Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-07-22
was. My very bones seemed to be Ice.
And then l felt that presence"

was. My very bones seemed to be Ice.
And then l felt that presence!"
The undertaken seemed terribly affect
ed even now by his recollections of that
night. 1t was impossible to resist the
infection and my own flesh was creep
ing in very uncomfortable way. He
made strong effort to recover himself
and to steady his voice, but in spite of
all it trembled with an ever-deepening
terror as he went on, curdling my very
blood in sympathy.
81 had turned out the gas when |
sat down in my chair to sleep, so that
the only light in the room came from
the dying fire. ! became aware of that
presence the very instant | awoke.
Mind, sir, this is not dream. | was
as fully awake as l am at this nom ent.
The thing was there! 1t was at the
back of me. 1t was between me and
the door. had got to turn my head
to see it But kneW ii a0as there!
Who it was, or what it was, didn't
know; but / was sure that some living
thing was standing behind me motion
less in the dim, ghostly hight, and was
looking at me. My dear sir, it was awful
to sit still and feel this thing, and try
to make up my mind to turn my head
towards it! lam pretty well accustom-
ed to corpses, but 1 can tell you that |
did not feel just then that the corpse
out in the other room was any COM
pany for me. Well. there | sat--feel-
ing that horrible gaze fixed upon me in
the utter silence, and the death-like
cold creeping through my veins
striving, struggling to nerve myself to
look around and face the thing, what
ever it was.
"Were you ever locked up in tomb
at nightP" the undertaken suddenly
asked me. | could only shake my
head in response; could not speak.
81 have been," he said; "but il
was nothing-nothing to those few
minutes while l sat palsied with
terror with that thing behind me-
At last in kind of nerv-
Gus spasm l sprang to my feet and
turned towards the door! The sight
froze me! There is no other word fol
it. was rigid. / could no more stil
than could arrest the motion of this
train now and instantly. My very
heart stopped its beating. l wonder
didn't drop dead myself, for there
not six feet from me-with the livit
pallor of death on its face and its CLASSY
eyes glued to mine, stood the corpse
Then it began to approach me. 1t die
not seem to walk-it glided, and no
till it reached me did it make a single
apparent movement. Then--just stanC
up, will you3 l can illustrate bettel
what occurred" | did so, and h'
arose at the same time and we stood
facing each other in the compartment
l was dimly conscious at the momeu
that we were crossing Battersea bridge
The undertaken, as he wenton, repeated
upon me the actions he described.
"Then this dead thing" he said t.
me, "slowly lifted its arms and laid it
icy fingers on my cheeks and move'
them gently downwards to my shoul
!, ders, pressing hard against me all tn
time on either side, as l do now ol
you, and wherever the hands lay the
seemed to draw the very life out of tn
flesh beneath them. SlowE-oh, hoy
SLOWLY. they glided on downwar
from my shoulders to my breast. be
meath my coat, like this. Try to con
.. . ceive it-try, if you can. Whereve
I they touched they drew somethin,
away from me-some virtue seemed t
90 out of me. And then the frightfu
thought came to me that | was dyin
; by piecemeal!- l was partin
with something dear to me as life-b
by bit could feel it ebbing, ebbing-
and at last the horror grew to a cor
viction. The ghoul was drawing m
life's blood into its own veins! wa
1 sucking my substance! What l lost h
gained! He enriched himself by mai
! ing me poor and it would end"
"Victoriar' shouted a guard, oper
ing the carriage door.
"Bless my SOUL" exclaimed the III
dertaker, ''are we IMP must hurry
catch my train out" He seized h
satchel and was on the step before
could get my breath to say; "But tf
L story! | want to hear the end of it. "
He was on the platform now. "Ol
a there isn't much more" he calle
> back. 1.-The ghoul succeeded-that
!; allr' and he was gone before | coul
u say another word.
As followed a porter to cab, an
}. all the way home, | tried to concei'
u what the undertaken could mean. Ho
: could the dead man have succeeded
' Here the undertaken was, alive an
q well, and telling me the story. 1t WI
q very annoying and disappointing to
y so balked, after being so wrought upo
L The undertaken had left me no addres
IS so that was, apparently, doomed ne
n er to know the solution. Only ''appa
1t ently.n however. When | got out
o the cab at my own door could find l
u loose change to pay the driver; yet
l. had some when l took the train
e Dover. My well-furnished pocke
n book-though that too, had at Dov
q was gone as well, and my watch al
e chain had followed suit 1t is paint
q to lose confidence in human nature
II this way.-Philddelphia Times.
:, A Satisfactory Apology.
Il