Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-03-05

liIiN ssiiN ~ -.
malcyolent glance he cast back at me
was the cause of my purchasing a re-
yolycr, which l carried night and day.
In some way, about that time, | be-
gan to regard that man as my superior
and master-a feeling for which could
not account, and against which strugg-
gled desperately, but in vain. He
could make me trcmble by a look. 1t
O o became positive torment for me
to be lef%talonc, such terrible phantoms.
in which he was always a central tiss-
ure. kept rising up before me. So WV
idly did they appear that no will power
of mine could keep them down. 1t
NAV 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 ne now. as | had formerly
.aen in advance of Kim, and whereas
had formerly treated him with the gen
crosby of a victor. L now began to hate
him for his success. 1t was his turn to
be always first, while l was not evcn
second. My classmates began to look
queerly at me; my intellect grew weak
er and weaker, till l was on the verge
of insanity. Noticed that there was
only one remedy to my disease, and
that was distance from my acknowl-
edged tormcntor. SO | resolved to
leave college for IL time to recupcrate,
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 |
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. Ibccame
cool and collected and went about con-
structing a plan Of revenge with as
much elaboration as if it had been Il
mere proposition in geometry. His
house was we'll situated for the COM
mission Of a crime. No one was near
to near the pistol shot, hone could hear
his death scream. Three clock in the
morning was the time | selected as
being the hour in which he would sleep
most soundly.
What followed | expect no ono to be-
lieve, yeti 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 credencc it deserves. for it is
true. This is not the frenzy of a mad
mans mind. but the narrative OF Il dis
covery so remarkable as to defy belief.
l warn the materialist not to proceed
with this subject further. but he who
believes that where there arc so many
well attcsted cases of g~alvan5sm, mes
merism, spiritualism-call it what you
lke-as there are in this world, there
must be some at least that arc true.
such Il man can read this narrative with
profit. for it may make him a discov-
erer greater than a Harvey or Gn Ed
| ison.
Armed with q Smith & Wesson re-
volver l crept towards hislonely dwell
ing, at three O'Clock in the morning.
Just rs a thunder storm was beginning
to rage, a storm which filled my heart
with delight. for it was an image of any
thoughts. A flash of lightning sharply
outlined, for a moment, the white
stones against the blackncss Of the
night. 1t gave me light enough 70
force open a window. I entered
s%tcalthily, 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
deadcned by it's presence. l could free
myself neither by bodily force nor by
reasoning. 1t was not Il something.
whose coming but whose presence l
feared. My revolver dropped from my
trembling hands, huge beads OF cold
sweat rolled from my body; / nearly
tainted with fright The silence was
terrible, but l could NOT break it. I
saw a phosphorescent beam Of light
like the %strcanlers that cart from a star
when we look at it with eyes half
closed on some clear Eight, l could
not locate it with reference to objects
in the room, disclosed as they We're,
by frequent lightning flashes, for it had
no reference to them. II was not a ma
terial but a mental light l saw it not
with my eye but with my mind, and
along this ray I felt the workings of a
will superior to my ow1s~ The spectcr
at my back seemed to sink its chilling
existence into my very body. 1t de-
prived me of yolition; ST stimulated my
Imagination to see phantoms that in
closed me on every side, yet though
knew that these, at least, were not true.
/ feared them just as. nn1ch. Against
my will l was forced 10 open a door
descend a staircase, traverse Il long
gallery, full of horrors, and enter
chamber which | at once recognized -
the rumorcd laboratory. At the oppc
site side, his eyes liz up with savaet
triumph, sat the maFi whose life l hs4s
resolved to take, ans the beam of ligi
which was upon my head l dimly tal
, to be connected with his hand. Iii
: triumph seemed to infuse in him a KIN
of merriment which showed itself aah
+, spoke:
q s.My dear Whitman" he said to nj
{ Il am so glad you have come to pa
n me a call, but it might have been di
! astrous to me if my burglar sdarl
hadn't give due notice of your ingres
:; so that | could establish the ehctr
# current between us l will forgive yc
if you will only allow me to perfor
some experiments on you befcsr ye
90, and, by the way, you will naa goo
n through the door, but through til
IS exit" Here he pointed to thai drain