The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1896-07-15
A NIGHT OF HORROR.
THRILLING INCIDENT NEAR
MILLEDGEVILLE.
The Terrible Experience of Young Lady
on Her Bridal Eve. Fastened in
aROom With Violent
Mailman.
From the Atlanta Constitution

From the AtIanLa CONSTITUTION.
A lady in Sylvania, this state, relates
the following story Of most thrilling
experience through which a friend of
hers passed, and which she
saws has never been published. The
story is true one.
1t was near Milledgeville that this
fnend-a beautiful young lady-lived.
She was engaged to be married to
gentleman from another state. The APP
pointed time had come, and the house
was filled with guests for the occasion.
There was one very particular friend,
however, young lady, whom the bride
elect wished to have present, but it was
impossible for her to get there before
the morning after the night appointed
for the marriage. She telegraphed her
friend to come, and postponed the we'd
ding until the following morning.
That night a large reception was held
at the house, and numbers of the guests
remained all night, to be present next
morning. The house being crowded, the
young lady gave up her own room to
friends and with her maid went over in
TO an unused chamber, somewhat sepa-
rated from the Other part of the house,
and which was called the ssblue room.n
1t was up on the second floor and was
connected by lattice work with the main
building Her father pro ested against
her going there, but she said she was
not afraid.
The little maid, after strengthening out
the room, lay down on pallet to sleep,
and the young lady, extingulshing the
light, sat before the dying blaze on the
hearth, lost in reverie.
soon the maid began to sob and said
she felt SO uneasy that she was afraid to
sleep in the room. Not wishing to be
disturbed further, the young lady told
her she could 60, and the girl hastily
sought other quarters.
Seated before the fireplace, the young
bride soon felt strange uneasiness her
self, as if the air was charged with
something. She tried to dismiss it, but
In vain. To still her feelings she man
aged, with great deal of effort, to move
a wardrobe that was in the room against
the door, and thus safely barricaded she
got into bed to go to sleep. But the
restless, uneasy feeling would not leave
her. After a short while she thought
she heard the rattle of chain. She lis
tened at it and attributed it to her imA9i-
nation Again the same sound and more
distinctly. She hardly breathed. Then,
underneath the bed, came the sound of
chain, and thud and clank, as some
thing moved about on the floor. AT last
it crawled out from underneath the bed
and seemed to go to the fire.
She thought perhaps it might be her
fathers dog, which was kept chained in
the yard, and she summoned courage
enough to raise up on her elbow in the
bed and look. By the dim light she
saw an object lying in front of the fire
but could not tell what it was.
She wanted to leap from the bed and
escape, but the thought of the heavy
wardrobe in front of the door deferred
her, and her very blood was chilled when
she realized how she had Imprisoned
herself. She knew she could not move
it in time to escape this chained object,
whatever it might be, should it wish to
seize her.
She lay back on her pillow, almost
paralyzed with fright, and as she didHso
the object before The fire moved. She
could hear the chain clanking and drag
glng, and the sound of slow moving
along the floor. Close the bed it came,
and then 1t climbed up to where she was
lying, the chain rafting behind.
Stricken with terror, and not daring
to move or even breathe, she then per-
ceived that it was man with chain
ABOUT him. He crawled over in the bed,
got under the cover and lay there, per-
tectly still. After long time, through
which she scarcely knew how she lived,
he stretched out his arm, in kind of
WEAKNESS, and it fell upon hers. he
grasped her arm with his hand, but
made no further move She could feel
That his finger nails were long and sharp
and more like the claws of beast than
part of human being. His clutch upon
her arm was hard, but she dared not
move muscle.
through minutes that seemed like
years she waited. At last she heard him
breathing regularly, as if asleep, and
Iaen his grasp upon her arm relaxed
Shipping from the bed, with superhu-
man effort she showed the wardro be