Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-03-30
The Great Hesper.
CHAPTER V-CoNTINUED.
uY FRANK BARRETT.

II was nearly SOunu asleep Wneu
noticed sound coming from the
window. IL was as if someone were
rapping upon the glass-not loudly,
or quickly, but softly, az though
with she tip OF the finger. and at in
tervals. 1 might have counted
twenty or thirty between one
tap and the next. took little notice
of it at first, thinking that as | had
left the window partly open, it might
DO the wind moving the Venetian
blind but after awhile. the persistent
ap-tap-tap irritated mo. / rose
aud lit candle, then l went TO the
window. The lattice was just as |
had left it The blind hung perfect
ly mot.onless. drew it up and
looked out Thee was q gray mist
everywhere Not breath of air
stirred; the 1ame of the candle
burned as steadily as though the
window had been closed. let down
the blind and listened; there was MT
the slightest sound"
"a Tloth on the ceiling" said Sir
Edmund; "they have worried me IN
the same manner. Then you get
light and the thing stops
Hold on. we amt heerd the last
on it, kin sec, " said the Judge, look
ing at Miss Lasceles intent!y, his
shaggy brows bent over hig quick
eyes.
al explain it as you do, papa. /
put out the light, and tried to sleep.
heard no souni for quite ten min
uteS, and then again that soft. slow
tap-tap-tap came from the window
the same sound, with the same
long interval between them. 1t was
not like the beat of a moths wing.
1t was Ike nothing but the touch OF
q human finger. But tried to think
it was an insect in the wall--the in
sect that is called the death. watch. >
And / did my best to take no notice
of it, but could not help hearing it,
and after time grew frightened
and the sound grew dreadful in my
ears. 1t became uncomfortable; could
not lie there listening passively. l
got up again and struck q match.
The wick of the candle was slow to
light, and during these moments
noticed that the sound had ceased.
AS / say, / was frightened--very
frightened. And the unbroken
silence seemed more terrible than
the sound. There was something
ghostly and supernatural about it.
that brought back the old terror l
used to feel as a child in passing the
room that is said to be haunted at
night. And Just then the clock in
the belfry struck. l dared not go to
the window The first thing that
struck me was that the laths Of the
blind. instead of lying fiat. as they
generally do. when down, and as |
had leftthem, were opened and turned
edgeways you know how mean ?"
She held her hands that trembled,
with the recollection of her terror,
one abo7e the other horizontally.
but the xt thing" she con-
tinued. and then stopped, with lit.
tie shudder, while we who listened
held our breathL-"the next thing
saw was two great black eyes that
caught the light from my candle in
between. the laths OF my bind.
I0boDhf ou0 thCA OOhoAh
with m re frmness-
Il think / fainted--I must have
done SO. for | was cJnocious Of moth
ing after that until | found myself
upon the floor The light was still
burning upon the table. AS recol-
lection returned to me. looked to-
ward the window. The laths were
no longer opened, but turned fat
Then it occurred TO me that all had
seen was merely imaginative-tha
it was merely realistic dream
that had gone through these ex-
periences in my eleep. My great
terror was gone. / went without
fear to the window TO ascertain IL the
night was as had seen it. There was
the gray mist the fame OF the candle
dio not flicker. Nevertheless, when
j locked down and saw how impossi-
BILE II was for anyone TO have stood
outside the window, felt convinced
that me vision OF the eyes too was
imaginary-au outcome OF the fear |
felt when | looked toward the win
dow. ! lay down again, and though