Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-08-26

|
door TO swing shut. True, the soun'
seemed to come from beneath me, Blu
then that was probably imagination
In the silence Of night sudden nois
is rather difficult to locate. How ofte
the most common events, under III
familiar circumstances, become ineG
plicable mysteries!
I am not of a superstitious makeup
and therefore Sarah's vague fears di,
not produce in me a feeling OF fright
but there was watchfulness about m,
senses as though there were "funn!
things" to use Sarah's term, about tn
house, which would become apparen
in due time.
Nesting my head down on the pill
low, redolent with the grateful health
giving aroma OF spruce, ! closed my
eyes.
Sleep did not come as quickly as I hat
boosted to my old nurse it would, ant
1t was some time before my conscious
ness began to wander into the domain
of vague fancies and indistinct ideas
which characterize the period between
waking and sleeping.
Then, almost before my eyes could
open, / suddenly sat up in bed and
listened with hearing sharpened by the
sense of expectancy which had come
over me.
Out through the silence Of my room
there came stealing the sound Of voice
but such a voicel Not possessed by
any human being, surelyl Pitched on
high, quavering tone, and yet so soft
and small; so faint, as though borne
from great distance; so plain, as
though right at my bedside; bearing no
semblance to human tones, but never.
theless undoubtedly voice; for after
time could distinguish word now
and then.
II there were In the world weird, mis-
shapen little folks like fairies and
gnomes, and we could hear their con-
versation, imagine their voices would
sound like this one to which now was
listening.
There was no wonder Mrs. Snyder
had been impressed by it, if this were
the voice she had heard.
Strange indeed, and unnatural, as
though not of this world, it seemed to
me. A creeping sensation came over
me, not exactly like that produced by
fear; there was more of awe, Of sol
emnity, about it.
The sound of the voice was intermit-
tent. There would be q few words,
then pause, and so on. could make
no sense of the few disjointed sentences,
1t lasted but few minutes. Indeed, so
brief was the conversation, If that is
what it was, there was no time to make
an investigation.
After long period of anxious listen
ing 1 settled down again for sleep. And
when at last slumber came, it was
troubled. Vague, shadowy dreams fit
ted across my consciousness, and
through them all was sort of premo-
milton of future events, which seemed
to have bearing upon the robbery.
The next morning was awakened by
the sun shining in my face. Hardly
had got my eyes open and my senses
aroused to my new surroundings, when
loud and long-continued humping
on the front door caused me to spring
out of bed. Hastily donning few gar
ments, I went to the door and opened
1t.
Mrs. Snyder was standing there, and
an unmistalable look of relief came
over her face when she saw me.
"Ach myI you schleep so souut vas
afrait somesing de matter!" she said.
''Breakfas' vas rettg long dime alretty."
"All right. I'll be right over and eat
it," I replied.
While was dressing the recollection
of the strange voice of the last night
came to me. Now, in the broad glare of
the forenoon, when all mystery takes
flight and the Authorizations of the
darkness become trivial, wondered If
my imagination had played me trick.
1t seemed as though had heard the
voice in dream, so unreal did the cir
cumstance appear now.
was standing by the huge chimney,
when again, breaking in upon my
thoughts, came the sound of that mys-
terious small voice.
AS on the night before, there were no
completed sentences; only word be-
tween pauses of various duration. The
sounds were palmer, however; not loud
er, but more distinct.
Here was mystery indeed, one which
did not choose only the shades of night
for its manifestations, but came in the
daytime, as though possessed of such
subtle and unaccountable qualities that
it might defy research.
After the voice had ceased, and con-
tinued my toilet, the sound Of talking,
coming from the walk outside, reached
me.
glanced out of the window, and saw
Sarah and Mrs. Snyder again in most
earnest conversation.
Somewhat surprised to see my old
nurse so early in the day, called to
her:
Hello, Sarahl What's the trouble?
What brought you here at this timer"
Zach, Mel, bud am glad to see you'll"
she exclaimed. II couldn't schleep all