The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-09-20

element in it my feelings were of un-
bounded satisfaction. That 1t was KEEL
Sails tale I was firmly convinced, for
he had promised to communicate with
me and this. l gathered, was his only
means of doing SO. Likely enough ne
would again show his presence in the
same way; and it seemed he intended
doing me a good turn by providing me
with literary matter which would en-
able me to earn money and renown.
On the other hand, did he intend me to
use this for publication; and, if so, was
1 justified in attaching my own name
to it?"
after much thought l sent it to
CunIiffe. with whom I had been in cor
respondence for Kelsall when he was
i'll. He liked it, and asked for more
of my work, which l was able to send;
for during that fortnight another tale
had been written by the typewriter,
and one quite as strong as the former.
Here was a stroke of unexampled
good luck; and after / had convinced
myself that it was likely to continue,
I threw up my Pioneer work and de-
voted myself entirely to the typewrit-
| er. But before long / was conscious
there was a terrible obligation attached
! to KelSalPS bequeSt. | could not leave
the machine when ii was writing or
about to write Some invisible infiu-
ence constrained me to stand by it;
whenever I essayed to leave the room
or lie down to rest 1 was held back by
an unseen, all-compelling power, and it
was slowly forced upon me that 1 was
KelsalTs slave
About a month after I left The Pr
oneer,' I became conscious of an add
ed horror. Kelsall's presence gradu-
ally made itself felt. Before then L
was able to move freely by the type
writer, even when it was working, and
could use it at other times If l wished;
but slowly an icy-cold horror has
crept into that chair; and there it sits.
/ know it is there, though 1 can see
nothing. Bethel, tell you it is a liv-
ing hell for me to feel that shadow from
the grave and never to be able to leave
its side when it wills. 1t is there now"
| did not believe him, for / felt con-
WINGED he was suffering from a terrible
monomania; so l went to the chair, de-
termined to show him how groundless
were his fears; yet his words had made
such an impression upon me that 1 APP
preached it with a certain amount of
hesitation. I sat down in it; there
was nothing.
There. West" I said, Its all pure
imagination on your part. Come and
try it yourself"
mo. nor he almost shrieked. 81 tell
you he is there. He's there to me if to
no one else. I would not sit in that
coffin-chair for heaven itself. KEEL
sails in it,
l shrugged my shoulders and re-
sumed my former seat.
Yes, BetheI,'' West went on. 'Kel-
sail sits there and writes, and with an
ever-increasing demand upon me-and
what he now writes isn't fit for print
Read that
He grabbed hold of a handful of
copy and gave it to me.
l read a page, and that was enough.
1t simply made my flesh creep. It
might have been written by a soul in
purgatory, for of all the fiendish hor-
rors the brain of man ever conceived
this was surely the most terrible. To
think such things was awful but TO
read them impossible l let the paper
fall from my hands in sheer terror.
And I have to stand by for days at
time and see that. and worse than
that" continued West IT'S beyond
human endurance. Yet, if 1 try to es-
cape, this invisible power holds me
back. Good God. what shall do?''