The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1894-11-03

lir into tho musty apartment. l tasten-
ed back the Grc pcries Of the tall bed ana
threw back the long unused bedding,
the odor of which reminded n Of cere-
To relieve this somewhat I COW
cred the pillow with nly coat, Il re-
only my cutter garments l lay :
for l was greatly fati.Eed with
an exercise K (which was total
~ ul.accuTtoraed. Il
Hiy candl. / had. with 2 few drops o.
wax, affixed 20 a small table !
near tho center Of the room, and having
desire to renal, il darkness III tins
lo,:e,y pl,cc l left it burning,
As | lay there, wondering at my
....;a surrouEGiu..s ..i4Au. ~4.-getht:
..ua Iro1a "a se;:sc o1 ;esr ST the rlitlca
;;nti shadows III the deserted! place., / n""
noticed for the first time I!,at Beyond
,.v candle and q little to the lett there
Lua, against the PARTITION wall s"parGt-
iag the two ROOMS q full length portrait
of {. lady. The picture YVES an OIL pant
in. and the execution admirable. 1t was
fully life size, aud the frame that III
closed il wide and elaborate, although
now furnished and dusty.
But it was the figure itself that most
attracted ms. The face was that Of Il
woman not beyond 20 years Ct ago a;it'
beautiful in the extreme. Hen hair was
a wealth of glisteniag gold. her dress
that Of u hride. The picture appeared to
have suffered but little from age, and
the light as it fell uroa it made the
view from my position remarkably good.
As l lay there in silent contemplation
Of this beautiful portrait l forgot any
incipient fears that had lowered about
me and fell to specializing upon tho his
tory of this deserted house and tho ssory
Of that fair bride.
Twas too tired 80 muse long. Ny eye
lids grew heavier, and ! caught myself
m:ngiing fact and fancy without being
able to distinguish them. Then I fell
asleep.
I do not know what time it was when
Invoke, but it must have been very late,
fer / noticed that the candle had burned
low and was daring wildly as from q
draft. At that moment q fear came upol,
mo such rs l had never known. An lei
HESS seemed creeping over my body, be-
ginning at my feet and extending rapid
iy upward / was trembling as with an
ague.
4 slight rastlinS sound from the next
room attracted ane, and turning my eyes
iuvoluntarily in that direction / almost
expired from fear, for into the chamber,
her head bowed and wringing her hands
in evident distress of mind, there en-
tered tllolady OF the portrait. The conn
terpart was exact-the dress, the pattern
Of the lace, even the rings upon hel
slender white fingers. That it was ;
spirit / never for a moment doubted.
Slowly she approached the bodsid,
without noticing me at first and seated
herself in q heavy armchair q few fee
away, still moaning and wringing he
beautiful hands. Raising her eyes a
last, she seemed to become conciouss Q
my presence and spoke.
"Oh, pray for me-" she moaned
"pray for my soul. Oh, pray for me.
know not what power possessed III
at shat moment, but suddenly, in spit
of my abjecs terror, I found myself up
right upon my knees in the bed pourin;
forth q prayer for the beautiful, dis
tressed spirit before me. As the word
fell from my lips-words which SCENE,
to be uttered through rather than b.
mel noticed that she seemed to groy
:calmer and at last turned her sorrow
stricken face full upon Inc. / noticed
too, and with the utmost terror, tina
the candle had burned down to tn
wood, and that in another moment W
would be in darkness. Still the earnes
words poured from my lips, and tn
face before me seemed to be CROWN;
misty in the Pickering light of the ex
'piring candle. Suddenly the figure ros
from the chair, and taking one step to
ward me stretched forth her exquisit
arms above mine and vanished. As sh
did SO / distinctly felt something hot
like wax from a dripping candle, fal
upon the back Of NY right hand. A
that instant, too, tho candle gave ON
final fare and went out
When consciousness returned, | wa
lying across the bed, and the sun wa
streaming in at the open window. Fo
moment I was q little dazed at NJ,
surroundings; then it all came back t
me Seized with 81 wild panic-sucl
panic rs possesses stampeding cattle
caught mp my clothes and my horse
saddle and fed AS passed the portrai
its eyes seemed to follow me and adde.
to my terrors. Through the dust,
rooms. out Of the weed grown yard,
tore Us one distraught to where III,
horse was quietly waiting. A momen