Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-08-27

me Win Il start 10 tOsS anu lTcb lOT
another quarter Of IN hour.
"At last sleep came; calm, peaceful,
dreamless sleep. How long | slept |
| have no idea; perhaps for an hour,
perhaps for two. Then from within
my very room, Of which | had seen
every window barred, every door
bolted and locked, there came a long,
low, moaning cry, ending with a
shrek so horrible, so CHASTITY, that l
am ashamed to say that, as / rose in
bed, my heart seemed to stop for a
moment and my hair rise, stitfened on
my head.
at was but for a moment. A faint
light from the waning moon came In
through one of the shutters, and, as
[ rose. there also rose across the room
a long, white fgurel What2 | saw 1T
start from the floor and gro to a
mans size or more, and, as | gazed,
heard that dreadful shriekl What2
No matter. 1t was a something. and
with its presence returned all my
cCmbativeness and anger; hot, fiery
| wrath was my only feeling.
"Some scoundrel, Isaid to myself
is playing me a trick. Some of these
pirate smugglers have arranged a
ghost for me, have they? Well, we'll
see VINO a play ghost the best!
GAS / rose / had taken my six
shooter from under the pillow and /
now called out, who are you2 What
are you doing there, you scoundrel?
No reply. Who are you2 Answer or
I'll shoot Still there was silence. My
pistol was pointed a little above the
center of the figure and.again | cried,
Answer or I'll shoot No answer
came and | pulled the trigger. | was
sure Of my aim, but yet the bullet
seemed to bury itself Aarmlessly into
the wall beyond. Lowering my aim
] sent another ball somewhat lower
and then q third almost to the ground
Still the figure neither moved nor
spoke. There it stood, white, CHASTITY
and seemingly. |usinjured by lead.
AS the third shot left my pistol | leap
ed from the bad and rushed upon the
shadowy form. A box Of cartridges
lay upon the table and these | thrust
Into the br~eastspocket of my right
dress. Cooking my revolver as | raj
| tried 10 selZe the intruder with my
left hand, tlnging myself with all
my force upon him.
''Horrorsl An instant later I was
thrown down, down, / knew not how
far or where. The floor seemed to
have opened and swallowed zoe uB.
With a crash | came to the bottom Of
the pit, bruised, bleeding, aud in utter
darkness.
"Coafused, half unconscious, /
struggled to nay feet, and orce more
there came, first that moaning cry,
and then that dreadful scream that
reused me from my sleep.
you know how little superstition
there is in my nature-some say, in,
deed, too little, for it is difficult for
me to believe in anything not patent
to the senses; but at that moment there
crept into my soul q grisly fear of
something not OF this world. A shud-
der ran through my frame. / could
feel my eyes dilate and open to their
utmost, and q sweat, cold as ice.
mingled from my brow with the blood
trickling from nay wounds, All was
as still as death. tried to shout; my
throat, dry, parched and contracted,
refused its office. No sound came TO
break that awful silence. / strained
my eyes in the black %obscUrIty which
eRcompassed me-a darkness which
could be felt, which pressed upon ne,
which seemed to hold me breathless,
in its internal embrase. Nothing A
void, vast as the universe, narrow as
a tomb. My shuddering feet stood
upon a something dark, dark and
cold, as if they rested ON a nest of
serpents; above, around, a silent pail
of unutterable obscurity. My elbow
touched the wall; | started as If stung
by a scorpion n a. if ghostly hands
had seized me from the nameless mys
terry which lay around. Ny heart
stopped and then sent the blood whirl.
ing to the brain in sickening force.
Was / made Was this a fever bora
dream2
"Some dreadful thing, cold, Shiny.
as was everything in this hideous
place, crawled or wriggIed from under
and beside my foot. Spots red and
green began TO dance like demons
eyes in the distance-formed probably
by the pressure OF the blood upon the
brain and nerves.
| have twice or thrice since then
faced what see med like probable death
without much feeling about the mat
ter, but the foe was visible, tangible
not a hldeous void like that l faced
that November night.
Again | tried to call out, and this
time a faint, hoarse sound, which
seemed to be the voice of another, is
cued from my lips.
II had struck nay head violently in
my rapid descent, but gradually my
senses returned and drove off the
uameless dread, only TO replace il with
q feeling OF he p~iessneSs, almost of
despair. The air was bitterly cold.
cold with a vault like chill, which
stitfened my limbs, clad as l was only
IN a single garment, to the bone. But
with the return Of ihOuuht caD,e tbeI