News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-12-13

door remains open. My friend looks out
of the door and into the street. There
he sees a long column of tiayed men
marching rapidly down the road. Strag-
gIers drop out from the column and en-
ter his room. When ten men have
entered, his bedroom door closes. The
faycd men, who are covered with fresh
blood, walk silently around the room
looking at him. They point their
bloody fingers at him. At a signal
from the man who first entered they all
march out. Presently they return, each
carrying a fayed and bloody corpse.
The blood has dried on the live men
| while they were absent, ana it flakes
| from them as they re-enter the room
with their ghastly burdens. The
corpses are placed on the floor in a row,
side by side. At a signal from the
loader of the skinless horrors, they
straddie the dead bodies, and bending
over, grasp them around the waists.
Then straighteDing up, with the legs of
| the dead men between their own, they
move around the room in weird dance
now advancing, now retreating, then
circling around the bed, and always
leerlng and grinning at my friend. After
desperate efforts he awakens, and the
vision disappears. It is his warning to
| quit drinking, and he heeds it, too"
Then spoke an ex.Confederate artiI-
| lery officer: "NIOst sprees have visions.
all of them horrible, that are natures
warnings to them to quit drinking. But
there is another class OF illusions arising
| from an unwise use of alcohol, which [
| suspect are much more common than is
generally known. The men who suffer
| from these illusions are apt to conceal
their troubles, being ashamed to confde
them to their most intimate friends. I
know of two cases that may interest you.
They are queer manifestations of
alcoholic disturbances of the brain"
We gathered closely around the table,
and all of us, as one man, demanded
the stories. The ex-COnfederate officer
said: johnson was raised on the
Sea Islands. He married shortly before
the war. He entered the Army of Vir-
ginia. His wife, to whom he was de-
voted, died shortly after he left her.
After the surrender johnson came West.
He is a welI-educated, courageous
gentleman. I will tell you of the vision
that invariably arises before him if he
drinks at ALL l will tell it in the first
person, just as he told it to me. I'M
agine that johnson is talking when
ever [ drink, I am haunted by a vision
that arises before me as soon as I am
asleep. It is this: My wife is by my
side, her soft hand lovingly slipped in
mine. We are walking up an oyster shell
path toward our Sea Island home
Entering our house I realize that it has
been deserted, and an unaccountabIe |
feeling of dread rolls over me i'll an icy
wave at This discovery. Then my wife |
speaks, saying, softly, II am afraid.
Instantly my mind is flooded with the |
recollection of dreadful horror that l |
had not thought Of for years. remem-
Der that we had abandoned the house |
because it was haunted Our experience,
as / recall it, was that a spirit walked
nightly in lhe attic, and, after short
walk, descended the stairs. When the
door at the foot of the stairway opened
before the ghost a column of whitish
vapOr foated sinuouslv into the hall !; |
then, turning to the left, it entered my
room and passed out of the window.
" Supplemental to this horror was an
other manifestation Of rare occurrence |
and at highly irregular intervals. This
was a voice accompanied by footsteps.
Sometimes heavy footsteps, at others as
if the infrm steps of age were tottering
around the house. Again they crept
along the inside of the partitions. Then
the voice groaned, as if in pain. I
knew the voice to be that of a negro of
hideous aspect and gigantic size, whom
one of my ancestors had scourged to |
death. That voice threatened us with |
direful disasters, and made the night |
hideOus with its cries. 1t always came
in the gray Of the evening, and stayed |
all night. The recollection of these |
horrors, that had escaped my memory,
terrified me. My wife saw that 1 was
unnerved, and clung closely to me,
repeating in trembling tones, 81 am
afraid, I am afraid, 1 am afraid" I!
tried to restore her courage, but [ could !
not. I looked at her, and saw that she, |
too, recOIIected the dreadful tale. We en- |
deavOred to leave the house, but could |
not. Then we sought refuge IL the par |
lOr, and trembling awaited, we knew |
not what. Suddenly a barbaric tune
was beaten on the floor above us, as
though pounded out with war club, |
and the voice spoke tauntingly, saying: |
"To-night you shall see me-" An ire
sistible force drew us to our bedroom. |
The column of vapor descended the |
stairs and entered it and foated out of |
the window. Then we sought to escape ,
from the dreaded voice by hiding IN
dark corners; but the voice tauntingly
called us forth.
" Finally, in despair, weentered the |
parlor, and there the end came. Forth |
from the solid wall strobe a gigantic
naked negro. His flesh was scored as
though with a whip. Blood marked the
trail as he walked. He stalIled toward |
us. With an exultant grin he glared |
fiercely at us. Then he slowly stretched |
out his hand, as though to grasp my
wife's yellow hair An Overpowering !
base and cowardly terror seized me.
My only fear was that the black spectre
would grasp me instead of my wife. |
She clung to me with twining arms,
murmuring, "Protect me Save me - |
Baselv | thrust her from me toward the |
outstretched hand Of the gigantic black.
She looked at me lovingly, notreproach-
fully, and with kind, forgiving smile on
her face, fell dead at my feet. With |
inefahle scorn the negro pointed his
horny index finger at me and said, "a .
coward The first of his race, " and dis
appeared with a crash that always |
awak ned me- >"
The ez-Confcdcrate ceased talking .
for Ri instant while he lit fresh cigar,
and then he said: THAT is Johnsons
vision. It never varies particle, and .
he sees it if he drinks 50 much as one |
glass of whisky. OF course you all un- |
deTstand that there is not any ground |
Fg. Al, ,yigi,r, u &c from, IpOiuDiu0 tO /