The rustler., 1891-11-20

wAs ready 10 retire. ! locked thc door,
rcsnlxinr D. rct up and let him in un his
arrival The dnY had bccn a long one
and / was greatly fatirued In q few
minutes ! was sound asleep About
three O'Clock awolsc and. with a nat n.
raj Instinct reached over O. see whrth-
er ms ehum. Jack. had come In. My I'm
gers touched a soft. yielding body. and
] could distinctly feel the regular
rise and fall Of the chcsias the form be-
side me slept
'Dcar OLD JACK. % Thought and r.
lapsei into sleep again.
4 series of sharp knocks At the door
startled me ont ~ fitful dream. and /
spraur mp o. sce the sunshine pouring
Ia through the window
The quilts were bumped mp on the
opposite side 81 the bed. a. though
Jack had become chilly during the
night and bundled himself up In them
like a mummy.
The knocking az the door was rc-
pcated, and still only half awake, ]
shuiiied to the door. and opened H.
As ! am a living man, Jack whom |
had Thought still asleep in the bed
walked into the room.
lie was laughing heartily. You're
u tremendous sleeper, he said. Il
thought ] would arouse the whole
house last night tying to wake you,
and then ] had 20 give il up and sleep
ON the sofa In the sitting room. What
on earth"
The expression Of tcrrurizcd amaze
mcut on my face must have alarmed
Jack. for he stopped suddenly and
looked al me with glance Of curious
questioning
what on carth's the natter" he
continued presently.
DO YOU moan 90 say you were not In
this room last night?' / asked Ny
voice sounded scarcely louder than a
whisper.
"Most assurcdly ! do" was the reply.
And you didn't sleep in that bed
with mc?"
"Why. no. Of course not"
Jack Jack" ] cried, 'for Gods
sake don't trine with me. Say IL Is all
a jcst-tcll nae YOU were in this room
last night that YOU slept in my bed.
Jack, old fellow. isn't it true that YOU
got mp early aud left the room, and
now you've come back to play prac-
teal joke upon me?'
/ The surprise depicted on Jacks face
was evident
2 Il don't know what you mean" he
said II simply know that was not
in this room last night, and that
certainly did not sleep here. BESIDES,
how could ] enter the room without
you uufasteninR the door, and how
could have locked the door after lcav-
ing the room?'
. I'm my anguish Of mind had forgot
ten that the door was locked. There
could be no doubt Of II. Jack had not
, been in the room, but II was.
at is true, then" fairly screamed.
. 1t is true. The Thing has been here
. here in my room-holts and bars
cannot keep it out Oh! God, am lost,
lost"
Jack tool, my hand. You've been
dreaming, old fellow" he said, "and
besides. he added, you've got II fever
Let nae prescribe for you.
"No. no" ] cried, "it IS no dream
wish Il was Come, come, look here
/ ! dragged him over to the bed-to that
side OF the bed whore 10 had been and
where the covers were vet raised, as
though some form lay huddled beneath
them. Look, | cried, as threw back
the covers and disclosed the disordered
bed, "can you doubt that some one has
slept there?'
NO" he said, "surely not, butt
was yourself"
His disposition to make light of the
matter goadcd me into telling him the
whole story. He seemed interested,
and when spoke Of how | had fallen
TO sleep with my arm around the form
Of the Thing that slept beside me, he
looked considerably startled. But when
/ had finished he put his hand on my
shoulder in his old familiar way and
said:
"fou need attention more than
Thought You have been working too
hard, and your head isn't just right.
Try TO realize how preposterous the
whole thing is, and dismiss it as an
hlllucination.
saw that it would be useless to try
TO convince him that he was wrong or
20 endeavor 10 shattcr his theory; so
simply said Perhaps you are right, 9
and later, when he proposed to put me
under "a regular course Of experimental
treatment acquicsccd, willing Il
please him, but satisfied in my own
mind that the skill of no physician on
earth was competent 10 help me.
This second visitation made far
more lasting impression than the first
one, and my nervousness increased.
During the balance of Jacks visit We
always retired together took his al
lopathic doses dutifully, and listened 20
without attempting to com bat, his ar
gumcnts, when he cndcavored to prove
what poor, imaginary thing my ghost
was But when at the sound of q
strange football | started in terror, or
sitting down Mt table beside an empty
chair, / instinetively reached out "a
. though TO tyitch some unseen object