Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1882-05-18

skepticism with which have since though
of it. The gloomy, ancient building, th'
wild, tempestuous night, with its almost in
cessant flashes of lightning, revealing tn,
} turbid surface of the swollen river which
washed the base Of the tower, the wierd ap
pearance and solemn tone Of the narrator
and the tragic occurrence which terminated
the story, all were sufficient, coupled will
my exhausted condition. to account for ;
credulity of which I have since beer
ashamed.
1t had been storming furiously all day
My servant and myself had missed our way
following different paths had lost each other
Arriving at length upon the banks Of small
mountain torrent, l resolved to follow il
downward in the hope that somewhere upon
its banks l should find human habitatior
and shelter Night came On and the rain fell
with renewed violence. The difficulty OF
proceeding was now increased by the rising
of the waters of the river which in places
entirely filled the narrow valley At last a
glimmer Of light far in the distance gave me
new courage, and pressing on l soon found
myself under the walls of ruined castle
But one tower remained standing, and from
a small window near its top shOne the light
which had seen. The rest of the building
had fallen into utter decay and was over
grown with ivy. After dsmounting and
tying my horse in sheltered corner of the
walls, 1 approached the only entrance to the
waited a long time, but no one answered my
summons. Impatient, l thundered at the
door, and added with my voice to the uproar
was making
At last, discouraged, [ had stopped and
was about to turn away in dispair when |
felt that peculiar, indescribable sensation,
which almost every one has experienced that
some one was looking at me. It is never a
pleasant feeling but now it sent such u chill
to my heart as l had never experienced be-
fore For an instant stood moti1nless, then
turning suddenly l found myself looking
into two huge blue eyes, larger than human
they seemed, which We're bent Oh mine.
Great, luminous eyes, not fierce, but On the
contrary they bore such an expression of TIM
idity, of apprehension and alarm, that they
seemed to impart to me much of the horror
and fear which they expressed. | could not
move but stood staring into the strange orbs
Then a voice, low and still, said:
You are alone? IL is well. Enter"
4 door was thrown open and | followed
the, possessor of the voice up a short stair
case in the thickness Of the wall, and entered
a large room in the fireplace of which huge
fire was blazing. The room occupied the en-
tire width Of the tower, and its ceiling was
the roof fifty feet above. Huge beams and
rafters crossed each other in apparent con-
fusion at that great height, and the flickering
fire threw strange and unearthly shadows
among them The antlers of stays, armor,
pennants, and battle-hags, which rustled like
death-rattles in the wind which entered the
ruinous building, hung upon the walls.
There was little furniture
An instant's inspection of the room suf-
feed, and l turned to my host. He was n
small man of good figure and carriage. He
was perhaps sixty years of age. His hair
was long and gray and fell in tangled massts
upon his shoulders. His features were re-
fined, and his forehead was high and mas
sive His eyes l have attempted to describe.
his head with the rapidity of thought,
first to one side and then the other, would
peer about him with those great fearful eyes,
which seemed at such times to assume more
than their usual expression of terror. This
was done with the regularity of clock work.
4 nervous twitching of his hands was quite
noticeable.
My host with few kind words Of well
come in low, refined voice. seated me be-
fore the fire, and set before me frugal meal
of venison and bread. With this l appeased
my ravenous appetite, while my host seated
himself at o window directly above the
river, whose dull monotonous roar seemed to
louden every moment. The storm without
was increasing in fury, and the glare of the
lightning gave the strange figure at the win
dow yet stranger and more weird appear
ance. A long silence now elapsed, broken
only by the howling of the tempest, the hiss
of the rain upon the root, the ear-splitting
bursts of thunder and the ever loudening
roar of the river. At last my host murmured,
as if to himself,
Thirty years ago. Thirty years ago"
Then turning to me with an abruptness
which startled me he asked.
"Do you believe in the transmigration of
the soul ?"
aNo,n replied "That doctrine seems as
to me as the story of Lord Ruth
ven, the vampire"
"And ia that story then so improbable =