Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-30

'.Draw yolr chairs up in from: Of the fire"
he said: Il have some delicious Camembert and
/ will or der q bottle of that rare old Amontil-
hdo to be opened. There is something
strangely. mysteriously fascinating abou: the
hour OF midnight to me, and. to be honest with
you. don't care to be left alone at that hour.
I'm afraid
''Afra:d. msrquis?'' laughed the army officer.
81 can't belieTe 1t. You don know the mean
ing of the word. You mistake the nature of
the sensation. A strong and healthy man Is
never afraid IN the face Of danger. lie may be
agitted- excited. solicitous, but fear, bah, that
quite another thingI'
'.You may sneer all you choose" replied the
marquis in his genial way, "but tell you I'm
afraid
The army officer drew one or two deep puffs
at his cigar. and then broke the solemn silence
which had settled upon the group by saying:
LET me explain myself Fear Is one of the
most frightful of things. hideOus sensation as
II the very soul were undergoing decomposi-
ton 1t Is terrible spasm of the brain, OF the
heart. the very recollection of which gives one
aSOnizing shulGers. But none of this is posi-
bic TO the brave man. neither at the moment of
attack nor when facing inevitable death. nor,
in fact, in the face of any known peril; but
grant you, dear marquis, that 1t might occur
under extraordinary circumstances, under GER
tain mysterious influences, when the risk is
vague and undefinab!e. Genuine fear must be-
lapprehend. something like a sudden reaiiza-
ton of the fantastic terrOrs suffered by the
common people IN the dara ages. a man who
believes in ghosts and who firmly believes that
he Is gazing upon midnight yisitant from an
other world must experience 10 its full extent
the frishtful sensation of fear
And ], my friend exclaimed the marquis
81 once experienced that friGhtful sensation to
such a degree that the firm earth seemed to
melt beneath my feet to a single foothold and
NV very soul to go TO pieces and to leave me
to tOpple over into the abyss OF eternal night"
''Ah. ghost story, my dear marquis" said
the civilian. laughingly.
''Yes, ghost story. my friend" continued
the marquis, 'and yet at heart m no coward.
I've taken many risks in nv day, run many
chances OF nv lie, fought duels and been left
for dead by assassins. L WAS once condemned
to be hanged as an lnsurSent in South America
and on another occasion was thrown over
board on the China coast Each and every
time gave myself up for lost but / DIDN'T
shrink L faced death like a man, And vet
my friends. there was no sensation of fear in
any such experience. not a tIlige OF IL, but ah
II was quite different in the which / am
about to relate 10 you There. it is striking
midnight. and would You believe it, / never
hear clock striking that hour that there
doesn't flash through my mind a remembrance
OF that night. although 1t was more than forty
years ago To my dying day / shall never
quite free myself from the shock. And vet
that terrible sensation lasted only few brief
minutes. but so intense the fear suffered
that have never been able to rid nv soul OF
itseffect- Any sudden sound in the dead of night
any white figure dinily seen in the dark make,
me start To be perfectly honest with YOU.
i m afraid of the dark. when a man las
passed his seyeuty-ffth milestone he can af-
ford to be frank. Ii il permissible for a man
Of that age to turn pale in the face of some
fantastic peril. but let the danger be real and
tangible and will meet II just as calmly as
ever To such oegree did this adventure dis
turb the serenity % my existence, go profound
30 mysterious was the influence which il had
upon me. that fron that day to this i have
never spoken OF il to a living soul / stored
away the secret III those depths of memory in
which We hide painful secrets, or secrets in
yolving shame OF dishonOr, together with all
the indispensable weaknesses OF our existence.
1t was IN ls27, III the month of July and nv
regiment stationed at Rouen. One day.
while out FOR a wax on the quay. l met q man
whose face was familiar to me, and vet could
not exactly place him. Instinctiyely came to
q halt. anu as dill SO he stepped forward and
took me- by the hand Ii was Saint-G Gerry n
school friend whom L had not seen for ten
years As a boy he had been extremely plain
looking; a man he was repulsive. With the
squatty figure of a cut-down Hercules a neck
OF extraordinary thickness and a face redeemed
with scrOtulOus faint, Saint-Gery was not a
man for your soul TO 90 out unto. Although
We were OF the same age, he now looked ten
years my senior. His hair was prematurely
gray and his whole manner denoted a mental
unrest bordering almost upon insanity. Saint
Gerry was the las. OF his race. L suddenly re-
membcred that, and also the fact that he owned
an estate a Few miles out from Rouen- In a
rambling and half violent manner he informed
me that he had quilted his chateau only q few
days before our meeting and that it was his
urn resolve never TO enter IL again. / couldn' t
bring myself to question him concerning this
strange discrimination There some thing
about the mar that was intensely displeasing to
me. and yet must confess that this very re-
pGIslveaess sOnIevay fascinated me-
Thank heaven Tor this meeting" said he
abruptly. FOR ave n favor to ask of you.
II Is To ride out to my old home and get some
papers fo- me- I'll tell you where TO find
them-ln my room, IN my writing desk. For
certain reasons don't want 10 send an orii-
navy messenger. but may trust you. Here's
tie Key To the outside door, that's the KEY to
my room and that 10 my desk. / want Won TO
90 this very afternoon Ill give YOU a few
lines to Roger, my man IN charge Of the place -
Ny hrst impulse Was to excuse myse:f but
on second thought nv love Of the mysterious
my fOndRess Tor adventure, led me 10 accent
Life was into.erably dull at the post and il
would be = pleasant break in the monotony
IL Was only ten or twelve mics out TO the old
Chateau All would have TO do was 20 bring
back with me two packages of letters and a
third package tied with red tape and bearing
his name, al thrse IN the top drawer 10 the
right
lit is hardly necessary for me to tell you. "
he added. THAT you must not examine these
papers even specifically"
These words offended me and / made a mo-
ton to turn away. but Saint Gerry laid his
enormous palm on my shoulder and muttered
out:
Pardon me, 1 didn't know what was saw
inS-my miad was wandering-I trus, you i'm
pllcitly."
half repented Of my acceptance as I fixed
my eyes uPoa that almost ogre-Iike counte-
nance, but it was too late now
Something de tained me at the post anl il
was not until nearly sunset that / rode out of
the town lie weather was superb and was
In the best OF spirits ss skirted the fields al
an easy lopc. listening 10 the iwittering OF the
birds and the measured c!ank of my saber
against my boot Then the road entered a
forest and pulled my horse no 70 a walk. Al
times the branches swept my cheek The
bireheu odOr carried me back to nv child.
hold, and brooks OF twig and began to cnev
lie fragrant bark. IIoitereJ by tie way and
gave myself over to an unaceOuntable feeling
OF content with life. Q tumultuous uoseiliny o.
physical satisfaction; a sort Of iutoxicatiop
from vital strength. and in doing / los,
my way. But / didn't care. l was rather
glad of 1t, for the moon rose in magnificent
failness aud IT occurred TO me that with the
nightingale singing in the bosky underground
should have s-tielicious canter back to the
city.
As drew near to the Saint-Gery estate
iell In with solitary rider whom from some
hlng he let drop in the conversation 1 recog