Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-24

bore il by an used stairway leading from
the rear OF the library TO my room, and
through that to my tower-chamber, where
knew il would be safe.
Il laid the body down in the solitude Of
that lonesome room. Then / lighted a
lamp, and set it at her head, trembling in
strange excitement, yet feeling strength
| had never felt before, / almost felt my
self God in that awful moment All, if
l could have died then! God of heaven
and earth. why didst thou not smite me
with shaft from thy strong bow Of ven
geance'
Il knelt down beside her. / took both
her hands in mine and held them fast
Then | called up all the engery of my will,
and bent it upon the awful task had un-
dertaken. Alice | cried, with the voice
of nv soul, come back Iwilled that life
should start TO action again in the form be
fore me. My whole power was concen-
trated in that one idea If earth had gone
to wreck about me then should not have
known it,
"'Come back, spirit called life,' kept
saying over and over. Time went by, and
| needed it not. l fancied that l felt a
warmth stealing into the hands held, and
that | saw faint color coming into the
face watched with such terrible intensity
A wild thrill of exultation leaped like fire
through my veins. | would work a
miracle no other man had ever wrought
AT last, at last! There came fiutter of
the eyelids, and then they lifted, and the
eyes Of Alice looked into mine. l felt the
breath coming and going over her lips, and
then fell forward in the gray light of
dawn, and lay beside her on the floor
weak as q child. The tension was removed
from my brain, and the reaction was al
most like death For hours did not stir
But the wild triumph of a work accom-
plIshed beat back and forward in my brain
like tide. had brought back life 10 the
woman loved. had conquered DEATH
The sun was high in the heavens when
l rallied strength enough to rouse myself
from the lethargy that had fallen upon me.
raised myself TO a sitting posture, and
touched the hands / had held in mine 80
long. They were warm and moist, but
there was no response to my clasp in them.
The eyes were wide open, but they seemed
staring into vacancy. There was color in
the cheeks, but the face seemed TO lack
light and the subtle play of mind on mat
ter was not TO be seen in the features Of
of the woman before me.
Alice cried, Alice. speak to me-
But there was not so much as a movement
of lid or lip. 4 statue would have been
more unresponsive than was the form be-
fore me.
"A wild fear began to creep over me,
but | shook It of The ordeal had been
so terrible that l had no right to expect
much at first BY and by she would rouse
from, ha ~ unr,l and
Il went down to the rooms below and
my friends supposed had just come home.
was always unlike other men. They had
become used TO my strange ways. They
knew wha, Alice and / had been to each
other, and the fact of her death, and the
mysterious loss of her body explained TO
them any strange conduct on my part.
Il got away from them as soon as posi-
ble and went back to the room in which
had hidden my secret.
Alice lay there still in the attitude OF
death. knelt down beside her and called
her name. No answer.
Il flung back the curtains with a swift,
unuttsrable terror at heart. came back
and looked at the face lifted dumbly to
mine. There was no look of intelligence
in it. The eyes stared up at me with not
a thought in them.
Then knew what had done had
called back the breath of life, but the soul
of Alice-that which was the Alice loved
had not come back. had triumphed
over matter, but not mind. / had at
tempted the work of God, l had dared to
rebel against the fiat of fate. had med
died with the mysteries Of the infinite
world, and here was my punishment. Be
fore me lay breathing form, but the
principle of life only was in it. The soul
had passed beyond my power.
Can you who read this understand the
awful anguish of the moment when / real
lied what had done? No. 1t would be
useless for you to try 10. The thought may
be terrible to you, but you will fail TO com
prehend the intensity Of my remorse. l
prayed to die. A thousand fiends seemed
laughing at and mocking me. You have
dared to interfere with the will of God
they cried. You have lost your soul, and
the women you loved. Oh, lost, lost, lostr
"Oh, my punishment! Day after day /
crept to the motionless form and called it
by the name it had used TO bear No an
swer ever came. 1t lay there, human
form, that breathed-a thing from
which soul and sense had for
ever gone away-and nothing more
Nothing more! Oh, God, could anything
be more terrible than the sight of it to mei
days went by. felt a strange weak
ness creeping over me. My vitality was
leaving me.
DO you guess the truthe-tha' the life /
had called back was a vampire one, living
upon my vitality, draining away from me
daily my strength and my life' Such was
the case. Ihave grown weaker and weaker
slowly but surely, and some day the last
drop of the vital element will be drained
from me, and then the thing upstairs will
turn TO dust. at last, and God, God, Godl
have mercy upon me, and blot me utterly
out of existence-let it be as if had never
been,
Il have written this for someone else TO
read when the end comes. The end, say II
The beginning rather, of an eternity of re-
morse for my sin. | sought 10 battle God.
/ dared to raise my voice against the de-
cree Of OmnipOtence, and terrible has the
punishment been. Pity met | was mad.
/ knew not what did. But | know now
i have lost Alice. have lost my soul.
On pity me! But ask no one to pray for
ME. Prayers would avail nothing for my
punishment is just"
The manuscript dropped from my tremb-
ling hands as finished reading it. A
strange terror took possession of me.
caught sight of my face in the glass as | |
went to the door. 1t was white as the face |
Of the dead man upstairs.
went To Alice's father and put the |
strange narrative in his hands. Somehow |
could not feel that it was not true, and |
yet, could such things be-
When he had read it he rose up from his
chair, but his limbs shook so that he could |
hardly stand. His face was pale as felt |
my own TO be.
1T reads like madman's fancies but it |