Telegram-herald., 1888-02-05

you corne befel Hon did YOU pet lni Leave
the room or I vii call far neipl
She raised her voice ai tae last sor,iS- IL
produced ~ eject. Leaning further over
the bed she Boldly took TIE countess by tie
shoulder and shook Rer Not even lAls efIort
succeeded IN roGing the sle~ping woman
She stall lay back IA tse chair, posssssesl by a
lo4por Ike The torpor Il deatb-lnssns.b Die 10
Sand. inseusihe 10 touch Was she really
sleeping Or hs.i sbe fainteii
Agnes looked closer al hsr. She bad not
famed. Her breathing was audible, rising
and falling, IN deep heavy gSsps. AT inter
vals she ground her teeth savaSely. Beads of
pefspiration stood thickly or her forehead.
Her clinchea hands rose and fell slowly from
time 10 time on her lap Was she IA the
sgony o. dreami or WAS she spiritually con
seious Of something hidden ia ths room.
The doube involved in thar last question
was unendaTab.e. Agnes determined 10 ronse
the servants who kept watch IL the hotel st
night
The bel. handle was fixed TO the wall on the
aide Of the bed by which the table stood
She raised herself from the crcuching posi-
tion she lad assumed in loating close al the
countess, and, turning toward the other side
of the bed. stretched out her hand 10 tie bell
a the same llststitt ent SiofIprQ hiil iopke0
upward Her hand feli helPltssly at her SIDE
She shuddered. and sunk back on the pillow
What had she seem
She had seen another intruder in her room
Midway between her and the ceiling there
lowered human head-severed at the neck.
Ike head struck from tho body by the suillo-
tine.
Nothing visible, nothing audible, had given
her warning OF its appearance. Silently and
suddenly. the head had taken It's place above
her No supernatural change had passed
over the room or was perceptible in it now.
The dUnbly tortured figure in the chair; the
broad window opposite tae foot of the bed,
With the bl<ck night beyond it; the candle
burning on the table-these, and all other OBJ
jects in the room, remained unaltered. Ono
object more, unutterably horrid, had been
| added 10 the rest That was the only change
no more, no less.
| BY tia yellow candle light she ssw the head
distinctly lowering II mid air above her. She
looked at it steaafSstly, spellbound by the
terror that held her.
| TIE Resh Of tse face was gone The shliv-
! eled skin was dar-caed in hue, Ike the skin
Of an KSyrsisn rnurssy-exceat at the neck.
! There il wax.sf s l4ater celor, thors it
showed spots aad sp9ssacs of tho hue Of toat
brown spot GA the eeihng, which the childi
ranciful terror Ind distorted iato The ike
ness of a spot of ldobd. Thin rer. lns OF a
! discolered musssche and whiskers. hanging
over the upper lip, and over tho hellows
where the cheeks had once been, made the
head Just recognizable as tine head Of q man.
Over ali the features death and time had done
their obliterating WORK. The eyelids were
~ l-.s. . - l.H 1ss- ia
the hair OH the face, had been burned away
in places. The blush hps, parted in 6xed
grin, showed the double row of teeth. By
slow degrees the hevering head perfectly
still when she 6rst saw i) began to descend
toward Agnes as she lay beneath. BY slow
degrees that strange, doubly blended odor
which the commissioners had discovered in
the vaults OF the Old palsce-whch had sick
ened Francis Westwick in the bed chamber Of
the new botel-spread its fetid exhalations
! over the room. Downward and downward
the hideous apparition made its slow prog
reSs, until it stopped close over Agnes
stopped and turned slowly so that the face Of
it confronted the upturnsd face Of tae woman
in the chair.
After that there came a pause Then n
momentary sEmatton disturbed the rigid re-
pose of the dead face. The closed eyelids
opened slowly. The eyes revealed them-
selves bright with the CLASSY film of death.
ard fixed their dreadful look Oh the woman
in the chair
Agnes saw that look; saw the reclining
woman Iise, as il in obedience TO some dread
connsnd-and saw no more.
Her next conscious impression was Of the
sunlight pouring in at the window. OF the
frisn2iy presence Of Lady &ontbarry at the
bedside, aad Of the chiidrsa's wondering faces
peePing in at the soer.