The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-12-31
cat iii, uuc,ure de.ermel to light a

aid of lamp. With this idea in view,
felt all over the table and upon every
conceivable shelf, but no lamp could be
discovered, and Isaw again the thorough
ness Of the trick played upon me. The
lamps had been removed by the students.
"God knows what a night that was! l
sat down and tried to compose myself,
but the shadowy forms that grouped
about my room kept my eyes staring into
the darkness. There was cold damp.
ness pervading the atmosphere, and very
soon my teeth were chattering with
mingled cold and fright.
"Most of all, the body lay.between me
and the bed and l could not find cour-
age to cross it. Not that feared the
dead body itself-for l argued that the
body was really dead-but the startling
fact of The hand having reached me from
under the bed and claspcd mine came 10
me again in all its force. Was it alive !?
Was it dead? These were the absurd
inquiries that began to find earnest
argument with me. Every:motion of my
own person terrorized me, every change
of position filled Inc with new horrors.
ut would be impossible to describe the
intensity of my suffering. | could not
see the dead body, but | could see where
l knew it lay, distorted Imagination saw
that Iifeless band ever and anon clutch
ing the air. Once l thought | heard a
groan, and then fanced the body had
moved little. After while the room
seemed filled with dark figures that fit.
led back and forth between me and the
body.
"Hours must have passed, when |
noticed the room growing lighter and
lighter, and finally a moonbeam cast
bright shadow through one of the front
windows. For moment l was :encour-
aged, until 1 saw the light creeping to.
ward the ghastly corpse. 1 knew what
the full light would unfold to me, and l
watched the crawling moonbeams with
the intensest agony.
Suddenly, after half an hour Of wait.
ing, flood of light filled the room. 1t
must have been FIVE minutes before l
could look in the direction of the corpse.
There it lay, with its bare arms folded
solemnly across its breast, its large bol-
low eyes staring directly upon me, its
teeth firm set in the agonies of death,
and lis bloodless hands grasping each
other tightly.
"Thc moon fell upon the ghastly face,
aud pitilessly reflected every mark of
death. The shadows seemed returning
TO my room, but now they were hollow
skeletons, wrapped in Tapping shroud,
aud they danced in hideous glee about
me. 1 had taken the precaution to place
my chair firmly against the wall, and |
knew that these grinning skulls could
take no advantage of me from behind,
but their very presence was enough 10
stop the blood from flowing in my veins
and to throw out upon my body cold
clammy perspiration. The very atmos-
phere I breathed was an e1halation Of
the grave.
"How slowly the hours passed on. |
lived twenty years in that one short mig ut.
Finally, it grew darker, and the 6rst faint
streaks of day dawn came into the room.
With he realities of daylight my cour.
age returned, and crossed the room, and
bestowing vigorous kick upon the in.
nocent corpse I clammored into bed
where covered head and ears and drop
ped instantly to sleep from sheer exhaus.
tion."
"Wheu awoke the sun was high in
the heavens, and my room filled with
students.
"Hello, Dardenne," said one: I call
this the greatest instance of personal
bravery on record. The young man who
will voluntary stay all night with
corpse-
"'voluntarilyp That door was Ger.
tainly locked
Yes he replied, 'but it was simply
boted on the inside, and you could have
uulatched it,
"'Then,' said |, I am the greatest
coward on record for 1 was too badly
frightened to remember the latch
"'No,' said another student, / still
think it an example of bravery for q
young man 10 lift corpse from his own
bed and place it on the floor beside him,
and then lie down to pleasant dreams
without a murmur.'
why 1 cried that corpse was never
in my bed. I found it under the bed
"The students looked at each other
with deepening astonishment. Then
they told their story. They had placed
the corpse in my bed, intending merely
to frighten me from the room. They had
securely fastened the door, SO that only
my night key could open it, and no one
carried its duplicate.
"And from that day to this it has been
mystery how that corpse seized my
hand and held it. But the great mystery
is, how that corpse first got out and then
under the bed"