Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-03-22
THREE VISIONS.


Early in the winter of 1885 was lodging
in a large, old fashioned house on Spruce
street, below Eleventh Insomnia brought
on by business troubles had reduced me to
state of nervous collapse, and although did
not suspect it, I was ON the verge of a serious
illness. Rising one night after vainly court
ing sleep for two hours, determined to take
a warm bath by way of soporific The
hour was quite o'clock. Having thrown on
heavy dressing gown, | entered the little
bath room and turned on the hot water.
While the tub filled gazed out at the rear
Of house about 100 yards distant on Clinton
street. Suddenly, on the Illuminated curtain
of a room two or three floors above the
street, l saw figures of man and woman in
silhouette. Stir1Ad by curiosity, I watched
the curtain with its tell tale pictures, Won
dering what movements they would ex-
ecute. As I gazed surprise and hor-
ror seized me, for I saw the man
raise a shadowy arm and pierce the woman's
bosom with dagger She threw her arms
wildly in the air, opened her mouth as if to
emit a scream and fell to the floor, whence,rof
course, her figure cast no shadow on the cur
tain. All this had occupied perhaps less than
two seconds, but in that time | endured
mental torture such as l had never felt be-
fore. AS the dagger descended | involun-
tarily threw out my arms as if to shield the
victim and uttered an exclamation of mingled
rage and horror. The absolute silence of the
pantomirnc murder made it more shocking,
and for an instant | felt as if the darkness
and loneliness of the night had shut me in
with the murderer and made me a partici-
pant in his guilt. | turned shuddeIng from
the window just as the shadowy criminal
stopped toward the spot where his victim lay,
and before | could cry out | reeled and fell
heavily to the floor My fall reused the
house, and Philip Holt whose rooms were on
the same floor with mine, carried me to bed
The vision of that night fastened my long
threatened Illness and ten days passed before
my faculties returned sufficiently for me to
relate what had seen. The doctor smiled
at my story and said:
sit was pure hallucination, my dear fel-
low. Such things are common to persons in
your condition.
But said I, 'sthe thing happened when
was broad awake and in every detail it was
as distinct as any genuine occurrence ever
beheld"
s'Not at ali remarkable, was his reply.
"You ought to be satisfied with the knowl-
euf,o tlltU pueI0 las uOU OCGIl IL HOlCi OIL SUCH
crime in any newspaper. An affair of the
kind could not have been concealed for ten
days. Don't think of it any more.'
Two weeks later was in my usual health,
save that,nly old trouble of insomnia lowered
threateningly near and REQUIRED with any
imprudence in eating, worry OF excitement.
Not entirely satisfied with the doctors theory
of my vision I went around to the lodging
house on Clinton street and inquired for
rooms A snuffy old bag, with peering, slls-
picous eyes and an air of undetected Grim
inality, showed me through the house and
offered to rent a furnished suite, consisting
of bedroom, parlor and bathroom. As near
as | could guess the parlor was the room
where the crime of my vision had been COM
mitted
''Who occupied these rooms lasts' I in
CURED
s'Mr Carr and his wife,, answered the bag,
with evident unwillingness.
''Do you know Mr. Cars businessg'
''The tenants business hain't none O. mine,"
she replied sharply.
''When did the Cars move out?"
"About three weeks ago"
sDid you see Mrs Carr on the day they left
the house,"
''Now, what do you ask me that for? I
don't watch peoples doin's in this house. The
tenants is respectable families, and they don't
like no meddin' If you want these rooms
you can have 'em, but you won't stay long
if you ask too many questions about your
neighbors. We don't want no troublesome or
disorderly people here. It's quiet house."
1t was evidently useless to ask further ques-
tons, so l tramped downward through the
i'll smelling narrow halls, my suspicious far
1ol a J,o1J
her eyes at me ON one stairway, and through
an open door below 1 caught glimpse of
a tunbled bed and soiled blue slipper, with
a half smoked cigarette beside it ON the
floor Pausing in the yestibule, read the
names beneath three or four bell buttons,
and learned enough to convince me that the
old woman's boast as to the good character of
her tenants was falsehood. When | told
my reawakened suspicious to Holt he frowned
and said:
s'If you permit yourself to go on in this
way You'll be in bed again. There is no rea-
sonable doubt of your hallucination. The
books are full of such cases. Furthermore,
the woman could not have been actually
murdered, or the crime would have come to
light befUre this, and if she was only
wounded it is not gnur business to ferret tho
matter out. If you're not careful you'll get
into the newspapers and be made ridiculous"
This last argument was enough. grad
ually came to accept the theory of my friends.
passed through the winter without further
illness, but gained strength slowly, and when
spring appeared my sleeplessnsss returned.
With it came an irresistible attraction to-
ward the bath room window whence my
vision of q few months before had been seen.
Whenever lay awake went some time dur
inc the night and stared out toward that I'M
canuy apartment house. Night after night
saw nothing and turned away, relieved at
the assurance that one symptom OF my
former illness was wanting,
Finally, at o'clock on cool April morn
inc. after three hours Of vain tossing in bed,
| entered the bathroom, with my eyes dl-
rected toward the tenement house. For an
instant could not credit the vision that met
my gaze On ths luminous curtain where
had seen the shadow pentemime before the
same tragedy was being enacted. This time
I had arrived little later in the progress of
the scene. for all 1 saw was the falling woman
and the withdrawn dagger in the hand Of her
conranion. The man stopped as before
toward his victim, and l waited to see him
rise. in hopes of obtaining some assurance
that what had seen was real. saw nothing
further. If the shadowy slayer had stopped
to q real victim he must have risen in such
spot that his figure was not brought again
before The light and the curtain Filled with
forebodings of ,,ey illness l awoke Holt and
told my vision. We went TO the window,
looked toward the tenement house and saw
only the faint CLEAN of unlghted panes.
Holt gave me an opiate and next morning the
doctor had me removed to the country.
remained out of town all summer, bath.
ng. fishing and beating. For three months
I went to bed tired every night and slept ten
hours Then took long sea voyage, and
arrived in Philadelphia about the middle OF
September more robust than had ever been
before. Holt and laughed at the old hallu-
cinations and the doctor rallied me consider
ably upon my detective spirit of the winter