The Portland daily press., 1889-12-14

out if the terrible water had not filed
her mouth. Oh, horrible death.-her
feet sinking in the humid slime Of the
pool and her hands vainly clutching at
the elusive support Of the rushesl Little
by little the motion became more rare,
more convulsive, less prolonged; Made
leine was dead beyond doubt. Anew
the wind alone agitated the great, noisy
grasses, and saw the constant phantom
slowly reform itself on the surface of the
greenish blackness.
The next day at breakfast I ate little
and spoke scarcely at all. The old stew
ard asked when it would suit me to in
spect the estate.
Immediately" I replied, "for leave
this evening""
AS we started toward the pool,
noticed in the forest an old piece of
ruined wall.
"What is that? asked.
ut is all that is left of an ancient
chapel" replied Charter; "your father
greatly admired the stained glass win
dow, which represents an apostle stretch
ing his arms toward heaven. When the
moon rises behind the window, 1t casts
the image of the apostle on the reeds of
the pool. Sometimes, in the night, it is
terrible"
As Charter said this, felt my legs
brushed by something furtive, soft and
light, as if cat had rubbed against me.
1t was napkin, still damp, detached
by the wind from a cord where linen
hung to dry a few steps from us, be-
tween two trees before the house.
"Well," said l to myself, ~ must
confess that the fever and wakefulness
have played the fool with me. I have
taken for a woman in white some sheet
or garment borne by the wind, and for
phantom the reflection Of stained
window on the reeds" And began to
laugh, to reassure myself completely.
But I returned to Paris that evening.
Three years passed. had sold The
Alders to an industrial company which
intended to drain the marshes. had
given no thought to my sojourn at the
melancholy chateau, except now and
again ON sleepless night, when one
y
read the following:
In the unhealthy district Of -, whose inhabI.
tants already begin to enjoy better health. thanks
to the draining Of the marshes by celebrated
philanthropic society, there still remains O vast
pool which forms part Of the estate known as
The Alders. This pool is famous in the legends Of
the country. Each night, 1t is said, a gigantic
phantom is to be seen, sleeping lightly the tips
of the reeds. Some enlightened persons having
supposed that this phantom was nothing but the
reflection Of an ancient stained glass window In q
wall near by, the wall was demolished; but, by the
report Of the people of the place the phantom has
not ceased to appear every night
SIT has not ceased to appear" re-
peated, with shudder, and I read on
with feverish eye:
However that may be, recently, while the work.
men labored at the draining Of the pool, one of
them, in rolling some stones from the bank near
est NJ. Charters house, discovered among the
reeds, deeply imbedded in the mud, skeleton
absolutely stripped Of flesh; 1t is supposed that II
is the skeleton of q young woman whose death
must have taken place three or four years ago.
Then it was not piece Of linen flying
in the wind, that pale and hesitating
form had seen from the window-it
was Madeleine herself, drawn into the
pool by the mirrored demon! Her death
had taken place full month before my
arrival at the chateau. Some inscrutable
will, then, had accorded me for a few
hours the unpleasant power of retro
spective vision; or, perhaps, the dead
come from their shadowy abode, some
times, at night, to visit again on earth
the scene of their agony