The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-06-06


kYgEAE streets at nighttall,
AB5.l& entering the dwell
%H9 ings of the sick, a
u voluntary watcher
by the shrouded forms of the dead, a
dark-robed follower of funerals.
had heard of her, and confess that
the tales told me by my garrulous
landlady were not greatly in her ia
vor.
'There's lots of mystery about that
woman" said Mrs. Hodges, as she
poured my coffee one morning, "for
they do say that she sees sperrits,
an is never so much enjoyin' of her.
self as when she is sittin' up with a
corpse. An then that long black
veil she wears! They say it's sign
she belongs to some secret society Of
sperrits that. nobody knows nothin
about, and they don't low her to
show her face, though I don't 'b'leve
the poor soul does any harm"
My curiosity was aroused, but
though I piled my landlady with
questions, l failed to elicit any more
definite information regarding this
strange woman than is contained in
the foregoing paragraph.
But I inwardly resolved to know
more about her when I became
better acquainted in the town. I
was never bold and curious enough
to wish for a meeting that came when
I least expected.
had but recently arrived in the
town; knew no one save my land
lady and the man who roomed with
me, and / saw the latter so seldom
that | can hardly say we were well
acquainted. The little saw of him,
however, convinced me that he was
a gambler. He never confded his
affairs to me, but his habit of spend
ing his nights away from home, bis
bouyant spirits when he would enter
the room one morning, and the
gloom which seemed to possess him
the next, plainly betrayed his char
acter.
remember that he knocked at the
door somewhat earlier than usual one
night. I was reading and was just
prepared to retire. Without word
he drew a chair near the fire, sat
down, and looking steadfast at the
Goals in the CRATE, seemed lost in med
itation. rudely broke his reverie
with question:
'Did you ever see this mysterious
woman about whom there is so much
talk, who goes in mourning and wears
a sad face the year round?" Iasked
He frowned and seemed annoyed at
the question. Eyes" he answered., "a
crazy bag that haunts the streets
nights, frightening little children and
furnishing old women with a theme
for gossip over their teacups."
"Then there is nothing remarkable
about her after ALL" said in a tone
of inquiry.
ri don't care to discuss her." he
replied. Thave other things to think
about just now. I lost $500 to-
night"
'In the street?'
II suppose So" was the reply. It
amounts to the same thing. My
cursed luck was"
The sentence was unfinished. There
was a knock at the door-a quick,
excited rap, might call it-and my
companion arose and opened it, and
the full, bright light from within re-
vealed to my astonished gaze the
black.robed form of a woman. I
leaned forward to get glimpse of
her face. but a black veil hid it from
view. But l noticed the face of the
man who opened the door on this
dreary figure. 1t was livid with rage.
Great knotted lines deformed his
brow, and l thought heard a muffled
oath escape his lips. Then the wom-
an. stepping back into the shadow
and whispering hoarsely said: 81
thought you we're alone. You wanted
to see me. For Gods sake come in
to the street,"
He closed the door, and without
addressing a word of explanation to
me seized his hat and went out into
the night.
could not have sat still in that
room after that, if my life had de-
pended on it. The mystery of that
! meeting compile! civ mastered me, and
was determined to tathom it.
Out into the dark I followed them,
my slippered feet making no sound
upon the stony street. On they went
strange dark figures, darker than
the night whose few. feeble stars shown
indistinctly in a gloomy sky. On
they went. and still [ followed, with
step as noiseless as that of fate. ]
could family hear their voices in the
distance, but could distinguish nc
word that was said.
| How far / followed them / know