The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-06-07

and misery frCm the eternal abyss--but
was there anything else? What was and
what had been the world Of sense and OF
knowledge, my own consciousness, my
very self-aiI seemed gathered up and
swept away In that one sole existent fury
of sound.
/ pulled myself together, and getting
out of bed CROPPED my way to the table,
which stood between the bed and the fire
place. The matches We're there and my
half burned candle, which I lit. The
wind, penetrating the rafting easement,
circled round the room, and the flame 81
my candle bent and fared and shrank
before it, throwing strange, moving lights
and shadows in every corner. l stood
there shivering in my thin nightdress,
half stunned by the cataract of noise beat
ing on the walls outside, and peered anx-
iously around me. The room was not the
same. Something was changed. What
was 1t? How the shadows lcaped and fell,
daDcing in time to the winds music!
Everything seemed alive. l turned my
head slowly TO the left and then to the
right and tI.en round and stopped with .
sudden gasp of fear.
The cabinet was open!
l looked away and back and again.
There was no room for doubt. The doors
were thrown back and were waving gen
tly in the draft. One of the lower
drawers was pulled out, and in sudden
fare of candle light l could see something
glistening at its bottom. Then the light
dwiDdled again. The candle was almost
out, and the cabinet showed a dim black
n1ass in the darkness. Up and down went
be flame, and each returning brightness
flashed back at me from the thing inside
the drawer. i stood fascinated, my eyes
fixed upon the spot, waiting for the fitful
glitter as it came and went. What could
be there? / knew that l must go and see,
but did not want to. If only the cabinet
would close again before had looked, be-
fore I knew what was inside it! But 1t
stood open, and the glittering thing lay
there, dragging me toward itself.
Slowly at last and with infinite reluc-
tance l went. The drawer was lined with
soft white satin, and upon the satin lay a
long, slender knife, hilted and sheathed In
antique silver, richly set with jewels.
took it up and turned back to the table to
examine it, 1t WAS Italian in workman
ship, and I knew that the carving and
chasing of the silver were more precious
even than the jewels which studded it.,
and whose rough setting gave SO firm a
grasp to my hand. Was the blade as fair
as the covering, / wondered? A little re-
sistance at first, and then the long thin
steel slid easily out. Sharp and bright
and finely tempered it looked, with its
deadly, tapering point Stains, dull and
irregular, crossed the fine engraving on
its surface and dimmed its polish. bent
to examine them moro closely, and as
did so a sudden stronger gust Of wind
blew out the candle. 1 shuddered little
ut the darkness and looked up. But it
did not matter. The cur5ain was still
drawn away from the window opposite
my bedside, and through it a food OF
moonlight was pouring in upon floor and
bed
Putting the sheath down upon the ia
BILE / walked to the window to examine
the knife more closely by that pale light.
How gioriously brilliant it was, darkened
now and again by the quickly passing
shadows of wind driven clouds! At least
so / thought, and glanced up and out Of
the window to see them A black world
met my gaze Neither moon was there
nor moonlight The broad silver beam in
which l stood stretched no farther than
the window. / caught my breath, and
my limbs stiffened as looked. No moon
or cloud, no movement in the clear. calm,
starlit sky, while still the CHASTITY light
stretched round me, and the SPECTRAL shad-
ows drifted across the room.
But 10 was not all dark outside. One
spot caught my eye, bright with livid,
nnearthly brightness-the Dead stone,
shining out into the night like an ember
from hell's furnace. There was horrid
semblance of life in the light-a palpitat-
ing, breathing glow-and my pulses beat
in time to it till seemed to be drawing
il into my veins. 1t had no warmth, and
Us it entered my blood my heart grew
colder and my muscles more rigid. My
fingers clutched the dagger hilt till its
jeweled roughness pressed painfully into
my palm. All the strength of my strained
powers seemed gathered in that grasp,
and the more tightly held the more WV
idly did the rock CLEAN and culver with
internal life. The dead woman! The dead
womanl What had to do with her? Let
her bones rest out there under the accurs-
ed stone.
And now the noise of the wind lessons
in my ears. Let it go on-yes. louder and
wilder, drowning my senses in its tumClt.
What is there with me in the room, the
great empty room behind me? Nothing
only the cabinet, with its waving doors.
They are waving to and fro, to and fro
! know it. But there is no other life in
the room but that-no, no; no other life
In the room but that.
oh, don't let the wind stopi can't
hear anything while it goes on-but IL 10
stopsl All, the gusts grow weaker, strug-
Cling, forced into rest. Now-now they
have ceased.
Silencel
\ fearful pause
What is that that hear, there, behind
me in the room?
Do hear it: Is there anything'
The throbbing of my own blood in my
ears.
No, moi There is something as we'll
something outside myself.
What is it?
Low. heavy, regular.
Godi 1t is--it is the breath of living
creaturel a living creature 'here-closs
to me-alone with me!
The numbness of terror conquers me-
can neither stir nor speak. Only my
whole soul strains at my ears to listen.
Where does the sound come fromi
Close behind me, close.
Ah-h,
1t is from there-from the bed where I
was lying a moment ago.
try TO shrek, but the sound gurgles
unuttered in my throat. clutch the stone
mullion OF the window and press myself
against the panes. If l could but throw
myself out-anywhere anywhere away
from that dreadful sound, from that thing
close behind me in the bedi But can do
nothing The wind has broken forth