Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-02-23

doesn't get up and walk out of a tray
What in~the name of the great Daguerre
did this thing mean?
Looking at the tray in vague distress, I
saw great black hand steal silently into
the circle of the dim red light, grasp tho
Venus negative, and as silently dart back
into the thick, impenetrable gloom of the
dark room. would have jumped up if
could, but the ugly circumstance weighed
me down. Then | heard the negative
strike the floor and shiver into little bits
This started me up grasped the cover Of
the red light and was about to lift it when
the whole contrivance was wrenched from
the table and the ruby glow was turned full
upon my face. Behind it could see moth
ing, but the handle at the bottom was
olutched by that same black hand The
lamp WAS raised high, and then down 1T
came crashing against the floor, the light
blotting out in the heavy blackness.
l sprang for the door, and, missing it,
grasped something soft and slippery that
slid from my hand. 1t was like clothed
arm, but 1T was SO cold and Shiny that it
seemed hardly human. At the same time a
form full of burly strength knocked harsh
ly against me, whether accidentally or not
I could not tell A slight mass of cold
slime that reeked horribly came off the
form and adhered to my face and the side
of my neck. This was more than l could
stand. My clogged throat opened, and l
yelled like demon:
"Out of this Out ef this, whatever you
aren'
Then was forced upon my mazed mind
popularity of the creature that had not
noted before. 1t did not speak, nor growl,
nor utter any sound. 1t would have been
relief even to have heard it hiss. Its 81
lenoe was more awful than any sort of ut
terance.
Flattening my quick moving hands
along the side of the wall l touched the
door at last, and, feeling for the knob,
| turned it and tugged at it like young
| giant. But the door did not move, and the
| key was gone OF course that was what l
| had heard when beginning my work-that
| dropping out of the key. So down drop
ped to feel for it all about the floor near
the door, but to feel in vain.
| l was locked up in the dark with a
nameless creature, sinister and powerful,
from whom there was no flight, for the
dark room had but one exit-the door.
| There was no window nor any hole save
the small ventilation traps, through which
| not even so much as hand might be
| thrust
| While there was any hope by way of the
door l had not been more than commonly
fearsome, but now my fright was more
than mere alarm. 1t was steady growth
of terror-the kind of terror that makes
the scalp feel priokly and the breath come
| hard 1t was chill, palpitating fear of the
| kind that makes you turn sick and sets
| Your shoulders twitching. And the chief
Of it Wss q pallid dread of something I'M
speakably unc6ilttlhI, and loathsome-actual
contact with the thingHln the dark room.
| believe could have born6>a- stroke from
any weapon it might have in hand irettter
than touch or close meeting with the
body of the repulsiye creature
| crawled into the corner nearest the
door and waited with strained ear. Pres
emily heard low shuilling, and then a
patting along the wall and a scraping
along the floor. He of the black hand was
feeling for me; of that | was certain. My
ear is good, and, judging the location Of
the patting and scraping, as well as of an
other sound, like tho dragging of some
small, soft body upon the floor | moved
without noise around the edge, away from
my pursuer. Though shaken and fevered,
I kept out of that dread clutch.
1t was nerve straining work, and the
tension was something frightful, but l
kept it up until fell overa box and went
sprawlng right into the arms of the crea-
ture. My head fell upon it's clammy Shout
al inb l. b,,
ture and it's wet and i'll smelling arms
closed upon me, bringing to bear such
force that thought they would crush my
very breastbone AT the same time there
came out q low, throaty laugh-a laugh
SO uncouth and lacking in levity as to be
positively narrowing.
There was fight in me yet, shaken and
crushed as l was, and, getting one arm
loose, ] hammered with all my force upon
the creature, striking where l judged its
head should be. My blows slid off because
of the slime that enyeloped the face, but
once l struck full hard upon solid jaw,
and before could pull my hand back my
thumb was bitten nearly in two. And theL
the hand of the creature-that great black
hand that had seen in the low red light
stole up to my throat, and, clutching it
in mighty grasp, shut off my breath and
made me grow dizzy and faint there in the
dark room. My own hands, flying about
wildly, now struck an iron hat hook in
the wall. Wrenching this hook of, l drove
it SO deeply into the hand at my throat
that breathing very hard, almost gasping
in pain, the creature suddenly let go it's
hold upon me, and was free.
r a., tai =, o4ol
at my assailant with the hook in my hand,
and presently dealt q vicious blow full
in the face
The creature butted forward with head
SO hard that when it struck me in the
breast thought my breath was gone.
fell over, and it came upon me again, its
blood falling on my face and its breath
hot on my forehead.
OF sudden there was shock as Of the
solid earth bursting asunder, and sped
off into space and oblivion.
y 4
When next I knew the world, the door
of my dark room was open and the morn
ing sun was shining in upon the foor
where lay, with aching head and scar.
| ing sense of pain In my throat while my
bitten thumb fairly throbbed. My face,
hands and clothes were nearly covered
with blood, green slime and muddy ooze,
and all about the studio the walls and
floors were streaked and daubed with the
same offensive mixture. In one place there
was the plain imprint Of five long fingers.
| doubted not that il had been made by
| the great black hand that had clutched my
throat In the darkness.
| ! crawled to the sink and washed myself
| and took good drink, after which made
my way out of the dark room into the
house, where / changed my clothes and
bandaged my thumb.
| At my gate saw two men on horseback.
| NGonn npvthipO IF n htu h,,ck MI uar