Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-05-19
"Iola!" | exclaimed.

the tapping woke me. 1t was just
the same sound that l heard be-
fore. Whilst | was looking at
the blind before the open win
dow, the tapping stopped, and saw
finger come down between the third
and fourth laths from the bottom,
and turn the third; after that the
finger slid in between the next two,
and turned the second. Then l saw
her two lustroIs black eyes looking
through. Almost Immediately after
ward they disappeared. Don't be
afraid. Lola said, in low voice:
for l feared, ii she were frightened, she
might slip from that terribly narrow
ledge. l waited a few minutes, to give
her time to get back to the bay, if she
intended to, and then, l drew up
the blind and looked out.
There was no one there, and the
window in the bay was as we left it
last night closed"
"Are you sure it was Lola?" ask
ed.
eyes, they were her eyes"
"Do you know what time it was
when you saw her?' l asked.
II can be sure of that, for taking
my watch from the stand it fell,
breaking the glass and stopping the
nanas, ana very soon after that I
heard the clock strike"
She showed me the watch; the
minute-hand was so bent that it
could not pass the hour-hand; when
l lifted it, the movement recommend
ed, proving that the spring had not
run down.
The hour marked by the hands
was five minutes to one.
cat five minutes to one Lola was
sleeping at my door" | said.
CHAPTER VIII.
Edith could not say whether the
lath she had seen turned were open
when she went to the window. and
there were no means OF confirming the
fact afterward, because in pulling up
the blind they would, if open, be re-
turned to their former position. In
face OF my evidence, she was firmly
convinced that what she had seen and
heard was an extraordinary illusion
OF the senses, parallel to that which
furnishes the sole excuse for q toler-
ably widespread belief in supernatural
appearances. She was ashamed OF
the feebleness OF mind which her expe-
riences seemed to imply, and, resolved
to overcome the Weakness, resisted
all her fathers persuasions to change
those conditions under which she had
passed the last two nights.
Van HOeck alone refused to believe
in Edith's hallucination.
zone has only to hear Miss La
scehes speak to discredit q notion Of
that kind" hes said; "she has every sign
OF mental vigor and physical strength.
and to accuse such a girl of that kind
of morbid insanity called hallucina-
derstanding as to believe in the sim
plicity and honesty of O vagabond
Californian card. sharper, and the half
breed wench he chooses to call his
daughter.
When night came, he said to me,
after we had separated from the
rest
'"rhis is no timefor sleep, Thorne; we
must watch through the night, wheth-
err you like it or not, if it is only for
Miss Lascelles' saile'
Ireadily agreed to this. an for an
hour we walked ON q part Of the lawn
from which 1 could see Ediths win
dow Then the rain, which had been
drizzling for some time, fell heavily,
and forced us to 80 in.
We changed our boots for
slippers, and together in my
room, / with a book. he
with his chin IN his hands, his face
hideous with the light OF the lamp on
his protruding eyes.
Heaven knows, | was not wanting
in love for Edith, or solicitude for her
welfare, and yet l could not keep
awake. 1t must be remembered that
| had had no sleep the preceding night,
and that did believe in Edith's hal
lucination, and therefore saw no
actual danger menacing her. l tried
to interest myself in the book. but
my thoughts gre@ confused, the type
swan before my eyes, and helped
to bemuse my senses. AT length put
down the book, and, shaking my wits
together, said to Van Hoeck,-
'Iet us talk:
'Talk" he muttered scornfully;
"why not ask me to sing you a comic
song? Ii the Kid were here suppose
you wouldn't want me to amuse YOU.
You could keep awake until three or
four in the morning watching her; but,
as it is only your future wife who is
concerned, you are logheaded before
midnight
This sarcasm did not prevent me
doing again few minutes later.
was ashamed OF my drowsiness, and
after minutes doze 1 would wake
with a guilty start, only to drop off
again in a few moments. l know not
how long this had been going on, when
Van Hoeck shook me by the arm, and
woke me thoroughly.
at is counting destruction to
sit here with the door
open, he said, lone of us blind,
and the other dead asleep. can not
stand it any longer; it is intolerable.
Tell me if it rains"
went to the window, and found
that the rain had ceased. told him