Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-04-10
THE STORIES
BURGLARS.
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.
OF THE
COPYRIGHT, 1889. !
ICONTINUED.

"I had heard of animals and even
human beings who were totally invisi
BILE, but who still retained their form,
their palpability and all the powers and
functions of life. I had heard of houses
haunted by invisible animals; | had read
the story of the maiden whose comings
her lover perceived by tho parting of the
tall grain in the field of ripe wheat
through which she passed, bat whose
form, although it might be folded in his
arms, was yet as invisible to his sight
as the summer air. | did not doubt for
a moment that the animal that had come
to mo was one of those strange beings.
l lifted his head; it was heavy. | took
hold of . paw which he readily gave
me; he had every attribute of real
dog, except that he could not be seen"
Il call that perfectly horrible" said
Aunt Martha, with a sort of gasp.
s.Perhaps," said the young man, you
would prefer that should notcontinue."
At this both my wife and Aunt Martha
declared that he must go on and even |
did not object to hearing the rest of the
story.
WELL" said the young man, AJAX
never came back. 1t is generally be-
Heved that dogs can sec things which
are invisible to US, and | am afraid that
my faithful hound was frightened, per-
haps to death, when he found that the
animal whose entrance into the court
yard ne had perceived was a supernat-
ural and uncanny thing.
But if | needed a canine companion
had one, for by day or night this in
10 40 1of WIn,, oil
he Law ON the floor by the side of my
bed; if / put down my hand 1 could
ALWAYS feel his head, and often he would
stand up and press his nose against me,
as if to assure me that he was there.
This strange companionship continued
for several days, and | became really
attached to the invisible animal. His
constant compromising seemed to in
dictate that he had come to guard me,
and that he was determined to do it
thoroughly. / felt so much confidence
in his protection, although | knew not
how it could be cxerted, that one morn
ing | decided to take a walk, and with
my hand on the head of tho dog, to
make sure that he was with me, !
strolled into the open country.
Il had walked about mile and was
approaching group Of large trees, when
suddenly from behind one Of them the
tall figure of a man appeared. In an in
slant | know it to be Colonel Kaldhein:
his was a face which could not easily be
forgotten. Without q word he raised
a pistol which he held in his hand and
fired at ne. The ball whi5tIcd over my
head.
Il stopped short. startled, and fright
ened almost out of my senses. | was
unarmed and there Was no place of
refuge to which | coGld fl. 1t was
plain that the man was determined to
kill me.
Quickly rccocking his pistol, Kald-
helm raised it again. involuntarily
shrank back, expecting death, but be-
fore he could fire his arm suddenly
dropped and the pistol was discharged
into the ground. Then began a strange
scene. The man shouted, kicked and
beat up and down with his arms, his
pistol fell from his hand he sprang from
side to side, he turned around, he strug-
gled and yelled.
Il stood astounded. For an instant l
supposed the man had been overtaken
by some sort of fit; but in flash the
truth came to me. kaldhein was being
attacked by my protector, the invisible
dog.
Mortified by this conviction, my first
impulse was to save the man, and, with
out knowing what | was going to do, /
stepped quickly toward him, but, STUN
bling over something | did not see, /
fell sprawling. Before l could regain
my feet | saw kaldhein fall backward
to the ground. where a scene took place
so terrible that | shall not attempt to
describe 1t. When, with trembling steps,
| approached. the man was dead. The
invisible dog had almost torn him to
pieces.
Il could do nothing. / did not re-
main upon the spot another minute, but
hurried home to the castle. As | rapid
" walked on l felt the dog beside me,
and. putting my hand upon him, felt
that he was painting terribly, and for
three days did not leave the house.
About the end of this time | was sit
ting in an upper room of the castle, re-
fecting upon the recent dreadful event,
when the thought struck me that the in
visible dog. who was by my side. appar-
entity asleep, was of an unusually pow
erful buila to overcome SO easily such a
strong man as Kaldhein. l felt desire
to know how large the creature really
was, and, as | had never touched any
portion of his body back of his Shout
ders, l now passed my hand along his
back. Wss amazed at his length. and