St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-08-30
MY SONS STORY.

MY SUNS SlUkY.
A Strange Visitor and How He
Was Captured
When / received my sons letter re-
from horrible death, it made me shud-
der, and I thanked God fervently for
his preservation. At first I thought
would simply repeat his story in his
own words. but somehow / dislike too
much personal narrative. Itsounds con-
ceited, and the perpetually recurring
Il, /. l." the interminablc mes"
mines" and ''mys" grow tiresome and
look as il the narrator was trying to
make himself out hero. and was say
ing: ''What fine fellow / am! and you
will see that l am by what l am going
to tell YOU" So shall only use few
OF Bob's sentences when they 6t in bet
ter than any others.
Last summer he went to play in
cricket match in the neighborhood OF
Henley, and some friends living in .
charming riverside villa invited him to
stay few days with them. The house.
however. was full of guests, and he was
asked if he would mind sleeping in a
room over large summer-house at the
end Of the lawn. 1t was often used for
bachelors under similar circumstances.
1t was plainly, but comfortably, fur
nished, and of course Bob had not the
slightest objection: in fact he preferred
it, he said, for the weather was blazing
hot. and he would be able to do more IS
he liked, and get his early swim OF =
morning, etc, without disturbing any
body. He seems to have had . dne.
jolly time of it-all sorts of fun were
going on beside the cricket boating,
tennis and dancing Of IN evening. A
large fair. too, was being held At Read
ing. and this afforded the youngsters an
other form of Neutrality-suspicious. study
Of mankind" as Bob grandiloquently
expressed it.
Well. the last night of his visit ar
rived. The days were at their longest,
the weather was hotter than ever, and
when he retired 70 his solitary nest he
congratulated himself more than usual
on having so cool IN apartment 1t was
approached by long flight Of wooden
stairs; and IS he entered it by the half
open door at their top and WAS about to
light his candle. he was struck by .
strange, unpleasant smell that he had
never noticed before. Tho window, .
large French one. ON the opposite side
to the neat little iron beastead. was
wide open to the door. and he fingered
at its narrow balcony, while slowly I'M
dressing, for . long while. enjoying the
sweet country scents OF the summer
night air. As he withdrew from 1t 1t
length. the contrast with the odor in
side the room struck him again rs
strange; hat he was very tired and flung
himself on his bed still in his thin 4au-
nels. somehow, he says. hc felt . sort
of oppression creeping OYER him; not .
nervous oppression, for his nerves, like
his sinews and muscles. are of steel and
iron, but curious sense Of tncertainty
and anxiety to which he was quite .
stranger. This IL was which prevented
his completely undressing and tumbling
into bed In the usual way. and also from
putting his candle out Fatigued as
he was, one might have expected he
would have fallen asleep directly, but
he only dozed and kept ON starting up
again and again, always with the odd.
depressing sensation growing stronger
and stronger upon him. At one Of his
awakenings he heard . distant clock
strike twelve, but otherwise not the
faintest sound broke the deep silence
of the summer night
Yet stay; is he quite sure there il no
other sound? What is that half drowsy
narmur that in his semi sleepy state
he now and again fancies he hears? 1t
must be the gentle flowing Of the
neighboring river. Yes. that is 1t; and
he does not trouble himself further
about it. for he is beginning to grow
really sleepy now. The candle has gone
out and the room Is left In the dim,
mysterious obscIrity OF . twilight.
which the calendar describes - NO real
night. $780,
Il must have been dreaming" writes
Bob. dreaming was 1t sea, for have
a distinct recollection of feeling the lift
Of the boat as it rose and fell on the
heaving waves with mo stretched out
in the bottom: but presently became
conscious that was actually being
slightly forced up and down on the bed
the mattress was heaving, not the
waves For . moment or two ere / was
thoroughly awake ! could not believe
my senses. and even when I became
thoroughly master of them, l appeared
quite incapable Of exertion. I remem-
her lying there, glaring in wonderment
into the cleaning Of the room, and with
my left arm supine across the bed. my
hand just hanging over the edge. can
not tell you how long remained like
this, but at last was induced to draw
in my hand, from feeling something
cold and wet touching it Still fully
another minute or two elapsed before
sat upright on the bed. and beheld.
very dimly. of course-what? Why, .
large dark form, gliding, as it seemed,
toward the window. A huge, long. low,
stealthy shape, impossible at first to
say whether that of crawling human
being or some mighty animal. A
veritable horror overcame me; I fell
back and shrank into . heap involun-
tarily lying perfectly still. and it was
we'll l did %; keeping my eyes
however, riveted ON this dreadful
presence, whatever it might be. for
] seemed incapable of coherent thought
about it. 50 great and overwhelming
was my distress. Keeping my eyes upon
It ! say, ! watched it 20 toward the