Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1886-07-30

mat was the feeling I had when /
'''gn'y woke from sound sleep to full
'''0iousness with chilling shudder of
norror. l was sitting before the fire.
p''ce' with my back 10 the door that led
''Onl the Office to the shop. | had pur-
Po'eiy left the door ajar. The fire had
u'Su down to dull glow, and it seemed
y lne That breath from the Arctic zone
nal penetrated the room. cannot des-
e''Oe the kind of cold it was. NV very
zones seemed to be ice. And then l
lett that presence"
The undertakers seemed terribly affected
even now by his recollections of that
hight 1t was impossible to resist the
injection, and my own flesh was Creep
ng IN very uncomfortable way. lie
made a strong effort to recover himself
ana steady his voice, but, in spite
ot all, it trcmbled with an ever
ueepening terror as he went ON.
curdilng my very blood in sympathy.
u had turned the gas out when ] sat
down in my chair to sleep, so that the
only light in the room came from the
dylng fire. became aware of that pres
ehce the very instant | awoke. Mind.
Slr' this Is not dream. I was as fully
awake as | am at this moment. The
thlng was therel 1t was a. the back of
me. 1t was between me and the door
mad got to turn my head to sec it. But
knew 1t was therel Who it was. or
what 1t was, didn't know; but | was
sure that some living thing was Standing
behind me motionless in the dim,
ghosty light, and was looking at me.
My God, sir! it was awful to sit still and
feel this thing, and try to make up my
mind to turn my head toward it! am
pretty well accustomed to corpses, but
can tell you that l did not feel just then
that the corpse out in the other room
was any company for me.
'Well, there sat-feeling that horri-
bic gaze fixed upon me in utter silence,
aud the death-like cold creeping through
my veins striving, struggling to nerve
myself to look around and to face the
thing, whatever it was.
'Werc you ever locked up in tomb
.at night2p the undertaken suddenly
asked me. could only shake my head
in response; l could not speak.
/ have been," he said, "but it was
nothing-nothing to those few minutes,
while sat palsied with terror, with that
thing behind me2 At last, in kind of
nervous spasm, sprang to my feet and
..su.nea toward che door. rho sight froze
NE There IS no other word Tor TT
was rigid. could no more stir than |
could arrest the motion of this train now
and instantly. My very heart stopped
its beating l wonder l did not drop
dead myself, for there-not six feet from
me-with the livid pallor of death on its
face, and its CLASSY eyes glued to mine,
stood the corpse!
"Then it began to approach me. 1t
did not seem to walk-it glidcd; and
not till it reached me did it make a
single apparent movement Then-iust
stand up, will you2 can illustrate bet
ter what occurred" | did so, and he
rose at the same time, and we stood
facing each other in the compartment. l
was dimly conscious at the moment that
we were crossing Battersea bridge. The
undertaken, as lie went on, repeated upon
me the actions he described.
''Then this dead thing he said to
me, Slowly lifted its arms and laid its
icy fingers on my cheeks and moved
them gently downwards to my shoulders,
pressing hard against me all the time on
either side, as l do now on you, and
wherever the hands lay they seemed to
draw the very life out of the flesh be-
meath them. Slowly-oh, how slowly
they glided on downward from my
shoulders to my breast, beneath my coat,
like this. Try to conceive it-try, if you
can. Wherever they touched they drew
something away from me-some virtue
seemed to go out of me. And then the
fnghtful thought came to me that l was
dying by piecemeal that was parting
with something dear to me as life-bit
by bit | could feel it ebbing-ebbing,
and at last the horror grew to a convic-
'lon' This ghoul was drawing my life's
blood into his own veins! was sucking
my substance! What l lost he gained
tie enriched himself by making me poor,
and it would end"
Victoria" shouted a guard, opening
the carriage door.
Bless my soulr' exclaimed the under
taker, "are wein2 must hurry to catch
my train out" He seized his satchel, and
was on the step before l could get my
breath to say; But the storyl l want tc
hear the end of it,"
He was on the platform now. ooh
there isn't much more" he called back
Ihe ghoul succeeded-that's all r'-
and he was gone before could say an
other word.
AS followed porter to a cab, and
al the way home, tried to conceiv,
what the undertaken could mean How
could the dead man have succeeded
Here the undertaken was, alive and well
anu telling me the story. 1t was very
annoying and disappointing to be Sc
Daulked after being so wrought upon
Inc undertaken had left me no address
50 thdt was, apparently, doomed neveI
TO know the solution.
Only apparently" however. When
got out of the cab at my own door,
could find no loose change to pay tn,
/ the 1rivo- 7