural agency in all this
| Again | sorutinized the dead
face, and even the throat aud chest:
but, with the exception of tiny
pimple Oh one temple beneath q
cluster of hair, not mark appeared.
To look a. the corpse, one would
have believed that this man had, in.
deed, died by the visitation Of God,
peacefully. while sleeping How
long | stood there | know not, but
time enough to gather my scattered
senses and to reflect that, all things
considered, my own position would
be very unpleasant if ! was found
thus unexpectedly in the room of
the mysteriously- dead man. So,
noiselessly as | could, | made my