The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-03-18

One afternoon, while was standing on
the campus, he came up to me from
behind, and pressed my head quickly
in several different places once with
each finger of his right hand. Thought,
at the time, that the repulse which
Mollie had given him had affected his
mind, and so said nothing, but the
malevolent glance he cast back at me
was the cause of my purchasing re-
volver, which | carried night and day.
In some way, about that time, I be-
gan to regard that man as my superior
and master-a feeling for which j could
not account, and against which / strug-
gled desperately, but in vain. He
could make me tremble by look. 1t
soon became positive torment for me
to be left alone, such terrible phantoms.
in which he was always central fig
ure. kept rising up before me. So WV
idly did they appear that no will power
of mine could keep them down. 1t
may have been this fear which was par
alyzing my energies, both mental and
physical. However that may have
have been, saw clearly that my rival
surpassed me now, as / had formerly
been in advance of him, and whereas /
had formerly treated him with the gen.
erosity of a victor, now began to hate
him for his success. 1t was his turn to
be always first, while I was not even
second. My classmates began to look
queerly at me; my intellect grew weak
er and weaker, till / was on the verge
of insanity. Noticed that there was
only one remedy to my disease, and
that was distance from my acknowl-
edged tormentor. So I resolved to
leave college for time to recuperate,
and going down town to call on Mollie
for the last time before my departure,
and entering the house with my accus-
toned familiarity, was astounded to
find my fiancee in the arms of my rival.
Never will be able to forget the
feeling of revenge that seized me as l
rushed from the house. My weakened
bodily powers gained tenfold their
former strength. That last blow broke
down every remnant of Christian feel
ing that survived in my breast, and
black murder took its place. Ibecame
cool and collected and went about con-
structing plan of revenge with as
much deliberation as if it had been a
mere proposition in geometry. His
house was well situated for the COM
mission of crime. No one was near
to near the pistol shot, none could hear
his death scream. Three o. clock in the
morning was the time / selected as
being the hour in which he would sleep
most soundly.
What followed expect no one to be-
ieve, yet have hopes that there may
be one, whose attention these words
may claim, who will disregard the
scorn of the world and will give my
story the credence it deserves, for it is
true. This is not the frenzy of a mad
mans mind, but the narrative of dis
coyery so remarkable as to defy belief.
warn the materialist not to proceed
with this subject further. but he who
believes that where there are SO many
well attested cases of galvanism, mes
merism, spiritualism--cal it what you
like-as there are in this world, there
must be some at least that are true,
such a man can read this narrative with
profit, for it may make him discov-
erer greater than Harvey or an Ed
ison.
Armed with Smith & Wesson re-
volver / crept towards his lonely dwell
ing, at three o clock in the morning,
just as a thunder storm was beginning
to rage, a storm which filled my heart
with delight, for it was an image of my
thoughts. A flash of lightning sharply
outlined, for moment, the white
stones against the blackness of the
night. 1t gave me light enough to
force open window. i entered
stealthily, when-great Coda chill
ing something sank upon me from be-
hind-I could neither see it nor feel it
with my hands, but my nerves were
deadened by its presence. / could free
myself neither by bodily force nor by
reasoning. 1t was not something
whose coming but whose presence /
feared. My revolver dropped from my
trembling hands, huge beads of cold
sweat rolled from my body; I nearly
tainted with fright. The silence was
terrible, but / could not break it. ]
saw a phosphorescent beam of light
like the streamers that dart from star
when we look at it with eyes hall
closed on some clear night. I could
not locate it with reference to objects
in the room, disclosed, as they were,
by frequent lightning flashes, for it had
no reference to them. 1t was not a ma
terial but mental light. ] saw it not
with my eye but with my mind, and
along this ray I felt the workings of a
will superior to my own. The specter
at my back seemed to sink its chilling
existence into my very body 1t de-
prived me of volition; it stimulated my
Imagination to see phantoms that in
closed me on every side, yet though ]
knew that these, at least, were not true,
I feared them just as much. Against
my will was forced to open a door,
descend staircase, traverse a long
gallery, full of horrors, and enter 8
chamber which at once recognized as
the rumored laboratory. At the oppo-
site side, his eyes Lit up with savage
triumph, sat the man whose life I had
resolved to take, and the beam of light
which was upon my head dinlly fell
to be connected with his hand. His
triumph seemed to infuse in him a kind
of merriment which showed itself as he
spoke: