The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-02-01

share without any effort to resume
any OF its tricksy familiarities, and an
attempt of Luigis to coax it within
reach of his hand was unsuccessful.
At the end Of two or three DAYS more
the prisoners condition had become
pitia5le- The tray now descended but
tn ee times in the day, and the scanty
provision which it brought made him
look forward to each new arrival with
fevcrish anxiety. He did not deny the
mouse share, but threw il the crumbs
with grCcging hand, and the secret
hostility between the two grew hourly
stronger. The mouse no longer plagued
him with excessive attentions. but
would take refuge on some niche in
the stones above Luigi's head, and
there sit for hour after hour in the un-
broken silence of the cell, its black and
sparkling eyes staring at him with a
persistence which he could not escape.
1t was in vain that he tried To distract
his attention by turning his mind 20
scenes of his own past life. or
letting it linger over such philosophi-
cal speculations as would formerly
have sufficed TO Danish every other
thought. Through all the windings of
his brain the consciousness of that un-
changing gaze pursued him. II he
tried TO battle more openly with his
snemy, and TO stare down his op-
ponent, matters We're still worse. He
could not look into the mouse's eyes
for more than Il few seconds without
their seeming to dilate and glitter
with a harder light, until his mind felt
paralyzed in the grasp of some wicked
and incomprehensible power. Every
time he subjected himself to the trial
il was more difficult to shake of the
mysterious influence, until he avoided
the mouse's eyes resolutely, and when
the consciousness that they were fixed
upon him forced him for an instant to
turn and meet them, he fairly
screamed with dread He might have
banished the creature by violence, but
he had an inexplicable repugnance to
thus acknowledging his fear of it, and
proving by a recourse To such brutal
means the reality of its weird hold
upon him.
Added to this were his physical
sufferings from the daily decrease in
his allowance of food, so that he now
actually experienced the pangs OF
hunger Three days more passed
The shelf now descended but once in
The twenty-four hours, and even then
brought him. in the shape of crust
of bread and a sip of water, barely
enough TO sustain life. There was
now a constant struggle between
Luigi and the mouse as TO which
should secure this pittance. 1t WAS
true that the greater strength of the
man enabled him 70 keep the mouse
off when il approached him too closely
II his meals. But strength, he learned.
was not the only thing in question
The want of food rendered him sleep
less, and once, unsatisfied with his
mockery of a meal, he watched foc
twenty-four hours, without rest, for
the return OF the shelf When the
tiny portal burst asunder he leapcd
forward and stretched his hand into
the opening, only TO find the mouse
there before him. After brief strug-
gle, Luigi, although weak from his
privatious, succeeded in rescuing the
precious morsels from the animal,
though at the cost of some severe
bites. The two glared savagely al
each other while the man devoured the
bread The mouse jumped down just
in time to escape the rapid ascent OF
the shelf, and contrary TO its usual
custom. retreated from the cell
Luigi, with his hunger still unap-
peased, watched uneasily for the re
turn of his little prosecutor, but it did
not come back, and there suddenlF
fell upon the unhappy man d dull
Irowsiness which he could not shake
of. He rose and paced his dungeon,
but finally stumbled and fell from
sheer inability to lift his feet tic
would have been unable to resist for
a moment his desire TO sleep, had il
not been for dread of his enemy. Sup
pose the shelf should descend during
his slumbers? But even this fear Was
insufficient TO stimulate his Tagging
powers; the forces of life slowly with
drew to the remote recesses Of his
brain. and he sank into sleep that
was almost a swoon. All day his face,
blancbed with suffering and hunger.
cleaned white aud motionless in tli,
faint hight of the cell; all night hi:
breathing. so weak il scarcely stirred
the heavy air, trembled through tht
black silence.
Suddenly he woke with a start III
bad been reused by some sharp noise
Reverting to his last waking thought
he sprang to the shaft, only to see th'
mouse sitting on the empty shelf be
side an overturned water-jug and al
empty platter. The creature seemed
staring at him with a grin of malice
With wild eyes and a cry of despair
the unhappy man flung himself upor
the mouse, and clutched it in botl
hands, concentrating in that grasp al
the strength of which his madness wa
capable.
That night the insurrection of Fiese'
threw open the dungeons of the duca
palace and set the prisoners free. bu
too late to save Luigi. The friend
who rescued him knew that he ha,
been faithful through trials. and 70
the rest of his short life he was ten
derly guarded. But an incurable ma
MAC. he moaned perpetually under tn
spell OF some strange power. and oc
casionally broke into fearful parox
ysms OF terror, in which he would en-
deavor to throttle his attendants. unde
the hallucination that his mysteriou
enemy had once more come TO life i
them.-Zos Dana UladerhiLi, in Ra,
per's Weekly.