The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-09-03

the great mansion heard with that prefer
naturally acute sense of hearing with which
now seemed to be endowed, door stealth
lily 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 intervening doors and walls
and passages, as / lay here ON my bed in the
haunted room. But 1t was Flinters face
cruel, brutal, vicious-upon the body Of a
woman; and l knew that was looking upon
the lady who had done murder here where
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 the real Flinter and the lie
gendary wcman-came slowly down the cor
ridor. something bright and sharp glittering
in its bony hand Though no lamp was
lighted anywhere it advanced with unfalter-
ing certainty of step. turning round many
corner, now opening door and passing q
ghos,ly chamber into the gallery beyond,
now climbing a stair. and now pausing for
moment to feel the keen edge o. that fash
ing blade, and to indulge in 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 had placed me by the
side Of the apparition. was following jt
unseen and silently; conscious, too, that
had been endowed suddenly with the power
of flying, and that at any moment could
soar into the air above mc.
Suddenly found that the figure had
reached a door which l recognized as the
outer door of my own apartments. We
seemed TO pass through tho stout oazen bar
rier, and across the little sitting room, and
then in an instant we had entered the sleep.
ing charwer, and stood by the side Of the
bed Some one was quietly sleeping, with
his head half buried in a great square pillow
OF down. l looked to see who the sleeper
was, and with thrill of horror saw it was
myself who was lying there MYSELF No.
was breeding. 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 I
saw That woman's disguise had Teen cast
aside, and the ruffian stood there in his ord-
nary attire, with all the mean and brutal
lines UPON his face plainly visible. He
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 saw the other arm
appraised, the knife glittering in his grasp.
l tried to scream; l tried to throw my inn
palpable self between the assassin and my
helpless body. was powerless, frozen, life
less. The knife descended like bolt from
heaven, and l saw it buried deep in my
heart.
awolSe from my terrible dream bathed in
a chill perspiration, and shivering from
head to foot with such terror-col1 and
ghastly-clutching at my heart as l had
never felt before. / knew that ut the last
moment. as the knife fell, the spell OF silence
had been broken, and 1 had uttered cry.
That or some other sound was still ringing
IL my ears. What was it, l knew that l
had heard omething-something which had
aroused me from that fearful nightmare
and that it had been closa to my ear; but in
the agitation Of my mind at that first
moment Of my return to consciousness
could not recall what it was that had aroused
me.
And then In an instant it all flashed upon
my mind. had heard a faint rustling as Of
n womar's dress sweeping across the floor.
and then there had been sharp sound. such
as that which is made by the quick closing
OF a tightly fitting door. Yes; now that
was wide awake | was conscious of the fact
that. If that hideoui fancy which had taken
poss, ssion OF my brain while l slept was but
the vision o. n nightmare | had, at least,
been visi'el in my chamber during my
slumbers
| sprang from my bed, and, running to
where hid seen box Of matches, struck a
light, and then turned 10 survey the room.
All was as it had b. en- when | hal lain
down TO Sleep an hour before AHA l looked
round upon those sombor walls, through
which, in my t-rrible dream, my vision had
pierced with case. They gave me no hint of
tie secrets which they held. Tho door of the
room was locked on the s,de, just as l had
left it. No one could have vanished through
that substantial barrier without leaving
some trace Of his passage. l felt the
leathern hangings of the walls. Behind
item tho wainscot gave forth in re-
Spouse to my blows q muified, hollow
souEd; Lu5 it told mo nothing. And
yet, that some one had been with me in the
room, ! felt certain. l no longer had any
superstitious apprehensions. 1t was no
ghost, L was we'll assured that had visited
my bedside. l 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 chamber-Flinter, whose last words, as
1 accidentally overheard them when l re-
tired to rest, had pointed clearly, as now
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
doorway-such as 1 was we'll assured existed
Ito wait until l was again asleep.
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