The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-02-05

THE MAN BEFORE Me WAS MYSELF.
markably unimaginative, the two sure signs
of such a character being a want of humor
and want of fear, for only imaginative
people are witty or nervous. / am neither.
Moreover, / enjoy unvarying good health,
nor have 0or ! have been examined) any
ocular defect which might explain the
sight ] saw as n delusive vision. SO IL Is i'm
all Ignorance Of causes, perhaps purely ma
terial, perhaps mysterious beyond our ken,
that lay before you the plain nAra alton Of
the fact.
Some years ago took lodgings 10 the
neighborhood Of st. James park Being
somewhat proud Of my new abode, was
one day exhibiting IL 10 my old friend,
John Hoyle. He was, as in duty bound,
expressing his approval OF things In gener
al when, glancing into my bedroom, his eye
caught a heavy bronze bust, which for its
utter lack OF beauty had been consigned 10
high shelf in that apartment.
"Rather risky, that ancestor Of yocrs up
there, isn't hei" said Hoyle
"Oh, safe ~ "A house, John" I replied
and thought no more about it, Indeed so
careless was / that Few days afterward,
because Of draft that ran through my
room, | had my bed moved and placed
right beneath the shelf on which the bust
rested
Some time elapsed, and one evening was
returning in the dusk OF the twilight from
my work along the path which skirts St.
James park. ] was tired and somewhat
out Of spirits and walked modify along
with eyes fixed upon the ground, but can
not say now that had any real prescience
OF evil.
When bad got about half way along the
path, became conscious of the presence OF
some person walking la front Of me-a
presence / had not before noticed. Raising
my eyes, ] SAW at about 20 PAGES ahead "A
figure that seemed strangely familiar TO
me. The man was walking az the same
pace as myself, with his eyes on the ground,
as mine had been just before The strange~t
part OF the affair was that familiar IS his
whole appearance seemed. / could not for
the life at me recall his name or ia any way
fix his identity. This not only aroused my
curiosity, but somewhat irritated me, as
one j. irrtated az "a trick played by ones
memory. Iqu.ekened my pace in order to
get mp 10 the mal before me. and az / did
so bis walk. h.s clothes, his hands claspcd
behind Lin, the whole man became more
and more familiar TO me, but il was not till
had perred into his face in the gathering
dusk that my growing suspicion became
certainty, and knew that the man before
me was myself
hung back, startled, dismayed, but with
ns yet no sensation Of actual fear. never
thought of flight. / was attracted 10 the
figure before me and compelled TO follow,
my reason struggling with NEAL the while.
People Lad been called doubles" before
now; there were hundreds Of cases OF curl
GUS likeuCsses. Why should not this be like
the rest? But all the while | knew 10 was
not. u was not the mere face and figure
that were the same-the clothes, the hair
on the face. the wear Of the very boots.
every detail told me that this was no mere
hkencss-that this was my own image. SO
] followed, with my mind all restless with
dazed thoughts and feelings which cannot
now define. The position was SO strange,
30 new, that my mind could not grasp 10.
Onthc man walked, slowly, terribly slow
ly, ia the direction 90 my home. Down the
street, ! following. he went, paused at my
door, unlocked il and entered.
! have said. / believe with truth, that I
am not n man who Is easily frightened, bat
then no that moment thechill horror Of fear
seized me-
Before my sensations had been so unde-
fined that ! had not been actually afraid:
now the sense ~ loneliness. separation even
from che mysterious figure that had gone
ia az nay door weighed me down with a ter
or of what Go all might mean. ! dared not
enter and meet that presence ia the dark
ness of the house. / could not get right
away; a fascination held me 20 the spot so
all night long ] hung about the streets
around trying 10 catch glimpse of the
house as often as | could without orousing
the curiosity OF the people about, for some
thing more than fear Of ridicule prevented
me from telling my story TO any one.
At last the eternal night was over. The
morning broke, and with the light came
confidence. FOR the fears Of the day are
never like the fears of the night When IL
was broad daylight aud the world was
soon 90 he astir. faced the task / un-
locked the door aud entered In the hall, on
the stairs, all was still aud uudisturbed.
passed into my sitting room. There was
no one thcre-all was as / left H. Ia the
bedroom, no one. but there where l should
have lain aslecp-the bronze had crashed
upon the bed