The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-03-10


scattering Of the letters. 10 that Mrs.
Goodwin. for Afr Goodwin be knew was
away, wenld be certain 70 discover
them the next morning. Of course the
natural anpposition would be that the
house had been entered BY d common
burglar. and that before lid had had
time 10 steal anything be had been
frightened nwuy by some noise. Bnt
ii spite ~ bis precautions. the photog-
ripler failed 10 conceal his guilt, and
oaiy part Of what no desired hap.
pened Tho divorce was brought
Aboan but caliahansa hope that be
rsight subsequently marry Mrs. God
win. and derive bcneflt from the large
fortune which she held Ia her own
right was blasted lie Ind cultivated
lei habhand's acquaintance for years.
81 the purpose of finding an cpportun.
lsy or The qualification of his eyil de-
ziFcs Tie opportunity had ~ last
come. but in his attempt 10 use II, he
Ind been thoroughly thwarted
Although bic had stolen nothing, the
acs 81 breaking Into the house consti-
tsted buTglnfy and he was sent to-
prison fpr few years. Il Il here IN.
Icrrssissgtp note that the maneuyers
which h4onglit iIl.nck 70 Callahan
brought good luck to me. Soon after
iie want e. prison married Mrs. God
Tin and have since lived happily with
nor During his imprisonment the
photographer broodedover histroublea,
and when he was released he was In a
mnF1lerons mood. One evening, while
ny wife and were walking ID 4 thin1y
settled district of the city, we were
startled by two pistol shots fired III
rapid sncccssion ~ some one behind
us~ II turned around aud running a
few feet back grappled with our rs
sujlant threw him upon the ground,
and succeeded in holding him there mn.
ill two men. who happened to be IN the
vicinity hurried to my assistance. The
villain was Callahan, who had secretly
followed me and my wife until there
ssas favorable opportunity for him to
attempt murder He cursed me In a
fri9htful manner when he found that
he ssus prisoner. second time he
was punished bY being incarcers
ated Three years later, know
ing that he had disease that
would soon end his life, he bequeathed
his remains FOR mathematical purposes
to the physician Of the prison, 10 whom
&c had taken great liking. was
we'll acquainted with this doctor, and
lis token III his esteem he presented
me with Callnhnn's skull, lie being well
aware that was az that time engaged
iamalking choice collection Of skulls
of all sizes
"The skull was placed In my coilec-
ton, Which was kept in 4 closet cons
nectad with my ofiiee, and ! thought no
more ahont It until ono day was
seized with The desire 10 scc how the
Skulls would look when arranged SO
that they could all be seen AZ once.
Accordingly placed them III three
rows on i broad table IN my Office, Cal
lahan's being ia the center Of the front
row, being accorded, us. II were, the
place 81 honor. had just seated my
self ID chnir for the purpose Of gazing
at the array ia an adrniring manner,
when a messenger arrived and asked
me 70 visit d patient whose symptoms
had suddenly become alarming.
III was late at night when Ireturned
to my oflire lighted gas Jet, bot
turned on So little gus that the flame
was small seated myself ia the
chair which had left when disturbed
by The visitor, and gazed Ut the skulls
which were about ten feet distant
They locked uncanny. unearthly. per-
haps, ID d better word. in the dim light.
had always prided myself on not be-
ing auperstitious, and had frequently
laughed 1T friends who stood in awe Of
the supernatural. But somehow as 1
gazed ut that CHASTITY array Of grinning
skulls, listened TO the solemn tick Of a
great clcck that rested on top Of desk,
felt that was alone and that all Of the
people ia tho city except few watch.
men wcre sleeping. ] felt a chill run
down NY back and my heart began to
thninp as tho thought came 10 mo that
those skulls might move against me.
Might not Callahan, who had tried 10
|ixiIi ME, who had hated me intensely
during his second term Of imprison-
ment, be able to introduce his troubled
spirit into his skull, marshal the spirits
belonging To the other skulls. each
spirit In its appropriate receptacle, and
as d horrid deaths army, SO to speak,
swopp upon mo and quickly batter ont
my brains 1t was a fantastic. an ut
terly absurd idea, but It was neverthe-
less the kind ii idea that disturbs q
person whenthe nerves are shalty.
II soon recovered myself, however.
and smiled with contempt for my mo-
nentary weakness. But the next in
slant frightfpl fascination compelled
me to stare at the skull Of Callahan,
There was slight noise in it and it
actually moved a little. The lidIess
eyes APPEARED to glare and the jaws
about The gaping mouth 70 move upand
down sprang to my feet and, grasp
| ing the back Of the chair with both
hands, raised IL ia readiness for an at
tack The skull moved again, moro de-
cidedly than before. and tremblcd all
over There was loud rattle. big
movement Of the skull, II crashed I'd
the floor and bounded to my feet /
| jumped ~ high that my head grazcd the
ceiling, and as / came down the skull
shook violently, turned over. and ont
sprang q big rat that scampered across
the door and disappeared.
II feltsheepish enough had been
frightened like child by something
that was as far removed from the SUI
pernntural. as anything that could well
be imaginels never dared speak Of
the occurrence 70 my friends lest the
efnrv shnatId +cach tha aara ,,f Ana a., \