Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-08-24
Haunted by a SpeCter.

gram reporter received a letter from a /
friend, a physician, residing on the
west side of town, requesting him, as
a special favor, to visit the writer on
the following evening and to remain
with him at his house during the
night
Il cannot explain here. the letter eonclud- /
ed, my reason for asking this favor of you,
except that fear recurrence Of a sight I
once saw, the remembrance Of which has so
preyed upon my mind that I fearI am losing
my senses.
at may be only the rawlings Of a diseased
brain, but even that is better than to know
that the experience was a bona tide one, and
it is with this hope that / ask you to visit
me and see for yurself whether or not it is
fancy or fact.
"COme on the night have mentioned or
not at all, as that is the anniversary Of the
date on which had the adventure.
Il shall wait for you until 7:3O o'clock.
DAVE"
1t was not exactly with surprise
that the reporter read the strange
letter, as his remembrance ofDave as
a freshman in school was of a tall,
dark-haired fne-looking Cuban boy,
with large, melancholy black eyes,
whose quiet ways and retiring dispO-
sition had made him unpopular with
all save the reporter and earned for
him the sobriquet Of ''Laney."
He was especially learned in the Oc-
cult sciences and the works of such
writer's as Cornelius Agrippa and the
necrOmancers of Olden times, and
gave promise even then of some time
distinguishing himself above the COM
mon herd.
The reporter left school some years
before the Cuban and hadnever heard
from him from that time until a few
months ago, when he met him in the
city and learned that he had embrace
ed the profession of medicine and was
in the possession of a lucrative prac-
tice.
The next day was a close and un-
comfortable one, with a dark, sullen,
gray sky, and the rain, which began
to fall in a drizzle about O'Clock,
made the night which followed any
thing but a pleasant one.
1t was a night calculated to make
one hug acheerful fire at home rather
than to promenade about the wet
streets. Only a few people were out
when the reporter turned down an
uptown street shortly before the
hour appointed and began his search
for the home Of the physician.
A thick fog seemed to rise from the
sidewalks, distOrting everything into
grOtesque shapes, and to the repOr-
ter, with his mind filed with the cur
iOus letter, the very lamppOsts
seemed turned into ghOstly forms,
with long, skinny arms reaching out
to clutch him. His destination was
reached below Sixth avenue, and he
assembled the steps Of a fine brown
stone residence.
The door was opened by a servant
and the visitor passed through a
thickly carpeted hall and quietly
opened the door leading into the
back parlOr. The form of a man who
reclined in an easy chair, seemingly
lost in meditation, met his gaze.
AS the reporter took a step for
ward the man sprang from his chair
with a gasp, but recognizing his
visitor, grasped his hand with fer
vOr that could be felt for hours af-
terward.
Il was beginning to despair of
your coming" he said. 81 was on
the point of putting an end to my
life, when it occurred to me to have
you see the sight which has troubled
u n
III tell you the story"
Placing his chair so that the light
from the lamp fell on everything but
his face, the doctor said:
'When / left school I was restless
and wanted to do something, so 1
took up medicine l wanted to com
plete my medical course in two years,
so 1 studied hard, working most of
the time at night in the dissecting-
room. The deeper l delved into it
the more realized how little was
known of the science, and before /
had finished my first year was an
enthusiast. ThepOssibility of instill-
ing new life into a body that was
dead to all human belief became my
hobby.
''In two years l knew more of that
one particular branch of the science
than any man that had ever lived,
and 1 firmly believed that were I to
make the experiment 1 could restore
new life to a heart that had stopped
its action for years. 1 made a few ex-
periments in a small way.
81 tried my method on the body OF
man who was pronounced dead by
the physicians in the college, and had
the satisfaction of seeing the blood
flow once more and the eve omen and