The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-12-25
moment and my hair rise ~stifening on

-
head"
It was but for O moment. A faint
light from the waning moon came in
| through the shutters, and, as | rose,
there rose across the room a long
white figure! What? I saw it start
from the floor and grow to a mans
that dreadful shrek! What? No
matter. 1t IA something, and its
presence returned all my combative-
ness and anger; hot, fiery wrath was
my only feeling"
"Some scoundrel,' saidI to myself;
lis playing me a trick. Some OF these
pirate smugglers have arranged aghost
for me, have they? Well, wen see who
can play ghost the best"
Gas Irose Ihad taken my six-shoot-
er from under my pillow, and now l
called out: Who are you? What are
you doing there, you scoundrel?' No
reply. Who are you? Answer, or I'll
shoot Still there was silence. My
pistol was pointed a little above the
centre OF the figure, and again l cried:
Answer or I'll shoot No answer
came, and pulled the trigger. | was
sure of my aim, and yet the bullet
| seemed to bury itself harn1lessly into
the wall beyond. Lowering my aim l
sent another ball somewhat lower,
and then third, almost to the ground.
Still the figure neither moved or spoke.
There it stood, white, CHASTITY and UNI
injured by lead. AS the third shot
lett my pistol / leaped from the bed
and rushed upon the shadow form.
A box of cartridges lay upon the table
and these / thrust into the breast
pocket of my night dress. Cooking
my revolver as | ran, | tried to seize
the intruder with my left hand, tlinging
myself with all force upon him."
Horrors! An instant later I was
thrown down, down. knew nothow
far or where. The floor seemed to
have opened and swallowed me up.
With u crash / came to the bottom OF
the pit, bruised, bleeding and in utter
darkness"
Confused; hall unconscious strrts-
gled to my feet, and once more there
came, first that moaningcry, andthen
the dreadful scream which had reused
me from my Sleep
"You know how little superstition
there is i'll my nature-some say, in
deed, too little, for it isdifiicult forme
to believe i'll anything not patent to
my senses; but at that moment there
crept into my soul a 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 MS ice, min
eled from my brow with the blood
trickling from my wounds. All was
still as death. / tried to shout; my
throat, dry, parched and contracted,
refused its Office. No sound came to
break that horrid silence. | strained
my yes into the black obscurity
which encompassed them-a darkness
which pressed upon me which seemed
to hold me. breathless, i'll its Internal
embrace. Nothing. A void, vast as
the universe, narrow as q tomb. My
shuddering feet stood upon n some
thingdark, dark and cold, as if they
rested on a nest of s%erpents; above,
around, a silent pail OF u%nutterable
obscurity. My elbow touched the
wall. started as if stung by a scor-
pion or as if ghostly hands had siezed
me from the nameless mystery which
lay around. My heart stopped and
then sent the blood whirling to the
brain in sicEening force. Was / mad?
Was this a fever-born dream?"
"Some dreadful thing, cold, Shiny, as
was everything in this hideous place,
crawled or wiggled from under and be,
side my feet. Spots red and green be-
gan to dance like demons eyes III the
distance-formed probably by pres
sure of the blood upon the brain and
nerves"
II have twice or thrice since then
faced what seemed like probabledeath
without much feeling about the mat,
ter, but the foe was visible. tangible
not a hideous void like that l faced
that November night"
again | tried to call out, and this
time q faint, hoarse sound, which
seemed to be the voice of another, is
sued from my lips"
~ had struck my head violently ii
the rapid descent, but gradually my
senses returned and drove off the
nameless dread, only to replaceit witt
a feeling OF helplessness. almost of DIES
pair. The air was bitterly cold, colo
with a vault-like chill which %stitfenec
my limbs tclad as | was in n single
linen garment) to the bone. But, with
the return of thought came the better
feeling Of a wish to ut least struegl.
for existence. | tried to collect my
ideas, to in some IL explain how
the strange thing could possibly have
happened. 1t was all alike reasonin.
around u circle"
What had been inmy room? HOY
came it there? What had it done tt
me? How could | possibly have gon,
through the floor? Where hadIgone'
Through what agency? So, bacl
again to who had been in my room
How came it there? and so on through
the round again. The more Though,
the more ineyplicable became the who'll
affair, butat least | couldnow think
not shlver in nameless terror"
II knew not where | was, but l fel
sure that no sound / could max
would reach the men, all OF whom
were outside the fort. Even from tn
ground-ioor room it was quite Ger
tain that, especially on such q nigh
with the waves beating against tn
sides of the isIet, no mere report of
pistol could be heard a distance"
"Where could l be? Was this som
trick of the thieves who had held tn
deserted fort so long, 1t was dark a
only q windowless vault can be eve,
at night. Not one ray to show me
the place were large or small-a celia
or a well. By what possible agenc.
could / have been thus hurled int
this pit? had paced over the Who'll
room and there certainly was n
opening in the floor unless it had bee
most carefully masked. Besides this
| feiU sure that my fall had been muc
greater than the distance from tn