Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-09-01

VI course l can, you crock" l re-
turned. Il can walk around any
room"
''Ah. but I mean OF the outside. You
see, this room is in the middle of the
| house, between four intersecthing cor
! TidCrs so that you can walk right
around the four walls"
There was nothing else remarkable
about my room. 1t was comfortably
furnished Against the wall opposite
my bed, and nearly under the skylight,
stood a large sofa, which seemed an
unusual piece of furniture for a bed
room. 1t was too big to go through the
door, and I was inclined to think that
it must have been lowered into the
room by a derrick before the roof was
put on.
turned into bed, but found it i'm
possible to sleep. A strange bed al
ways means several wakeful hours to
me, and l lay with my eyes closed, lis
tening to the old stable clock as 1t
savagely changed out its quarters and
practiced every effort of mechanical
repetition that seemed likely to soothe
my restless brain.
sleep in despair and lay on my back
wide awake.
! began to picture to myself the most
horrible phantoms | could imagine, to
see if l could make myself nervous or
frightened. 1 thought of figures with
rolling eyes and gibbering lips, phan-
toms that carried their heads under
their arms; shadowy, formless objects
of mist, but all to no purpose. My
ghosts were feeble frauds. | could not
invest them with the nameless dread,
and l laughed at them.
l must have fallen asleep as was
/ thus meditating, for when I next
awoke the moon was high in the heav-
ems and shown brightly through the
skylight into my room. My eyes at
/ once fell on the face of a beautiful
young woman, who was arranging her
hair at a mirror that stood on a table.
which seemed to me TO nc have been
IN the room when l retire :. was
about to utter an exclamation when a
look Of terror came into her face. a
terror so intense as to freeze me into
an unspeakable silence. She seemed to
be listening TO a noise without. In
the next strained moment the figure
vanished.
As l was turning over TO sleep again
l heard a light footstep in the corridor
at the head OF my bed. It passed along
the wall and was followed by heavier.
though yet stealthy, tread. BY this
time my faculties were fully aroused,
and, sitting up, l listened intensely.
Suddenly the first footsteps broke in
to rapid pattering, as though in fight,
and the pursUer's heavier tread was
corresponding accelerated. Twice
they sped around my chamber, and as
they passed along the corridor nearest
to my bed I thought that I could hear
their painting breaths.
At the third round my bedroom door
flew open, and the young lady I had
seen before dashed in and dropped ex-
hausted upon the sofa She was fol-
lowed by a man dressed in black. who
carried a murderous looking knife in
his hand. She looked at him implor-
ingly as he stood over her for an in
slant, but spoke never a word.
In that moment of time / could see
] ~
moonlight, and have never forgotten
them The girl was fair, with long hair
streaming down her shoulders, and her
lovely face was contracted with mortal
/ terror. The man was of medium height
with a low forehead, ark mOustache,
and an expression that reminded me,
grotesuuely enough. of the trade mark
upon the Demon" tennis racquets.
l was summOning up courage to
! spring out of bed when the man raised
the hand that grasped the knife. I
saw the weapon uplifted above his
head. I saw the girl throw up her
hands in despair, and then a thick
/ cloud passed over the moon and placed
nv chamber in total darkness.
The next point in my memory follow
| ing that awful scene was a loud ham,
mering upon my door. and William
/ Towards cheerful voice demanding 10
] know if I meant TO sleep all day. II
was nine o'clock upon a clear October
/ morning. and my bedroom loked as
commonplace in tn daylight as though
/ II had been situated in a London hotel.
/ 7 must confess that l examined the sofa,
but found no traces of disturbance and
/ 7 dressed. feeling ashamed OF myselt TOT
| being frightened at an ordinary night
+ mare. A trashy ghost story of How
| ards. a walk around the corner by
candle light and an uncomfortable bed
were materials enough to furnish TWEEN
" similar dreams, and I went down to
/ breakfast resolved to say nothing OF my
/ experience.
During the morning we attempted 10
work nj our novel, but Howard was
fdgetv and restless, with the result that
we accomplished very little. After
lunch we ordered a trap for the vii
lace inn to fetch Mr.. GrOsvenor's lug
gage from the station, AM kad
tb.ther TO meet the train.
Mr.. Grosvenor was too poor to keep
a carriage. his income being mil!ted 70
the revenue from one or two farms and
his large garden. The station, however
was but half mile distant and, the
dav being fine, We should have pre-