Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-07-25

and now my eyes, becoming accustomed
to the darkness, could see that it
was covered with hair. There was o
dreadful g~ibber-such as might come
from an ape or q dumb man in pain
and before my fascinated gaze flashed
two rows of shining teeth. The creature
monster or maniac-was by my side,
ready, waiting to spring upon me. Hot
upon my face came its breath, while
the awful eyes shone like the eyes Of q
tiger. 1t was on the spring to tear me
limb from limb. just one thing stayed
it. just one thing was keeping off the
awful death that threatened me. In
all the ecstasy of my terror I compres
hended what that one thing was. 1t
was the power Of my eyes. I was
fighting an eye battle with the mon
ster.
Into the dreadful eyes I gazed, as
though I was gazing into the very gates
of he'll. Like the eyes of q wild beast,
they seemed ever restlessly pouring
forth o tumultuous torrent Of passion,
and ever restlessly in search of mine,
from which they shrank when they met.
Constantly as they did so there was the
same hideous, inarticulate gibber of
batfled rage.
Thus some two or three hours, at
least, must have passed until the day
light began to steal in through the cur
tains, which we're only partly drawn.
When the light came the sight before
me was W. more horrible than my
Imagination had conjured in the dark.
Crouching by the side Of the large bed,
between the window and me, was O
man. But such q man! A tall man in
a flowing gown. with long, matted,
unkempt yellow hair and beard, his
face deadly white, but every muscle in
1t throbbing in %convulsive sympathy
with the fires that blazed from his wild
and awful eyes!
Minute after minute passed, though
l took no heed of them. All my
thoughts, all my strength, was con-
centrated into the one weapon 1 had
my eyes. Still I felt at last that I
could not prolong the battle much
longer. What was I to do? My
strength was giving way. The monster
or maniac was becoming more and
more excited, toaming at the lips and
utterlng short, sharp cries, while his
long, cruel fingers worked convulsively,
as though they were impatient to be on
their prey.
So long as I could ward him off with
my eyes he dared not approach me
nearer; directly, through faintness, !
dropped them, he would fall upon me
and tear me to pieces. My strength
was gone. A look OF exultation came
upon his face. The daylight had lasted
for q long time. Oh, God! would nc
one aver come? I could hold out nc
longer. His glare of triumph increased,
My eyes were growing dim. His face
was getting nearer and more exultant.
It seemed as though another spirit
! came suddenly into my body-I wa
hardly conscious of what Ibid. Looking
: into his eyes with q strength that did
not seem to he mine, eye to eye, I drove
the creature back till he was more than
q yard from the bed; slipping from the
bed I gave one spring, caught the han
die of the door, and was in the passag.
running. There was an awful noise be
| hind M of wild yells and laughter ani
l pursuing 1eet. AS L ueu, SCiedIlAuS
down flight after flight of stairs, it grew
| nearer and nearer. The monster wa
, upon me. A number Of people seemed
to be about me. I heard shouts and
l blows-a confused trampling, shouting
3 and scutfling-and then all was dark.
When I woke I was in bed. l hac
been very ill for many days, they said
! 1t was a long time before I vas al
l lowed to see q looking-glass; when
, did, I found that my beautiful brown
hair was gray. 1t had changed it
color in that one awful night. The
. maniac was Aunt Judith's only child
who had escaped during the night from
1 the DON where he was confined. Aun'
+. Judith, and the Baron when he was
alive, had secretly kept the poor crea
ture since it had been discovered dur
ing its infancy to be insane. The con
slant sorrow and anxiety which i
entailed was, I may add, the cause o
most Of what was strange about Aunt