The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1886-09-01


hall, far, far away from this remote wing;
and while conscious that the darkne S of
night broode1 all around me. found that
everywhere could SET Is plainly as in the
daylight Nay, more My. far; for now
doors and walls, and heavy hanginss of tap
estry and leather no longer DISTRACTED ray
vision Ny eye pierced through all these
things and revealed to me everything which
lay beyond.
What was it that-in that strange phan-
tasmagoria of sleep-frst attracted my at
tentionl Far away in some distant part of
the great mansion heard with that prefer
naturally acute sense OF hearing with which
/ row seemed to be endowed a door stealth
ily opened. Some one peeped out into the
darkness of the corridor 1t was Flinter-or
rather it was Flinter's face-that / saw,
through all the in, ervening doors and walls
and passages, as lay here on my bed in the
haunted room. But it was Flinters face
cruel. brutal, vicious-upon the body Of
woman; and knew that was looking upon
the lady who had done murder here where I
lay bound in the hideous spell OF this night
mare vision
Slowly the figure advanced. He-she-it-
knew not what 10 call it, so frightfully COM
pounded was it of thereal Flinter and the le-
gendary woman-cams slowly down the cor
ridor. something bright and sharp gittering
in its bony hand Though no lamp was
lighted anywhere it advanced with unfalter-
ing certainty Of step turning round many
corner, now opening goor and passing a
ghostly chamber into the gallery beyond,
now climbing stair, and now pausing for
moment to feel the keen edge OF that fash
ing blade. and to indulge in a chuckle of
devilish malice knew that some mysteri-
Gus agency had lifted me from my bed, had
carried me down all these intricate stairs
and corridors, and hac placed me by the
side of the apparition was following it
unseen and silently conscious, too that
had Eeen endowed suddenly with the power
of flying, and that at any moment could
soar into the air above me.
Suddenly found that the figure had
reached door. which / recognized as the
outer door of my own apartments. We
seemed to pass through the stout oaken bar
rier, and across the little sitting room, and
then in an instant we had entered the sleep
ing chamber, and stood by the side of the
bed Some one was quietly sleeping, with
his head half buried in great square pillow
Of down. l looked to see who the sleeper
was, and with a thrill of horror / saw it was
myself who was lying there MYSELF No,
/ was brooding, unseen even by the fearful
thing that had been following, above the
bed, lowering in mid-air, while my body lay
below me, motionless, as under the spell OF
some mysterious trance
The horrid thing with the knife looked
down with a grin Of cruel delight uron my
defenseless form. 1t was Flinter now that
saw. That woman's disguise had teen cast
aside, and the ruf1ian stood there in his ordi-
nary attire, with all the mean and brutal
lines upon his face plainly visible He
looked at me closely for a moment, then
softly he turned down the covering and
placed his hand upon my heart. With the
spell of an awful terror resting upon me,
watched him from above. Quickly he with
drew his hand, and then l saw the other arm
upraised the knife gilt ering in his grasp.
! tried to scream; / tried to throw my i'm
palpable self between the assassin and my
helpless bo1y was powerless, frozen, life
less The knife descended like bolt from
heaven. and ! saw it buried deep in my
heart
awoke from my terrible dream bathed in
a chill perspiratiOn and shivering from
head to foot with such a terror-cold and
ghastly-clutching at my heart as | had
never felt before knew that at the last
moment, as the knife fell, the spell of silence
had been broken, and had uttered cry.
That or some other sound was still ringing
In my ears What was it, / knew that l
had heard something which had
aroused me from that fearful iSbtmare-
and that it had been clos4 to my ear; but In
the agitation of my mind at that first
moment of my return to consciousness L
could not recall what it was that bad aroused
me-
And then In an instant it all flashed upon
my mind had heard faint rustling as OF
a woman's dress sweeping across the floor,
and then there had been sharp sound, such
as that which is made by the quick closing
Of n tightly fitting door. Yes; now that |
was wide awake I was conscious Of the fact
that. if that hideous fancy which had taken
possession nG my brain while sIep. was but
the vision of nightmare | had, at least,
been visited In my chamber during my
slumbers.
sprang from my bed, and, running to
where had seen box of matches, struck a
light, and then turned 10 survey the room.
All was as it had been when | had lain
down to sleep an hour before All1 looked
round upon those somber walls, through
which, in my terrible dream, my vision had
pierced with ease. They gave me no hint OF
the secrets which they held The door of the
room was locked on the ins de, just as had
left it No one could have vanished through
that substantial barrier without leaving
Some trace of his passage ] felt the
leathern hangings of the walls. Behind
them the wHinscot gave forth in re-
sponse to my blows mutlied hollow
sound; but it told me nothing. And
yet, that some one had been with me in the
room, | felt certain no longer had any
superStitious apprehensions. 1t was no
ghost, was well assured. that had visited
my bedside | shuddered at the thought
that perhaps my dream had been only too
real, and that it was Flinter who, by some
mysterious means, had found admission to
my Flinter, whose last words, as
accidentally overheard them when ] re-
tired to rest, had pointed clearly, as Inow
felt, to my own removal 1t might be that
he had been alarmed by my sudden cry at
the moment when he was about TO dispatch
me, and had retired by some mysterious
doorwav--such as / was well assured existed
to wait until was again asleep