The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-07-29

perceptibly, and his eyes CLEAN brighter.
and his back arch. and his bold, majestic
tail stretch itself in an act of defiance.
But surely it was an h~allucination, be-
d the cat was still in his place, i'm
passible, and gave no sign of moving
from his column.
Allthese small things, insignificant and
extraordinary at the same time, had i'm
pressed and disturbed me. BY instinct,
by nature, l don't fancy what l cannot
explain. I am a foe to the supernatural,
the marvellous, the mysterious. | like
to see clearly within and around myself.
l, you see, am Of a well balanced and
sound temperament. Nervousness. NOR
bidness ana such nonsense annoy me
end are r%epugnant to me.
And as | think know myself pretty
well, / was surprised and bored by a
state &C mind so contrary to my habits
ana nature. Evidently ny physio-psy-
Geological system vas in a moment OF
crisis.
How could l get out of it-be cured?
Must l, too, take the first train and 80
into the country? Perhaps that would
be the best way. But unfortunately !
could not. / had an important engage
ment to supply some work, and could
not run away and leave it for whims of
a dreamer fit for a hysterical woman.
per bacco!' I told myself. PAY no
attention to the thing! Let US be a man.
what, the deuce"
And l returned home that evening as
e1 = H. 4.I -scs&n Tho
cafe.
Ihad planned to work hard that even
/ ing, in order to make haste to finish.
Having entered the house l made as
usual an inspection of the apartment
and found everything as before. Not
even a chair out Of place. Then l went
into my study and lighted the gas. to be-
gin work.
But as soon as l seated myself at the
desk and cast a glance upon the manu-
script where l had left off writing, a
marvellous. amazing surprise awaited
me.
You must know that l was writing a
~novel-oh, what a novel! Something
fine, exceptionally fine! A romance like
that surely no one ever wrote. The
real and the fanciful, the romantic, the
classic, the naturalistic, were skillfully
mingled in it.
Now that day when I went out had
interrupted the story at a very interest
ing point, and the period ended thus:
He burst into q sonorous laugh OF
scorn: he was very sure that the time OF
phantoms and specters was long past!
That apparition then gave him no fear.
1t must be a trick"
had left it there.
Taking up the pen in order to con-
tinue. with my good cigar lighted in my
mouth, l cast my eyes on the paper. and
what did 1 see?
Just heavens! What indeed!
Directly below the last line written by
me had been written n word only:
, Fool! There it was, ironical and men,
? acing, in Gothic letters, which showed
the handwriting of a former age.
Who had traced this s%cOrnful and
| hooking word? You can imagine wheth,
er l remained amazed. l will say even
9 more-I felt an impression of terror.
l Ny servant did not know how to read OF
write. No one had come into the house
during the day. Then by whom had the
words been written?
t grew livid and felt myself shudder.
l sprang to my feet. felt the hail
y stand on end upon my head and a cold
perspiration trickle down my forehead
v Tic, the accursed stuffed cat, looked
fxedly at me, and his green eyes seemed
t to dilate and become variegated with
a thousand colors. But was that cal
really stuffed? Or was he not rather
q alive by virtue of some witchcraft?
All at once ! reused myself. l had
feeling Of shame and rage; and furious
I striking with a heavy fist on the writing
desk, l exclaimed:
9 But who is the demon who has writ
ten this word? | would like to know
v him to twist his neckT'
i If were to live a thousand years,
shall never forget what happened then.
Ihad hardly finished speaking thos
words when the study resounded witt
d mocking laughter-dry. strident. infer
% nal.
j. Then the wall opened suddenly, an
10 there came forth a m wrapped i
q great black mantle. And Tic, the &C
70 cursed cat. made a leap from his pillar
n and mewing as he had never mewed i
E, his lifetime went to rub himself agains
lie that mysterious being.
l drew back more dead than alive
er Still, l had enough presence Of mind
stretch a hand behind me, open a drawe
of the desk and take out a loaded re
7e volver. AS soon as | had seized tn
ID weapon l felt safer.
I raised nv arm and pointed the RI