Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-08-13

body to which it belonged WAS diScloS,
Ell to my view Slowly, then. Il palid
and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. figure emerged
from the couch and stood With its stark
hneamcntS clearly drawn against the
dingy curtain hehindu Il seemed to
he balancing itself fer moment, and
then began To move along from the bed.
But there was something horribly I'M
natural III its motions. Its feet came
u the floor with dull, heavy sound ~
ifihcrc WAS no vitality III them lis
arms hung, apparently, par,lyzcd 10y
ills side and the emily nerve or rigiditN
in It's frame appeared about lis head,
The hair, which was thin and scattered,
stood ont in rigid tufts from IFS brow
the ewes were dilatra and fixed with an
expression of CHASTITY horror, and the
petr6cd lips moved not us the hjdcouS
moaning, which came from the bottom
of lis chest escaped them,
Ii began to move across the floor in
the direction III my bed its knees III
every step being drawn up with sud
den Jerk nearly Ia lis body and Its feet
coming To- the ground as II they were
moved Ivy some mechanical impulse,
and were WHOLLY wanting III the elastic
itN Of living members Ii approached
my bed ana mingled horror and ruri
oslty kept me still Ii came NJ q stood
beside il, and child like still chung Ia
my couch, moving only to the further
side, slowly, and with the same un-
natural FOOTBALLS il pursued my pos
ition II placed itself then nj the foot
of my bed, and moved by its pitcous
groanS, tried to look calmly nj til
cndeavored to rally my thoughts to
reason with myself and even to Spccu-
late upon the nature of the object hc-
fore me-. One idea that went through
my brain was too cNtravagant not to re-
member Thought, among other
things, that the phantom was Il corpse,
animated for the moment hy some
galvanic process, in order 10 tcrrifN
me Then, rs rccollcctcd that there
Mas 40 ono in the village to carry such
a trick into SuppoSing even the
experiment posi- lei rejected the
suppositon. How, too. could those
awful moans he produced from an in
animate being And yet, il seemed rs
If everything about il were dead, except
the mere capahilitN Of moving its feet,
and uttcring these mcarthly express
sionS of suffering. The spccter, how
ever, if SO it may bc called, gave me
but little opportunity for reflection
Its CHASTITY limbs were raised anew
with the same automatic movement;
and placing one Of its feet upon the hot.
tom of my bed, while its glass ewes
We're fixed steadfastly upon me, il be-
gan stalking toward my pillow
| confess that was now IN an agony
of terror,
sprang from the couch and fled the
appointments The kcen-sightedncss of
fear enabled me 10 discover an open
closet upon the other side of the hall.
Springlng through the threshold, |
closed the door quickly after me Ii
had neither lock nor bolt, but the clos
ct was SO narrow, that by placing my
feet upon the opposite wall, | could
brace my back against the door So rs 10
hold II against amy human asSailant,
who had only his arms for levo
The pcrspiration Of mortal fear start
ed thick upon my forehead rs heard
the supernatural tread of that strange
visitant approaching the spot ltsecm-
ed an age before his measured steps
brought him 10 the door He struck
it the blow was sulcn and hollow as
If dealt hy the hands Of 4 corpse, 1t
was like the dull sound OF his own feet
upon the floor. He struck the door
again--and the blow was more feeble,
and the sound ducr than before Sure
~, ! thought the hand Of no living man
can produce such sound
! know not whether il struck il again
Il for now its thick breathing became
so loud that even the meanings which
We're mingled with every suspiration
became inaudihle. At last, they sub
sided entirely becoming ut first grad
ually weaker, and then audible only in
harsh sudden sobs, whose duration |
could not estimate, from their minglng
with the blast which still swept over the
hillside
The long, long night had At last an
end, and tile cheering sounds Of the
awakening f;umyard told me that the
sun was up and' that ] might venture
from my blind retreat. But if 1t were
with slight feeling Of trepidation
Alltti ! 6IlNIlNl llli hIpi VI illi iHNNtl,
what was my horror when il human
body fell inward upon me even as in
closed it, The weakness, however left
me the moment had sprung from its
hideous embrace stood for an instant
in the fresh air and rcviying light Of the
hall, and then proceeded toremovc the
body to 4 place where ] could examine
its features more favorably Great
leayen what was my horror upon dis
covering that they were those Of the in
teresting stranger whom ! had met on
the road the evening before.
The rest of my story !. soon told.
The household Of tic lin We're rapidly
collected, and half Of the inhabitants Of
the hamlet identified the body n that
of gentleman well known in the coun-
try But even after the coronors IN
quest was summoned, there was no
light thrown upon his fate, until my
drunken landlord was brought before
the jury His own testimony would
have gone for little, but he produced
document which in few words told
tire whole story. II was note left