The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-10-10

l could not very well search the apart
ment, 80 waited few moments and then
returned by the balcony to my room The
light in the neighboring apartment
streaned out from the window, but there
was no sound to indicate living presence.
AS I pondered on the affair began to
feel vague fear of this woman, with her
strange beauty and her enigmatic smile,
who said to me, 1t Is your as If she knew
me. I could not drive away the memory
of those green eyes that had flashed at me
from the darkness as she extinguished the
lamp nor of the electric shock that had
thrilled me once when I touched her hair
with my hand.
Scarcely was I In bed again when felt
weight fall upon my legs. 1t was the
golden cat. I pushed her away, but she
returned. Finally gave up the struggle
and fell into troubled sleep, with this
strange companion, as on the other night,
still on my bed
The next night I again entered my
strange neighbours apartment. She SEEM
ed not surprised to see me now, and we
chatted together for half an hour, at the
end of which time she dismissed me, with
smile, but In a way not to be denied, and
returned to my own room. She had told
me that her name was Linda but beyond
that she would give no information about
herself.
And so it ran on for week What had
taken place on the second night was re-
peated again and again. Scarce had left
Linda and returned to my own room when
the golden cat appeared, leaped up on my
bed, installed herself there and remained
until morning. I knew now to whom the
animal belonged. Once when spoke Of
it Linda said; "Oh, yes; my cat. Is it
not the one which seems to be all of
golds'" Nothing new took place, but new
ertheless little by little an intangible ter
FOR took possession of me.
There were moments when these two be-
ings with their great green eyes, their
supple movements and their glory of gold
On hair, became confused in my mind
and seemed to me to be only the dual form
OF single soul In spite of my impor-
tunities Of Linda and my efforts to surprise
her I have never been able to see them at
the same time. I tried to reason with
myself, to convince myself that, as mat
ter of fact, there was nothing absolutely
inexplicable in what had befallen me. I
rallied myself on being afraid Of woman
and a pet cat. And then, as the result Of
all my reasoning, found that in reality 1
was afraid neither of the animal nor of the
woman, but of a symbolioal duality which
existed only in my own mind.
I actually suffered from this obsession.
After the nights In their presence had
days of secret torture such as madmen IN
dergo Little by little resolution was
born, grew and ripened in my mind-the
woman held me by her beauty, but I re-
solved that I should kill the animal.
One evening before going to Linda's
room laid out from my supply of drugs
a pot Of glycerin, a flask of hydrocyanic
acid and one of those little glass sticks
that chemists call mixing rods.
When regained my room, the cat, az
usual, followed me there. called her. and
she ran to me, her back arched her tail
erect, purring. took the glass rod, dipped
the point in the glycerin and held it to-
ward the animal She licked 1t dry with
her rosy tongue. I repeated this operation
three~times. The fourth time 1 dipped the
rod in the acid. The cat licked it unsus-
piciously, and Immediately she became
rigid. Then she bounded into the air and
rolled over and over in terrible agony
Finally she fell back upon the floor with a
fe@rful cry-a human cry, one would al
0lOSb IRtVS Sdlu one was QSaQ.
With great beads of perspiration on my
temples and my hands trembling violently
leaned over the warm body. Her staring
eyes had look in them that froze me-
Her black and swollen tongue stuck out
between her sharp, white teeth. Her limbs
were extraordinarily contorted. With an
extreme effort Of will took the animal up
by her paws and left the house. I hurried
straight before me down the deserted street
to the quays, and there threw my burden
into the river.
Until day broke wandered about the
city, knew not where At last the sky
grew pale with the coming dawn, and I
decided to return to my house. AS my
hand touched the doorknob shivered 1
was afraid of finding still alive, as in Poe's
celebrated story, the animal had just
killed. But no, my room was empty. I
flung myself exhausted ON the bed. For
the first time in days slept, sure OF being
alone
Next day they told me Linda had disap-
Peared. In her room were found her clothes
Everything she had, even to the fllmy
wrap she had always worn when had
seen her. But nothing that could reveal
her identity. The proprietor had rented
the apartment to Mile. Linda, lyric art
ist" He knew nothing more about her.
Who she was and whittier she went remain
a mystery, for which the story have told
offers the only hint of solution.-Adapt-
ed For San Francisco Argonaut From the
French OF Marcel Provost.
Never Fo~u~<7 Him,