Huntsville gazette., 1886-08-07
A STARTLING DREAM.
The Story Told by a Temperate
Philadelphian.

l. am not an mmOQcrate eater OF
drinker, and usually sleep soundly
every night. 1t has been my custom
for years to 60 to bed between ten and
eleven o'clock. l always breakfast at
seven, lunch at two, and dine at. six.
When I add to this that I have not
changed my diet for twenty years and
that am not an imaginative man, you
will wonder how my mind should be
filed with such strange thoughts as
those I am about to relate.
went to bed as usual on Sunday
night and slept, | should Judge, until
about midnight. Something then
awakened me, and I got up and lighted
the gas. l did not know what caused
me to get out of bed and went back
again. No sooner had my head
touched the pillow than l felt myself
transported to a neighborhood which
seemed like Fourth and Bainbridge
streets. l walked along Fourth, and
as I reached eBainbridge a small dog
ran out of market house and caught
me by the leg. drew a revolver which
/ had in my hip pocket and shot the
animal through the head. The noise
seemed to attract the attention of
dozens of other dogs that rushed on
me from all sides. All this time | was
conscious that was in my own bed at
home, but felt that my soul, or my
reason-if the term suits you better
was going through this strange expe-
rience. Gradually the consciousness
of being in bed faded out and / seemed
to be only fighting off these ours. l
had just succeeded in putting bullet
through the body of an enormous
hound when little, misshapen negro
ran out of a house on Fourth street.
He seemed to be frantic with rage and
demanded why l had killed his dog. /
made no answer, but retreated, feeling
a sudden and unaccountable spasm Of
fear. l ran. into house on the west
side of Fourth street with the little
dwarf close at my heels. I managed
to shut the vestibule door and lock it
before he had fairly reached the top
steps. / walked through a long hall
way to what seemed like a circular
platform. In the middle of this there
was sort of well guarded by an iron
railing, and outside of this railing 1
could see the opening of spiral stair
way leading down to knew not where.
As i reached this platform, door
leading from the room on my right
was suddenly opened, and dog, pre-
cisely similar to the dog | had first
seen in the market house, darted out
and flew at my face. | seized the brute
by the throat and choked him until life
was seemingly extinct. Then walked
over to the well-like place and threw
the body Of the dog over the railing.
/ heard it 60 bounding down until it
reached the bottom, which seemed to
be a great depth. aa
All this had taken but moment, and
the hump-backed negro was still strug-
Cling at the door, seeking to gain en-
trance. 1t instantly flashed across my
mind that his anger, which even then
seemed to be almost frenzy, would
be intensified should he discover that
/ had killed another dog, and | started
to run down the spiral stairway with a
half-formed intention of concealing the
body of the dead dog. / went down
and down and down, and the constant
turning made my head whirl.
I reached the bottom at last and
found myself in a vaulted chamber.
The spiral stairway ended at the mouth
of bricked we'll | looked about to
find the dog but couldnot see him, and
while Twas speculating as to whether
/ had tossed him into the well or not,
my eyes became more accustomed to
the gloom, and / saw ranged about the
edge of the well twelve skulls, which,
from their size and conformation,
took to be the skulls of infants. was
Just about to retrace my steps and as
cend the stairway, when again seemed
to become dual entity. | knew that
/ was in my own home and in my own
bed, but l could see myself standing in
front of the twelve skulls, and | actu-
ally. wondered. how my second self
would escape. Then happened a most
remarkable thing. l became fully
awake, although 1 still saw myself at
the bottom of the stairway. surrounded
bv the skulls. / lifted myself on my
elbow, and made sure that Iswas not
dreaming. I leaped out of bed onto
the floor and walked over to the bu-
reau. To my intense amazement saw
that the mirror was lighted ,upWith a
strange glow, and in a dim vista
could see myself CROPPING about in the
vaulted chamber | must explain to
you that the first sensation on awaken
ing was that what L saw was in my
minds eye, and the second sensation
after getting out Of. bed was an actual
seeing with the natural eye.-s1 even
went so fan. as to wipe off the surface Of
the looking-glass with my handker-
chief. but the illusion was not dispelled.
perceived the misshapen dwarf force