River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-01-20

fact that the Gfeless hand had certainly
reached out and closed upon mine; but
that fact ] dismissed from my mind
upon some physiological reasonings
satisfactory to myself, and thought /
could not be frightened again.
"How the body came into my room
and underneath my bed was the next
inuU:rv. That question, however, could
be easily solved, for the hospital stu
dents were more mischievous and
more daring than now, and L resolved
that they had done this work to fright
en- me. j laughed quietly at the fruit
lessness Of their adventure, and be-
gan making arrangements to remove
the body.
"Ittaxed all my strength to drag the
corpse from underneath the bed. Then
| thought l had better have some as
sistance from the porter, and to call
him stepped to the door.
TO my surprise, the door was bolt
ed from the outside, and | knew in a
moment that l was doomed to an all
1 nights cOmpanionship of dead body
| could have secured assistance from
the outside by alarming the neighbor-
hood, but then | would have confessed
myself the frightened victim of prac-
teal Joke, and from such an admission
| revolted
d" was rapidly growing nervous now,
for the dark, shadowy outlines of the
corpse seemed to rise up from the floor
and follow me about the room. The
more | pinched myself to wake my
fast receding courage, the more | real
/ lied that an undetinable terror was
/ creeping over me-a terror that would
/ not be shaken off.
al this juncture | determined to
light Il lamp and keep my vigils at
| least by the aid of q lamp. With this
idea in view, felt all over the table
and upon every conceivable shelf but
no lamp could be discovered, and
saw again the thOroughness of the trick
/ PLAYED upon me. The lamps had been
removed by the students.
God knows what a night that wasl |
sat down and tried to compose myself,
but the shadowy forms that grouped
themselves about my room kept my
eyes staring into the darkness. There
was cold dampness pervading the at
mosphere, and very soon my teeth
we're chattering with mingled cold and
fright
Most Of all, the body lay between
me and the bed, and | could not find
! courage to cross it. Not that | feared
the dead body itself-for | argued that
/ the body was really dead-but the
startling fact of the hand having reach
ed me from under the bed and clasped
mine came to me in all its force. Was
it alive? Was it dead? These were the
absurd inquiries that began to find
earnest argument with me. Every
motion Of my own person terrorized
me every change of position filled me
wife new horror
1T would be impossible to describe
the intensity Of my suffering. | could
not see the dead body, but | could see
where | knew it lay, and my distorted
imagination saw that lifeless hand ever
and anon clutching the air. Once |
| thought | heard a groan, and then |
| farcied the body had moved Il little.
After awhile the room seemed filled
with dark figures, that fitted back and
forth between me and the body.
Hours must have passed, when |
noticed the room growing lighter and
| lighter, and finally mOonbeam cast
bright shadow through one of the
| front windows. For Il moment | was
encouraged until | saw the light creep
ing toward the CHASTITY corpse. | knew
what the full light would unfold to me,
ana | watched the crawling moon
beams with the intensest agony.
Suddenly, after half an hour of
~ / r y 4 a l. Al.
1t must have been five inmates before
| could look in the direction of the
corpse. There it lay, with its bare
arms folded solemnlv across its breast,
It's lage, hollow eyes staring directly
upon me, its teeth firm set in the
agouies Of death, and its bloodless
hands grasping each other tightly.
The moon fell full upon the CHASTITY
face and pileously reflected every
mark of death. The shadows seemed
returning to my room, but now they
were ministers Of light They were
hollow skeletons, wrapped in a flap
ping shroud, and they danced il hide
Gus glee about me. | had taken the
/ precaution to place my chair firmly
against the wall, and | knew that
| these grining skulls could take no ad-
vantage of me from behind, but their
| very presence was enough to stop the
/ blood from flowing in my veins and to
/ throw out upon my body cold, clammy
| perspiration. The very atmosphere |
! breathed was an exhalation from the
grave.
"How slowly the hours passed on. l
! lived twenty yeas in that one short
night Finally, it grow darker, and
! then the first faint streaks Cf day-dawn
/ came into the room. With the reali-
| ties Of daylight my courage returned,
and | crossed the room, and bestOwing
a vigorous kick upon the innocent
corpse, clambered into bed, where /
/ covered my head and ears and drop
ped instantly to sleep from sheer cx-
/ hdustion.'
when | awoke the sun was high in
/ the heavens, and my room filled with
/ students
"'Hello, Dardenne, said one; Il call
/ this the greatest instance of personal
bravery ON record The young man
who will voluntarily stay all night with
a corps"---
Voluntarily | said, with astonish-
ment. That door was certainly lock
! ed
"'Ycs, he replied, but it was simply
boited on the inside, and you could
In e Unattached it,
Then, said |. 4 am the greatest
coward on record, for was too badly
| frightened to remember the latch
mo, said another student, Il still
think it an example of bravery for a
young man to lift a corpse from his
own bed and place it on the floor beside
| him. and then lie down to pleasant
! dreams without Il murmur.'
'''What, | cried; that corpse was
never in my bed. ! found it under
/ the bed
The students looked at each other
with deepening establishment. Then
/ they told their story. They had placed
the corpse in my bed, intending mere
+ IL to frighten me from the room. They
/ lad securely fastened the door, so that
/ only my night-key could open it, and
no one carried its duplicate.
"And from that day to this it has
been a mystery how the corpse seized
nv hand and held it. But TIE great
mystery was AMI is. how that corpse
/ first got out and then under the bed. ="
i 1t is Il till the mystery of the charity