, 1890-09-25
AN EXPERIENCE
EXTRAORDINARY.
WRITTEN F0R THE "SUNDAY REVIEW" BY RAJ
FRANK, AUTHOR OF "HEROES" "a
SNAG4OWN TRAGEDY" Etc

WOulu IiluKe INC TNttlinp sounuS
which first disturbed me. AT this
noise the man with the dagger
would crouch forward as II listen
ing, and fearful that 1t might nwali-
en- the person In the bed. Some one
In the apartment next to mine
coughed, and at the same time |
saw the phantom man slow
ly and cautiously advance
with body inclined forward,
his right arm raised and
grasping in large, sinewy hand
the dagger which glittered in the
palo light.
l knew what was coming and my
veins seemed bursting in their ago
ny of helplessness. A fierce storm
OF wind shook the house, the hail
descended furlously, and amid these
actual noises l saw the assassin
stand by his Unconscious victim. |
saw his head appear out of the cloud
which had before hidden 1t, noted
that his hair was long and black,
saw two blazing eyes send swift
glance around the room, saw him
bend over the bed with his back to-
ward me; his arm WAS slowly up
raised; saw sudden downward
flash, followed by stifled groan
which intensified my own agony.
There were one, two, three, four
other lightning-like strokes of that
terrible arm, and heard more crack
ling Of the newspaper. and with u
mighty effort l burst the bonds
which held me and was out of bed
surrounded by that same thick
black ness In which | firstawakened.
My trembling hands finally sue.
ceeded in finding the matches and
lighting the gas.
With cold perspiration standing
on my brow, and shaking as though
l had the ague, l sat down OH my
bed wondering, dazcd and half be-
lieving the place bewltched. There
was no more sleep for me that night.
The horror OF that which was ncith-
er II dream nor II reality clung to me
In spite of my persistent endeavors
to dismiss 1t. In no way could L ac'
count for the peculiar physical sen.
sations | had experienced, nor did
know what to call that which / had
seen. | had heard the clock strike,
the rain and hail fall, had even
thought what would he the effects
of the storm on u business transac-
ton was engaged in, aud had
heard the cough in the adjoining
room. In all this my mind was
normal, was wide awake. At this
same time other parts of the brain
were influenced by something sc
powerful that my will had lost its
power. | know little of the occult
science, have never been interested
in anything which was to me un-
practical, and could not therefore
account for the extraordinary vision
L had seen.
was III excellent health and felt
rather ashamed to confess even to
myself that anything 80 mystical
should take such strong possession
of me. / was haunted with desire
to know like what were the faces OF
the forms. 1t was queer | should
have seen neither face, for while l
saw the outlines of the head, the
coal black hair and demon-like eyes
of the murderer, these last being
particularly horrible from the fire
that blazed In them, j saw none of
his other features. AS for the
sleeper, l only knew he was in bed,
but that WAS all.
had come to San Francisco to
transact some business for Tom, my
partner, and myself, and had been
In the city just three weeks, expect
Ing to remain some time longer or
until Tom Joined me. fall went
Us we hoped, we intended leaving
here for Australia, where we meant
to engage in business.
In the last letter | had from Tom
he said he had disposed of our claim
at a good sum and had deposited the
money in the Boise City bank.
He thought it might DO six days
before he left but was not sure, but
he was anxious to join me as soon
as possible. While | had number
of acquaintances In San Francisco.
there was no one with whom was
particularly intimate, and therefore
had not mentioned the sale of our
mine to anyone. In fact, L had
only known of tle matter a few
DAYS, and am positive no one could
have learned of 1t from me. Well
that ghostly dream or trance both
cred me so much that oil day /
could think of nothing else, and
l.
Tom with II, and finally concluded
I'd wire him on some pretext or
other just to satisfy myself that he
was all right. l went into the tele'
graph office and wrote II short mes
sage, asking him If he would agree
TO some matter connected with my
business in the city.
The clerk was busy attending tc
someone else; so, holding the mes
sage In my hand, i stepped to q
desk on which lay an evening
paper still unfolded. On the outer
page, and almost the first thing tc
meet my eye was
"a HORRIBLE MURDER IN l. BOISE
HOTEL"
Instantly my vision lcaped to my
mind, and breathlessly l read or
till 1 saw the name "fom Kruger
then u able to suppress the crywhict
rose to my lips, startling the other
in the Office, sank into a chair
knowing had witnessed the death
of my friend. To the questions o.
those gathered round, l answered
that had just learned from the
paper Of the murder of the man &c
whom my telegram was addressed
How could explain that had
hours before seen the murder com.
mitted? Who would have believed
me? Why, I should have been
Thought insane had l told half OF
what l knew. Again / took up the
paper and found each fact men.
Toned coinclded with what had
been foreshown to me. Here Is the
paper; listen:
"This morning the proprietor and