The Portland daily press., 1890-05-31
A MAN IN r ROOM.
lChicago Times.l

4Ap&0 W 90 q lk1<tAl lfl bllC IOOu.
The shutters were closed and the win
dow, as had left it. was lowered for a
space Of probably six inches or more.
He must have come in, then, through the
door Of my bedroom. which adjoined the
sitting room.
1t had been a stormy night and the
mon0tonous drip drop of the remaining
globules of rain came from the caves in a
mournful and irregular FLASHING. My
senses at first were in half haze-a
drowsy and bewildered stupor was what
found myself in as first walked
Gradually my mind became clearer
The room was intensely dark; so dark,
in fact, that the peculiar illusionary buzz
ring of the silence sang in my ears.
What was to be done? 1t was midnight
and there was man in the room
There Is something so grisly-so aw-
fully suggestive Of murder-in this feel
ing of strangers proximity to one at the
dead OF night that experience alone can
give 1t its true effect. So, too, there is
very strange and as yet unsolved riddle
In this knowledge of unseen human con-
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ing to strap. Somebody behind you
wishes to advance, or needs more room.
You may be reading paper and proba-
bly, have not noticed his approach, yet
instinctively You step forward.
Or perhaps you are standing at the en-
trance Of some one of the great buildings
OF the city conversing on matters of i'm
portance with a friend. Your mind is
presumably intensely occupied, your eyes
on your companion, your lips moving.
Suddenly You step aside; some one
brushes past, his shoes incased in rub
beers, and turns the corner without
sound; certainly there was nothing that
could be heard above the rumble and
rattle Of the numberless vehicles which
fill the streets with their jarring and
clangor.
Yet you knew this person wished to
pass, and that you were possibly little
in his way. You had neither seen,
heard, nor touched him, but you were
nevertheless aware of him.
Take it even in the solitude of the
country. Sitting on fence in some
lonely field you are all at once apprised
of the fact that a man is advancing to-
ward you and is already quite close to
you. Now, you have doubtless been day
dreaming before this conviction came
TO you, watching the sheep as they
grazed quietly down near the river or
marking the sleepy circles of some
hawks fight and midaerial poises. You
vvaro 1nan1x, ,,rooc.t,,,;aJ +, h., ,,,xo 81
this man came across u plowed field
where his boots crushed the dry soil
and passed along as noiselessly as the
underground march of a mole.
But an indefinable current Of percep-
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Everything else was calculated to at
tract your eyes and enchain your mental
faculties However, you turned imme-
diately and saw him standing there
smiling. He had message for you.
Yet the weird message, the certainty of
the approach of a human being, who
sent that? Nay, then, can not tell you
this
TWAS the same feeling that had rushed
upon me like an avalanche as I woke
It was midnight and there was man
in the room.
Past that hour, was it not? Let me
consider, for the question Of time may
have peculiar significance. 1t was 10
o'clock when l retired. At 1890 the
policeman on the beat had passed. His
club had rung sullenly on the stone
coping. and recollect picturing him to
myself as he passed-a sturdy, alert blue
coat, with pistol and staff; peering into
the alleys; looking curiously at the oc-
casional night lights that burned here
and there with dim and uncanny flare;
whistling not infrequently; yawning;
looking up at the stars, and at intervals
communing with himself. It all seemed
quite ludicrous, | remember, as l lay
there, but the matter is hideously sen-
Gus now. What would / not give to
hear his ''locust" spurn the dull pave
ment with his sonorous, challenging rap.
There is something menacing in that
sound at night to the wrong doer. It
says authoritatively: "Who goes there?"
II it is past midnight the patrolman
will come again in an hour or so. Death
o. my hfel Sixty minutes? Sixty min
utess Can contain my patience that
long, staring into the muffled darkness?
And, indeed, what will this devil be do
ing meanwhile-this man in the room?
Mol the plan Of waiting for the officer
was not feasible. What If he did come
by7 Would not the burglar or assassin
defer his operation until the coast was
clear? Undoubtedly. Let me reason
this problem out carefully, even coldly.
It is, let us say, matter of life or death.
In the first place, l had been foolish
enough to lay my revolver on the dresser,
which was twenty feet from the bed.
That could only be gained by scramble
and spring. Again-suppose the in
truder had taken the weapon from its
resting place and stood doubly armed,
watching me as cat would watch a
mouse?
cannot bring myself to believe that
this would be sensible move. This d.
lemma must be faced and grappled with
In wise as well as q courageous man
ner. This wretch in my room-his life
Is not worth as much to himself, to the
world or to humanity as mine. He has
the advantage of weapons; he is ON the
qui vive; he knows that / am awake as
surely as ! know that he is in my bed
chamber.
The stertorous putting of locomotive
sounds far away. Those men on that
engine now-they are covered with CRIME
and SCOT; they are risling their lives
daily and nightly But they are toilers.
Wives and children they have, and with
them the honor Of women and the life of
man is safe. If were with them now
out on the dreary, drilling flats, with
the moonlight struggling down on the
pools by the track, I should certainly be
safe. Here am surely in danger
A large wardrobe in the room gives
out cracking sound, as If the man had
shifted his weight somewhere and the
change had caused the boards in the
wardrobe to expand or contract. In the
sitting room all at once some fragments
OF anthracite drop noisily down the
feeder" Of the the base burning stove.
The curtain flaps. Everything mani
mate seems to be on the lookout. On
my hand misty breath Of night wind
comes like the breath of human being
Action or inacton? And now, which |
Is the best kind of bravery? Is it the
ioriorn hope quality, which heeds not Of |
danger, but hurries headlong to almost |
certain death2 Or is it the cool and de-
hberate intent to carry out purpose al
ready carefully matured? Reckiessness
may be excused for examples sake. and |
true courage will do or die for a friend or
II