The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-08-20
HAUNTED TU THE DEATH.

SuuJecC Is q bald n to my practical
mind, and | shall treat it merely bv
repeating to your practical readers a
story which DIR. Simpson OF Boston
told me. do not ask you to believe
It. am not prepared to say that /
believe it myself. But / must insist
upon the fact that DR.. Simpson be-
iieyed It, or / shall be simply wasting
my time.
| do not suppose you ever mat DR..
simpson. Well, he was altogether one
OF the most eminent mel q our pro
fession. He possessed acur-
ate scholarship Of a French uni
yersity, the skill Of a thorough
physician, and gag se a d q al 81
the world Of the best type. His sue
cess as a physician was almost mar
Vicious, and his amiable personal quail
tiles made his ministrations so agree
able that he was much in demand,
aud obliged, in fact, to set limits to
his practice.
His standing in his own profession
threw him into contact with those OF
equal standing in the other probes
slons. One Of his most distinguished
patients was q criminal judge, whose
name he did not tell me. The name
OF this distinguished mar is the only
secret he felt called upon to keep from
me in the whole affair.
This judge, whom he attended 9
larly as physician, without any ap-
parent cause Of illness, was visibly
wasting away, A sombre melancholy
had fallen upon him. His family had
upon different occasions Intercepted
the doctor, and the doctor had on
his side questioned his friend, without
eliciting much from him but vague re
plies, which awakened his anxiety, in
proving to him that q secret did exist
without informing him what that Sc
cret was.
Finally, one day the doctor reason
ed so earnestly with his friend that he
admitted he was i'll, and taking the
doctors hands in his with a sad
smile he said
"Well, yesl am sick, and my sick.
ness, my dear doctor, is all the more
incurable liz that it exists solely in
my imagination"
What! In your imagination?"
ayes; / ana becoming mad"
'sYou arc becoming madl And in
what respect2 ask you this because
/ do not see the slightest evidence of
it. You have a lucid look, a calm
voice there the doctor took him by.
the wrist) and an excellent pulse
"This is what makes my case so Sc
rious. can see it and judge for my
SELF
"But in heavens name! in what
does your madness consist"
eShut the door, so that we cannot
be disturbed and | viii tell YOU"
The doctor closed the door and
returned to take a seat beside his
friend.
"You remember, do you not" said
the Judge to him. s'the last criminal
case IN which / was called upon to
pass ~sentence?"
Eyes. a man who had poisoned his
wife. You sentenced him to be hanged,
and the sentence was carried out"
Exactly. Well, the moment | was
passing that sentence the criminal
looked at me with angry eyes, and he
shook his fist. Ibid not pay any at
tention to him. Such menaces are
quite common on thepart of crimi-
mails. But, the day alter the execution,
the sheriff who superintended the
hanging called at my house, apollo
gized humhly for the intrusion. but
declared that he considered it his
duty TO inform me os something; the
wife poisoner, on the scaffold, had
pronounced q sort OF death curse on
my head, saying that the next day at
six o'clock, the hour ia which he was
executed, I should hear from HIM"
81 half thought there might besomc-
thing in the threat; the man had been
guilt@zof many other crimes and was
q ~celes1ated craftsman. / thought il
barely possible that an attack might
be made upon me by some Of his con-
fedarafas. One shonld be prepared
for any emergency. So, as six o'clock
came on, / put out q brace Of pistols
on my bureau and shut myself up in
my bedroom.
stThe clock began to strike six. ]
had been much preoccupied with this
disclosure OF the sheriff, but the last
stroke oil six sounded without my
hearing anything buba peculiar sound
which was not familiart to me. Turn
ed around and perceived a great black
cot with fiery eyes. How had it enter
ed? Il was impossible to say; my
doors and windows were closed. The
animal must have been shut up in
The room all day.