The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-01-21

comprehend. but |, too, felt that I ha
seen her bofore-there was somethin
in her face, her glance, her graceful
movements, that awoke vague memor
les.
l stood gazing at her speechless. 70
q moment. and then mad desire cam
over me to take her in my arms. Bu
she read the thought in my eyes, ant
evading me with surprising agility, sh,
ran to the lamp and extinguished its
There was a mocking laugh, then 81
lence. Hastily striking a match, | re
lit the lamp and looked about me. Th'
woman was nowhere to be seen. hat
heard no door open or close. and ye'
she was not in the room. Beside mysel
there was no living thing there, excep
the golden cat. which came to me ant
rubbed herself against my legs. hac
not noticed her before, but evidently
she had been asleep in some corner anC
my entrance had aroused her.
| could not very well search the
apartment so | waited few moments
and then returned by the balcony tc
10y room. The light in the neighbor.
ing apartment streamed out from the
window, but there was no sound to in
Gicate a living presence.
AS pondered on the affair, l began
10 feel vague fear of this woman,
with her strange beauty and her enig.
matte smile, who said to me 1T is
YOU" as If she knew me. l 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 l touched her
hair with my hand
Scarcely was | in bed again when J
felt a weight fall upon my legs. 1t was
the golden cat. l pushed her away, but
she returned. Finally l gave up the
struggle and fell into q troubled sleep,
with this strange companion, as on the
other night, still on my bed.
The next night | again entered my
strange neighbor's apartment. She
seemed not surprised to see me now
and we chatted together for half an
hour at the end of which time she dis.
missed me with smile, but in way
not to be denied. and / returned to my
own room. She had told me that heI
name was Linda, but beyond that she
would give no information about her.
self.
And so 1t ran on for a week. What
had taken place on the second night
was repeated again and again. Scarce
had | left Linda. and returned to my
own room. when the golden cat appear.
ed, leaped on my bed. installed herself
there. and remained until morning.
knew now to whom the animal belong.
ed Once, when l spoke of it, Linda
said: "Oh, yes, my cat. Is it not The
one that seems to be of gold'?" Moth.
ing new took place, but nevertheless
little by little, an intangible terror
took possession of me.
There were moments when these two
beings, with their great green eyes,
their supple movements, and theiI
glory of golden hair became confused
in my mind and seemed to me to be
only the dual form of a single soul. In
spite of my opportunities of Linda and
my efforts to surprise her, had never
lo7n able to reason with myself 10 con.
vince myself that, as matter of fact
there was nothing absolutely mex.
plicable in what had befallen me. !
rallied myself on being afraid of .wo.
man and pet cat. And then. as the
result OF all my reasoning, | found that
in reality | was afraid of neither OF
the animal nor of the woman but OF
symbolical duality which existed only
in my own mind.
| actually suffered from this obses.
sion. After the nights in their pres.
cnce | had days of secret torture such
as mad-men undergo. Little by little
a resolution was born, grew, and rip
ened in my mind; the woman held me
by her beauty; but | resolved that
should kill the animal.
One evening, before going to Linda's
room, | laid out from my supply OF
drugs a pot of glycerine, a flask of hy.
drocyanic acid, and one of those little
glass sticks that chemists call MIXING
rods.
When regained my room, the cat as
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 glycerine,
and held it toward the ANIMAL she lick.
ed it dry with her rosy tongue. | re-
peGtcd this operation three times. The
fourth time | dipped the rod in the
acid. The cat licked it unsuspiciously
and Immediately she became rigid.
Then she bounded into the air. and
oiled over and over in terrible agony.
FINALLY she fell back upon the floor
with fearful cry--a human cry. one
would almost have said. She was dead
With great beds of perspiration on
my temples and my hands trembling
violently. leaned over the warm body,
Her starting eyes had a look in them
that froze me, Her black and swollen
tongue stuck out between her sharp,
white teeth. Her limbs were extraordi-
n6rily contorted. With an extreme eff
fort of will, | took the animal up by
her paws and left the house. / 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 | decided to return TO my
house. AS my hand touched the Knob
| shivered. ] was afraid of finding still
alive, as in Poe's celebrated story. the
animal | had just killed But no; my
'oom was empty. l flung myself ex-
NNanHs - 4 l.