Morning journal and courier., 1885-12-30
AN AWFUL NIGHT.
A Woman Locked in With Horror. Piedmont, West Virginia, letter to Baltimore

Piedmont, West Virginia, letter to Baltimore
 American.l
 Strange things happen back on these old mountains, and the half of the curious occur rences never told. The writer a few weeks since spent several days deer hunting on the mountains. Game was scarce, but the party was lively one, and we had good time. A storm one night compelled the party to stop at farm house and ask shelter. A typical, hospitable southern col onel asked us to remain and make ourselves at home. Among the large family gathered about the supper table the writer was par ticularly impressed by strange looking woman who sat at the lower end of the table and was not introduced by the colonel and had nothing to say. Her face was thin and haggard, and wore an expression of settled melancholy distressing to behold. Her hair was snow white After tea a niece of the strange looking lady, with whom the writer engaged in conversation, told him the follow ing thrilling story of her aunts fearful ex- perience, which had affected her mind and whitened her hair when she was but nineteen years old:
 Bessie Knowing had been invited to spend the Christmas holidays with an aunt living about ten miles from Harper's Ferry She accepted the invitation, and in due time arrived at her destination, where she was warmly welcomed. Several other guests had arrived week previous to my aunt, so that the house was literally packed, leaving no accommodation for another visitor. On the lawn, short distance from the mansion, had been built one-room cabin. It had been comfortably furnished by the hostess in an- ticipation of an emergency of the present character. The hostess stated to her niece that she would be obliged to place her tenn porarily in this cabin unless she objected to the arrangement. My aunt was naturally of bold adventurous disposition, and had not the natural timidity of most girls so that she quietly agreed to the plan. Tired out with her trip, she told her aunt that she would like to retire early, so fire was built on the cabin hearth and everything made comforta- ble for the night. My aunt was accompanied by her hostess to the cabin before she retired, and sat with her some time talking over fam fly affairs. As she started to leave she dis covered that the bolt had been broken off the door, necessitating her locking the door on the outside to keep everything secure This she did after bidding her niece an affection ate good night. Aunt Bess, after sitting by the fire for some time, became uneasy and nervous, feeling some premonition of coming evil. She finally diGrobed, and after replen- ishing the fire retired. She tossed about un- easily for awhile, and then fell into fitful,
 
 later with violent start, the same upcanny instinct warning her of the close proximity of some dread object. The fire was burning low on the hearth and, the mig ht in tensely cold, the cabin was getting chillier. It was near daylight, but she still felt that horrible dread, as of approaching calamity. She listened for some time, when she heard something move once or twice under the bed. She nearly tainted from fright, but having reassured herself into the belief that it was merely dog, she turned over to get to sleep. Suddenly she felt the bed move, accom- panied by loud yawn. She was nearly overcome as she realized that the strange in- mate was not, as she had imagined, dog, but must be a man. She lay in dread for several minutes, not daring to stir for fear of betraying her presence, but finally decided to make sudden dash and gain the door and liberty. She was on the point of putting her resolve into execution, when she sudden ly remembered that the door was locked on the outside, and that she was practically prisoner and at the mercy of the unknown intruder. She laid quietly in bed, moving neither hand nor foot, tue horror of the sit uation steadily increasing, till she feared she would lose her reason. The seconds and minutes dragged their agonizing length along, till the first streak of daylight ap- peared. The monster several times during these awful hours raised the bed, causing its occupant to experience untold agony of ap- prehension.
 Finally the object crawled ont from under the bed. It proved to be a man clothed in tatters, with the fragments of heavy iron shackles hanging to his wrists and ankles. The hair aud beard of the strange visitor were tangled and unkempt, the former hanging be- low his shoulders. The brute stretched his full length out by the fire, and giving grunt of satisfaction, fell into deep sleep The occupant of the bed, realizing that at day ybreak she would inevitably be discovered, cast her eyes widely around for hiding place. The heavily curtained recess in one of the windows caught her eye, and she in stantly resolved to make an effort to reach it. Raising herself quietly on her hands, she crept noiselessly from the bed, and reached the window in safety. From this point of vantage she looked with agonized dread on the sleeping brute. Overcome with fatigue and fear, she was almost in the act of sinking to the floor, when she suddenly became aware of the baying of hounds, and the rapid hoof beats of galloping horses. They approached nearer and nearer, till she could distinguish the excited voices of the riders. She real ized suddenly that they were on the track of the strange intruder and silently prayed for immediate succor. The voices died away ill the distance, grew louder and then sank fainter, the alternate conflict of hope and fear almost rendering her frantic. They again approached closer, till they seemed to be just outside of the cabin door.
 While listening she had unconsciously dropped the curtain folds from her face, and suddenly glancing in the direction of the fu- gitive, she saw that he also had been awakened by the confusion, and having risen to his feet, was glaring at her face with an expression that left no doubt as to his mad ness. For moment she gazed fixedly into his eyes, and then made an involuntary movement toward the door, The spell which held the maniac was broken, and he sprang toward her with wild snarl. The unfortu- nate lady gave wild scream of despair, and saEk senseless to the floor. As her eyes closed to inconsistencies she became dimly aware of bursting crash and terrible strug gling around about her. When she again came to, she was lying in bed in her aunt's residence, surrounded by weeping relatives. The terrible shock incident to the night of horror resulted in an aggravated attack of brain fever, the effect of which was such as to unsettle her reason. The strangest part of the story is that during her illness her hair, which was of chestnut tinge, began to change it's color, and ultimately became white. The maniac was the son of neigh bor, and had been mad from birth. He was considered so dangerous as to cause his being chained. The night my aunt arrived at her destination he had broken his chains and made his escape. His friends who made the discovery shortly after it happened, secured a bloodhound and started on his trail. They traced him to the cabin, and had sent a want for the key, when my aunt's screams told it's own story and caused them to break