The Indianapolis journal., 1884-01-19

to me. Madame was equally serVle
in her way and servility so i'll suited her hard
features and greedy looking eyes that the effect
was equally dsagreeable. | begged them to
serve my soup and chicken and omelettes aux
fnes-herbes, Of which my meal consisted, at the
same time, as | desired to be alone and felt it
quite relief when the ill-looking pair Quilted
the room. The meal however, was excellent,
and l did justice to it.
When had finished it, L lit cigar and turned
round to enjoy comfortable smoke by the fire.
Feeling little shivery and fearful. of a cold,
rang the bell for cognac, hoping that
servant might answer the summons. But no, to
my intense disgust there was madame, with her
grinning, sinister face. and her thousand inqui-
ries as to whether monsieur liked the p0tage and
the roti and Omelette, and with dissertations
upon the cooking of LA Croix dOr." Then the
merits of the cognac were descanted upon; it
was Fin champagne, thirty years old At last,
with the aid of the girl have before mentioned,
the table was cleared, and 1 was once more
alone.
''What is there associated in my mind with
the sign of La Croix d'OYf | asked myself, as
soon as the woman's irritating jabber ceased to
ring in my ears. 1t was some time before my
memory went back as far as the night on which
| read the paragraph in the Weekly Dispatch,
and remembered that it was the sign of the inn
at which that mysterious death had taken place.
| But that was up in the southeast hundreds of
miles away, and no sign is more common
throughout France than La Croix dor Every
one knows how easy it is to build up a series OF
! anu INK together IL Cudlll Ol StlS-
picious circumstances when the mind is irritated
or depressed. l thought of the villainOus-look
ing landlord and his scarcely less Unlocking wife,
| of the peculiar solitude and gloom of
| the house. The mans face, L had re
marked, was of southern type. What if he
were--here | grew angry with myself and
| swallowed good draught of brandy and water.
| What allied me! Well the dreariness of the day
and my long walk through such abominable
weather quite sufficient to account for any
amount of depression: doubt an incipient
cold was upon me. l mixed another glass Of
| cognac, and tried to persuade myself that had
| reasoned away my megTlms, but the next mo-
ment / was muttering, "I wish she had not seen
my pocketbook. After that threw away my
| cigar, jumped up, and rang for a candle, though
| with positive dread of that sallow face and
! those greedy eyes. AS | rose | felt that | had
not swallowed two stiff tumblers of brandy and
water with impunity. That man, it was sup
| posed, was a little inebriated when he went to
| bed, thought
! My bette noire answered the summons, and,
spite of my brusque declaration that 1 did not
require her guidance, insisted upon showing me
| to my room and singing the praises of the bed,
which, according to her description, the
softest and finest in all France. Taking the
| light from her hand, | almost thrust her out and
locked the door. '"rhank heaven, I am free of
! her for tonight exclaimed inwardly. My
copious draughts had not succeeded in raising
my depression, or even in dispelhng those chilly,
! shlvery sensations which feared were harbin-
gers of "A cold and they had superadded strong
disposition to a splitting headache. Bad liquor
thought. Or perhaps it was drugged9 Again
! tried to get angry with my nervous fancies, but
| the attempt unsuccessful.
Before retiring to bed resolved thoroughly to
examine the ROOM l began with the door; that
was satisfactory enough; it was strong and had
| a good look, and a bolt as well, both of which
/ made secure. No person could enter that way
without awaking me. l next turned my atten-
| ton to the window; it was deep set with heavy
! frame and small panes OF glass and was fastened
| by means Of one of those iron bolts, working in
! a socket and with horizontal handle which
| commonly used in France. l opened it to dis
cover the outlook but the night so intensely
| dark, and the rain descending in such torrents
! that L could perceive nothing but black gulf
! Having made the window thoroughly secure
again my next care was to ascertain that there
was second entrance to the room. l exam
ined the walls and the back of large closet,
which situated near the bed, but without
| finding anything suspicious. Lastly turned my
! attention TO the bed itself. / remarked that it
stood unusually high from the floor, and that in
| stead of valances. the lower part was encased
| with polished wood, which also formed frame
work for the bed to rest in. 1t was thus lmpossi-
| BILE for anyone to lie concealed underneath.
| From a canopy above the head depended heavy
curtains, the thick folds of which half inclosed
it as a tent Now never could endure bed cur
tains of any kind, as they always have sitting
effect upon me- These were too firmly fixed to
be pulled down; and l knew that to lie with my
head beneath them would be to half asphyXate
myself There was but one alternative and
! that to shift the pillows from the top to
! the bottom. As soon as this change was effected
| | undressed and turned in. | did not find my
couch answer to my hostess's euogies ON the
contrary, it was singularly hard and unyelding;
| but l was so tired and drowsy that recollection
! faded almost as soon as my head touched the
| pillow
| think must have been asleep some time be-
fore l began to dream. Then | thought that
was more examining the room, trying the
window. feeling
secret entrance, but, as l approached the bed
found that it was already occupied; a mans head
was lying back upon the bolster, dead face was
upturned toward mine, which, as | stood gazing
upon it, assumed the likeness of the landlord of
the hotel the straight black hair struggled over
the livid skin and clung to the dark forehead:
the eyes were fixed and CLASSY, and stared hor
ribly; the jaws had dropped but the sycophant-
ish smile was stamped, even in death, upon the
hdeous mouth While | stood gazing like one
spell-bound, saw the corps gradually rising into
a sitting posture, not as though by any voliton
of its own, but with perfectly rigid movement
as though impelled by machine. All of mo-
ment | felt its arms coiled around my
chest like the folds of serpent. l
could scarcely draw breath; l struggled
to free myself, though l knew that
no strength could avail against that deadly en-
brace; then, as though still by some invisible
agency we began slowly to rise into the air the
room, the bed, every object faded into the dark
ness all was black void, and we seemed float
ing away into infinite space.
/ uttered a cry and awoke. 1 knew 7 was
awake but the nightmare was on me still, for
could feel the pressure upon my chest and the
strange upward motion as plainly as 1 had felt
it in my sleep. l tried to move, but l found
myself fixed to the bed so firmly that / could not
stir hand or foot. Was it merely the after-effect
of my dream really being raised to a
perpendicular position9 1 could doubt it no
longer Slowly and smoothly the foot or
rather the head of the bed-for it will be remem-
bered that l had reversed for my own convent
ence-dipped, while the opposite end rose: at the
same time could feel thick folds getting around
my feet The horror of the situation was greatly
! heightened by the intense darkness and by the
awful silence. When had been brought to a
standing position, though without my feet touch
inc the Ground the motion ceased And did