The Monmouth inquirer., 1894-01-04

HIS VIE. AMLflcr ttACbtEf nav l1lA dI[J<1SA
plished the principal object Of her resiss
dence in Paris-the education Of her FAM
with pleasure to return,
and in little more than q year they found
themselves again in the chateau Of their
ancestors.
About eight years after their return from
Paris, the family mansion demanding re-
pairs, they found it necessary to remove
for some time to Alarseilles, where they
resided in the house Of ". Danville, the
father of Nine Nalsste
Time had effaced the impression Of his
dream from the mind Of Yalette. Sitting
one night after snpper in the midst of his
fa1s5ly, q loud and sudden knocking was
heard at the gate, but when the servant
went to open it he found nobody without.
After a short interval the same loud knock
ing was again heard, and one Of Naiette's
sons accompanied the servant to the gate
to see who demanded adnittance at SO un-
reasonable an hour To their astonish-
ment. no one was TO be seen there A
third time the knocking was repeated, still
louder aud louder, and a sudden thought
darted across the mind Of Valette.
II will 60 to the gate myself, said he.
HI believe I know who it is that knocks.
His presentiment rs2ss too truly realized
As he opened the gate LIE Brun appeared
and whispered TO him that the next night at
the same hour-for it was now the twelfth
hour-he must prepare himself TO leave the
world. Then, waving his hand, as If to
bid adieu, LIE Brun disappeared.
NJ. Valette returned, ghastly as the
phantom he had seen, to the family circle.
and upon their anxious and urgent inQuir-
les as to the cause of his uneasiness re-
lated for the first time the incident of the
dream and the promised warning he had
just received. A sudden gloom and mel
anchoIy were spread over the faces of all
present. Nine. Valette threw her arms
round the neck of her husband and en-
braced him, with tears NJ. Danville, how
ever, obstinately declared his incredulity
and considered the whole as one Of those
unaccountable Illusions TO which even the
strongest minds are sometimes liable He
declared his son-in-law must be the victim
of some delusion, and although be could
not account for his dream said that this
last vision must be mere imagination.
No sooner had u. Valette retired to his
apartment than M. DanviIle endeavored to
impress the same opinion on the family of
his son-inalaw. Apprehensive lest the very
presentiment of the event might occasion
it, or at least be attended by disagreeable
consequences, be thoughto device which,
as mayor of the city, it WIS in his power
easily to accomplish. Ihis was to cause
all the clocks of Marseilles to be put for
ward one hour, that they might strike the
predicted hour-of 70 next night when It
should be only II, SO that when the time
set by the ghost should be believed By
Valette to have passed over without any
event supervening, he might be persuaded
to give up the faneies with which he was
SO deeply impressed
Next day the unhappy Valette made ev-
cry effort to arrange his worldly affairs,
had his Will executed in due legal form,
received the sacrament and prepared him
self for the awful event be anticipated.
The evening approached From a large
open window which looked into beautiful
garden he saw the sun go down, as he be-
ieved, for the last time.
The lamps were now lighted in the hall,
and he sat in the midst of his family and
partook of the last supper which, he be-
1ieYed, he was ever to eat upon EARTH
The clocks of Marseil1es toiled the eleventh
hour.
q Ny dearest Marie, = said he to Nine
ya1ette, Il have now only one hour to live
There IS but one hour betwixt me and eter-
nityv
It approached. There was an unusual
silence in the company. The twelfth hour
struck, when, rising up, he exclaimed;
Heaven, have mercy on mel My time
is comef'
He heard the hour distinctly rung out
by all the bells in Marseilles-
tThe angel Of death. said be, Hdelays
his coming. Could all have been delu-
siong No, it is irnpossisle!7
The ghost, " said NJ Danville IN tone
of irony. has deceived you. Heis a lying
prophet. Are you not yet safe? Thewhoie
thing is the illusion of an unhealthy in-
aginafion. You should banish, my FRIEND
a thought which so completely overwhelms
you. =
swell, . reioined valette, ssGod's viii
be donei I shall retire to my chamberand
spend the night in grateful prayer for so
signal deIiverance.
After having been nearly an. hour in his
chamber NJ Valette recollected that he
had left unsigned in his library docu-
ment of importance to his family, to which
it was necessary his name should be af-
fixed In passing frosn his bed chamber
to the library he had to cross by the head
of a flight Of stairs, which. led Immediate
ly down to the wine cellar. At this spot
he heard a faint murmur OF voices below,
and instantly ran down. to the bottom of
the stairs to ascertain the cause. No soon
er had he descended than an unseen hand
stabbed him to the heart. At this moment
the clocks ia Marseilles struck one IN the
morning, or, as it really was, II at night
the exact time predicted by lie Brun.
The cellar of NJ Danville had been bro
ken into by robbers, Who, perceiving them
selves discovered, saw ne other means OF
escape than By numbering the i'll fated Va
iette, by whom they had been surprised
These men were unconscious instruments
in the hand CT fate.-San Francisco Argo-
naut.
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