Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-06-25

low. To move or utter sound in that
hideous presence was impossible; and
like q statue / sat and saw that horrid
Shape move slowly toward the bed.
What was the awful scene enacted
there I know not. I heard nothing, ex-
cept . low, stihed, agonized groan, and I
saw the shadow Of that chastity messen-
ger bending over the bed. Whether it
was some dreadful but wordless sentence
its breathless lips conveyed, as it stood
there,ssI know not but for an instant
the shadow Of claw-like hand, from
which the third finger was missing, ap-
peared extended over the doomed mans
head !; and then, as the clock struck one
clear silvery stroke, it fell, and wild
Shrek rang through the ROOM death
shrek.
Tam not given to fainting, but 1 Ger
tainly confess that the next ten minutes
Of my existence was cold blank; and,
when i did manage to stagger to my
feet, I gazed round, vainly endeavoring
to understand the chilly horror which
still possessed me.
Thank God! the room was rid of that
awful presence saw that; so, grllping
down some wine. I lighted wax-taper
and staggered toward the bed. All,
how I prayed that, after all, might
have been dreaming, and that my own
excited imagination had but coniured
up some hideous memory of the dissect-
ing-rooml
But one clancy was sufficient to answer
that. No! The summons had indeed
been given and answered.
i flashed the light over the dead face,
swollen, convulsed still with the DEATH
agony; but suddenly I shrank back.
Even as I gazed, the expression of the
face seemed to change; the blackness
faded into O deathly whiteness the con.
vulsed features relaxed, and, even rs if
the. victim Of that dread appariton still
lived, sad, solemn smile stole over the
pale lips.
I was intensely Mortified, but still I
retained sufficient sef-consciousness to
be struck professionally by such a
phenomenon. Surely there was some
thing more than supernatural agency in
ill this
Again scrutinized the dead face, and
even the throat and chest but, with the
exception of tiny pimple on one temple
beneath cluster Of hair, not mark ap-
peared. To look at the corpse, one
would have believed that this man had,
indeed, died by the visitation of God,
peacefully, while sleeping. How long I
stood there / know not. but time enough
to gather my scattered senses and to re-
feet that, all things considered, my own
position would be very unpleasant if I
was found thus Unexpectedly in the room
Of the nystariously-dead man. So, noise
lessly as 7 could, I made my way out of
the house, No one met me on the pri-
vate staircase 5 the little door opening
into the road was easily unfastened; and
thankful, indeed, was I to feel again
the fresh winry air as I hurried along
the road by the church-yard.
=
There was magnificent funeral soon
in that church ) and it was said that the
young widow Of the buried man was in
consolable and then rumors got abroad
Of q horrible apparition which had been
seen on the night OF the death; and it
was whispered the young widow was
terrified, and insisted upon leaving her
splendid mansion.
was too mystifed with the whole
affair to risk my reputation by saying
what I knew, and ] should have allowed
my share in il to remain forever buried
in oblivion had I not suddenly heard
that the widow, Directing tomany of the
legacies in the last viii Of her husband,
intended to dispute it on the score Of IN
sanity, and then gradually arose the ru-
NOR Of his belief in having received
mysterious summons.
On this I went to the lawyer, and sent
message to the lady, that, as the last
person who had attended her husband,
/ undertook to prove his sanity, and I
besQught her to grant me an interview.
in which I would relate as strange and
horrible story as her ear had ever
heard.
The same evening I received an invi-
tation to go to the mansion. was ush-
cred Immediately into . splendid room,
and there, standing before the fire, was
the most dazzlingly-beautiful young
creature I had ever seen. She was very
small, but e1quisitely made; had it not
been for the dignity of her carriage, I
should have believed her mere child.
With a stately bow she advanced, but
did not speak.
" -"I come on strange and painful er-
rand, I began, and then / started, for I
happened to glance full into her eyes,
and from them down to the small right
hand grasping the chair. The wedding
ring was on that handl
ct conclude you. are the Mr.. Read
who requested permission to tell me
some absurd ghost-story, and whom my
late husband mentions here" And as
she spoke she stretched out her
left hand toward something-but
F what I knew not, for my eyes were fixed
ON that hand. - ~
Horrorl White and delicate it might
be, but it was shaped like . claw, and
the third finger was missingl ~
One sentence was enough after that.
Madame, al can tell you is that the
ghost who summoned your husband was
marked by . singular deformity. The
third finger Of the left hand was miss
ing, L said, sternly; and the next in
slant had left that beautiful, sinful
presence. .,..... -,s ..-. gsss
That will was never disputed. >, The
next morning, too, I received . check
for 81 ,OO0, and the next news I heard OF
/ the widow was that abe had herself seen
that awful appariton, and had left the
mansion immediately. ~..~..s,
e. Il. The Wicked Child. ~ I (