The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-09-16

my unfortunate companion, who still
kept close at my side. But, as l APP
preached, l was struck with the lonely
and desolate appearance of the demesne.
The yard gate was half open, hanging
from one hinge, the walk weed-grown.
the gallery steps broken and decayed.
l still pressed on, however, hoping
against hope to find some one within to
whom l could appeal. But the deserted,
empty look of everything around soon
convinced me my hopes were vain. The
rooms were all open, some of the doors
had been torn from their hinges and
lay IN the dusty floors, and the staircase
leading from the hall to the upper story
was broken in many places, and looked
about to fall. l guessed at once it was
a dwelling that had been sacked and
partially destroyed during the war, and
had since remained u~ntenanted.
But what a situation was mine!
Alone in a deserted house, far from all
help, with a strange man of whose in
sanity l became more convinced every
moment. For now the roar and the
flash of the thunder and lightning were
almost incessant, the rain poured down
in torrents, a strong wind swept through
the empty rooms and ratified the broken
windows, and the more noisy and vio-
lent the war of the elements became,
the more restless and excited grew the
stranger. He walked up and down the
long hall, tossing his arms, talking to
himself, and ~gesticulating violently,
apparently taking no notice of me, for
which I was devoutly thankful, as 1
sat on the bottom step of the disman-
tied stairs with my heart in my mouth,
afraid to move and almost to breathe
lest 1 should. attract his notice. Each
time he approached me / shrank into as
small a compass as possible, and
watched him with dilated eyes and fut-
tering heart until the length of the hall
again separated us.
Oh, how l prayed that somebody
would come, some storm-stayed wan
derer like myself, some field hand
seeking shelter from the rain, any body
to deliver me from my fearful position.
Would no one come from the college to
seek mep Had my fearful companion
no one to look after himP He certainly
needed a keeper. Then 1 remembered
with a feeling of blank despair that I
had told no one where l was going, and
as for him, what did / know of his re-
lations or antecedentsp So 1 could only
sit perfectly still, try to keep my terror
down, and hope for some chance of
slipping away unobserved under cover
of the night, which was now fast ap-
preaching.
In the meanwhile his excitement con-
tinued to increase in proportion TO the
violence of the tempest. His pace be-
came constantly more rapid, his ges-
lures more vehement, his voice louder,
until finally he rushed up and down the
hall, waving his arms frantically over
his head, and shouting out what seemed
to me stray scraps of verse and frag.
ments of plays intermixed with numer.
GUS classical illusions.
"Hear the bolts of Jove how they
rattle! but they ear not strike me. ]
wear the triple b~reastplate of Hercules,
and am crowned with the oak leaves Of
Dodona. Why, surely all the fountains
of Castaly are falling from the clouds
or else Neptune has ousted Jupiter
from his dominions and turned the
armament into an ocean,. But they
the sun. And my sister Diana, what
HAS UcCOll6 VI ucT. DIG was WILL lit
but a moment ago."
A flash of intolerable light filled the
hall, and to my utter horror l beheld
the madman's eyes glazing full upon
me where / crouched on the stairstep
With a bound he was beside me, anc
seized my arm in his hot grasp.
''Come, come with me, Diana, chaste
goddess of Night, you and 1 have te
climb the he ghts of Olympus before
morning. Great Jove is calling us
don't you hear himp We will go by the
hill where Endymion sleeps and awaken
him. Come, hurry, hurry; the gods art
getting inpatient"
AS he spoke he pulled me away from
the balusters to which [ chung desper
ately, and dragged me toward the door
Now, l had always heard that the hes
way to pacity lunatics is to humor then
and pretend to fall in with their peculiar
fantasies. All very well in theory, bu
alone, at night, in a deserted house, far
from all possible help, in the actua
grasp of a powerful maniac, / think an,
one would find it rather difficult to re
duce theory to practice. Moreover. m,
friends especial craze seemed to be tn,
CidooiSo, duu ONCly oSLop Va ohSiOh
mythology l ever learned had gon,
clean out OF my head at that moment
My only thought was to get away from
him, and l drew back with all m,
strength as he dragged me forward
Resistance only infamed his frenzy. Ii
the dim light 1 could discern his rollin.
eyes, clenched teeth and foaming mouth
his powerful hands clutched furiously a
my shoulder and throat as he hurled m,
through the open door.
"You will not come with mep 70,
do not wish to see Endymion nor t.
scale Olympus! Then you are no
Diana no, and l am not Apollo; yo1
are Iphigenia, and l am Agamemnon
The ships wait in the harbor they ca
not sail in such weather. Only hea
what a tempest Neptune has raised t
detain them! The gods must be pro
pitiated; they demand a sacrifice. Th
victim is ready, but where is the sacri
fetal knifep Ha! 1 see it! I see it,"
With a wild, exulting cry he loose
his hold on me, and ran down the step
to seize on a rusty bayonet lying in tn
yard, dropped there possibly by som
careless, or perhaps wounded soldier.
Duh Tile tlCtlIu Was Uy uO LuOdu
ready, and the moment 1 felt his fierc
grip relax l turned and fled for lif
down the long hall and up the RUNE
staircase. Why 1 chose that, instead G
escaping through the back door, 1 ca
not tell; my first impulse led me to il
and rushed up the broken steps, spring
ing over chasms where the planks wer
gone, and catching desperately at th
remaining baulsters to save me frol
falling. With no light to guide me o
my dangerous way but the ftful glar
of the lightning, il was a miracle that
did not break my neck, but death ws
behind me and my only alternative wa
to face it in another and less fearfl
shape. 1 could hear the mailman
wild shrieks and ordinations when b
perceived my flight, and as 1 reache
the top of the stairs L cast a terrific
look behind, and beheld him rushin