Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-21
SIGHT.
A Story Told by a Highly Imag-
NATIVE Musician.

will always continue to have much in
tcrcst for readers-and even the most
practically minded persons. Here is
one which seems to us to have a pecu-
liarly strange character. touching upon
what ancicnts and moderns have alike
termed second sight.
In former times the forest of Senart
had q bad name. One fine summers
night in 1899 the diligence going from
Paris to Mclun entered great avenue
of oaks which traverscd the whole
longth Of the forcst-oaks centuries old
and SO vigorous Of foliage that the road
beneath them remained cnvcloped in
darkness. The back and forward COM
partmonts Of the vehicle were full;
there were only two travellers, however,
in the interior. and on the outside sat a
country tenor. singing with the whole
force of his lungs a rondeau at that
time greatly in yogue-''La Belle Ar
senne.' Under such circumstances
there did not seem TO be any danger for
anybody and the driver kept his horses
at a walk.
But on reaching Corbeil he whipped
up his animals and drove them into the
old sleeping town at a rafting pace
that shook Che pavement. They halted
at the relay station and all the passen-
gers got out at the invitation of the
driver. who was glad enough of tho
chance to getadrink. Then they began
to look around at each other, to yawn,
and TO count up how many were in the
party.
'sWcll. this is very queer" cried the
driver Where on earth are my two
inside passengers gomez"
"Don't bother yourself. old boy"
said the tenor; ''your two passengers
will turn up all right somewhere; the
wolves haven't eaten them"
"Parbleu" rctortcd a notary who
was one of the passengers, 81 don't
think it is SO very certain they will turn
up. just before We reached the forest
l leaned over to their door to offer
them a pinch of snuff"
They waited and waited in vain. The
conductor fretted, the voyagers began
TO lose paticncc-still nobody came.
After an hours waiting the passengers
had TO proceed upon their way without
seeing or hearing any thing of the two
persons who had disappeared in SO
mysterious a manner.
Some days after this incident M.
Mchul. a professor atthe co%nscrvatoiro,
was notified by Che police that his
oldest and bestfriend, M. hadnevc1
been seen since the evening he had
taken Che diligence for Melun, in the
Cour dcs Mcssageries. Thenews caused
great pain to the illustrious maestro,
and he at once took all possible meas.
urcs to have his friend found, alive OF
dead. These efforts proved altogether
fruitless. The extraordinary circum.
stances of this Disappearance impressed
the artist very strongly; he thoughtanG
spoke of nothing else, and his grief left
him slcepless. He lost his appetite,
and his sheath was considerably affected.
One night, while tossing feyerishly in
his bed trying to sleep in vain, he heard
the clock of St. Roche Church, neal
where he lived, strike two o'clock. Tho
moonlight, entering between the shut
tcrs-which Mchul always left half
open. SO that he might be the better
able TO get up early-fillcd the room
With u lailItkSIlc radiance. JuSC incl
the musician saw, quite close to his bed
a small humpbacked man with q yer,
fcrocious countcnance. who was hold
ing in his long, clcnched fingers a col
of rope.
Mehul rubbed his eyes and rose up il
bed. trying to convince himself that HI
was not Che victim Of a nightmare
The man still stood there, within q few
feet Of the bed. and the artist was OF
Alc point Of asking him what this ex
t%raordinary visit meant when all of
sudden his tongue Glove to the roof o
ais mouth, his hair stood up anda grea
trembling came upon him. Right be
hind the figure of Che hunchback he hat
suddenly perceived another form, vague
and all white, whose eyes appeared tx
be seeking his own. Mehul recognized
that presence. 1t was the phantom 0
his dear lost friend! At Che same mo
mcnt the moon was yelled by a cloud
the room became dark, and the vision
vanished! In vain Mehul struggled
with his fear; he waited, he watched
he invoked again the lugubrious vision
no supernatural phenomenon came tx
trouble the rest Of his night, and in TIN
morning, overwhelmed with fatigue
h.. fell intn a fnVarish s1cnn. He awake