The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-03-09

clutch support
Two months later" he presently re-
sumed, There came TO me indisputaDle
proof that Harkton was innocent. That
night sat late in my study-a night Ike
this. with the wind fretting In the boughs
and the leaves whispering TO each other
before they died. / sat at the table not
studying. but fighting the remorse In my
heart. i had received the nomination to
the Senate. bat my old aspirations were.
like the leaves, whispering low In my soul
of their death.
suddenly. By the iniefinable percep-
tiOn OF the nerves. 1 became aware of o
presence In the room, and before my fright
permitted me TO look up. l caught the In
distinct view one gets through the corner
of tho eye. Slowly. chilled 10y apprehen-
sion. | turned nv head. and there. just
where joel Harkton had stood on the
night of his escape. j saw hand extended
toward me. Only hand. looked for the
wrist. the arm, the form. but my sight
went clear TO the wall. Ii was nothing but
a hand. except that it protruded from
round disk of blackness. as If thrust
through u sable cloth"
A shudder stopped him for few mo-
ments; then, turning again to me- he said:
And that hand remained there, always
reaching out to me. i braved IL night after
night. trying to study: TO be nay old self; to
forget 10 when at my downtown office, but
1 conld not. Ii became worse than the
hand of thief. whO steals worldly goods:
IL stole my ardor. my ambition. 1t drove
me here 10 this room, but. my friend. God
help. me! that hand is still up there.
reaching out-daylight or dark-it is
always, always reaching Inc years
have fled. and have gone up there day
and night, fascinated, tortured by the
hope that it has been withdrawn; but IL
has always been there. and. heaven pity
met is up there now-nOw. 1t Is stealing
away my life. 1t has been reached out TO
stay me in my upward career. LOOK at me
"a wreck: Ny God, it is the hand OF Joel
He fell back in the chair overcome, and
sprang I'D. in the fear that my friend was
victim of that terrible. almost incurable
mental disorder-an hallucination.
Philip" / inquired earnestly, ARE you
sure that il is not imagination"
Imagination" he repeated. with IN
creased terror; you mean an hallucinatlon.
God help me if it is; have thought of
durable. Let ME tell you that my grand
father was tortured to his death by the
vision of rat. 1t Is the iron law of
heredity. would rejoice. my friend, if
| could only believe that this hand is that of
| a spirit. Then - might be exercised. L am
still yonng enough TO achieve something;
but that hand grasps the very center of my
life, ami slowly, surely. it is COMPRISING
me 10 death. 1t attracts me to that room.
often in the dead OF the night. feel it
pulling me there, and cannot resist. 1t is
an hallucInaiiOn. and It VIII kill me-"
He reasoned thus more calmly than he
hope for HIM. With sudden purpose l
asked:
Philip. have You ever taken any one up
therep
No" he replied starting into O percep-
ton OF my purpose; IF others can see 1t 1t
IS the hand of spirit. and there may be
found n way to drive IL from me. Are you
brave enough to 20 up there with meP'
81 am"
"Now!r
AT once"
Come. them" he said, rising.
The old mansion beng only partially oc-
cupied 1T was solemn expedition through
| IL, our footsteps echOng emptily through
| the wide halls. and jolting and Earring the
weakened beams, the wind torturing the
loosened easements and growing its I'M
canny glee IN the huge chimneys.
AZ the study door. before unlocking it,
| Philip turned TO me. and. holding up the
| lamp looked searchlngly into my face. A
/ frightful change had come over his own.
| HIS eyes were shiny and unsteady, and.
| TOT tho first time, the chill of a thought far
more terrible than of the ghostly hand
flew over me-that my old friend was
mailman. Realization of my position
flashed upon me. was in n lonely attic,
beyond esrshot with maniac. | firmly
believed the reaching hand was q delusion.
| Should tell h m sol If l told him / did
not see II, would he not turn upon me with
| the empowering rage of a lunaticg What
| ever his purpose in scrutinizing me. it
| seemed TO be satisfied. and he said:
John. you take the lamp open the door
and walk in. 1 will wait for you here
until you tell me if you see il. If 90 III
| my eyes will be riveted upOn il. and you
| will know then where 1t appears. Have
You cOurageY"
Without replying. took the lamp. while
| be inserted the key and showed the bolt. L
| turned the knob slowly, blingly,
afraid of him as much as of what | might
| see in the room. and pushed open the door.
| The close. damp smell of an unused apart
nent rushed out as | stepped over the sill.
1t was a small room, with ceiling slant
ing with the roof. In moment | saw that
| 1t renamed precisely as in the long pasta
| somewhat gloomy place at any time. but
now rendered weird by Moreland'S tale.
| knew that his two glazing eyes at the
| threshold followed my every movement.
| as. holding the lamL up. l looked Gbout.
| There were the boOkshelyes, the globe, the
| busI of Horace. the writing-table, but
| ENTHUSIASTICALLY, eagerly, anxiously as
| looked, IN the center, IN every corner-did
| L SEQ a hand.
DO you see iti" Philip called out
| hesitated. but instantly reflected that
| | could not deceive him. Before [ could re-
| ply, however. he tn shed excitedlv. almost
ferociously. in. snatched the lamp from my
! hand, and. catching my arm. pulled me To
| the table. Then. holding che light toward
the end, he pointed with his long, fore
finger. Bur L saw nothing. Slowly his
| head Turned around, and his gaze, fierce
now. foil upon me.
| Don't Won seq it,"
NO, Philip" answered, family, II see
| nothing"
| There, there" he almost screamed;
right there-two inches from my finger, a
| hand reaching out from black spot in the
air. There. there-a hand with a scar in
| the palm. There. therr-nOw you see it,"
| No. Philip" | said Il DO not see it,
With u low moan he dropped the lamp
upon The table, and sank upon his knees,
| crying:
MY God. my God, 1t is an hallucina-
| tIonl'
was myself so agilated that cannot
| tell bow l brought him down to his room.
I lie was Frustrated. His popularity,
| strengthened by the case of his grand
| father. was TO fear an hallucination more
| than spirit hand. aud / that this
fear, now subsjanIIated by my failure to
! see the vision. would soon torture him to
death. In the desperate hope of snving
| partitions. reading carefully the cases of Ber-
nardotte. Earl Grey, NicOlai and many
| Others. was speedily convinced that Philip
was the victim OF Il phantasm and know
ing that the mental arrangement had come
/ To him IN the way he had related and by
! heredIty. / saw little hope of n cure. There
/ was one cAauce, however, and L resolved
TO try II. read that apparItions are some
| times driven away by natural means; thus
! if it seems To the victim that the apparI-
/ tIon comes for some purpose and he is made
/ 10 believe that the purpose has been &C
| complIsbed, the imaginary ylstant de-
| parts.
did not have 70 look very deep to find a
| plausible object for tho reaching out of the
| hand. Ii bad appeared OF the night after
/ haA learned m In