Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1898-01-06
what brought you here, and whence


A hollow whisper followed.
THANK you, my old friend, foT
speaking to me, and, oh, how deeply
thank you for thinking of me tonight
Il shall have rest"
REST" l heard echoed, and a jeer-
ing laugh rang through the room that
made her culver at it's sound.
81 have been near you often; but al
ways failed to find you in condition
when you would be en- rapport before
tonight. What I came for l will tell
you; whence I come, you need not
know; suffice it to tell you that were 1
happy would not be here on such an
errand, nor on such night-it is only
when the elements are in tumult and
the winds vail and moan that we come
forth. When you hear these sounds it
is souls of the lost you hear mourning
their doom-'tis then they wander up
and down, to and fro, their only release
from their fearful home Of torture and
undying pain.
Il nave come to tell you that you
must go over to the old house, and in
| the back room l always kept locked,
have the carpet taken up from toward
| the fireplace. You will see a plank
with knothole in it. Remove that,
and you will find what caused me to
lose my soul-have prayer said for me,
for tits we'll to pray for the dead. The
money and jewels give in charity; bury
| in h01x ho ~ frI
pray for them and me. All, Jeanette.
you thought your old friend, though
strange and odd, pure and innocent. 1t
is bitter part of my punishment thai
l must change your thought of me.
Farewell. Do not fail me, and shall
trouble you no more. But whenever
you hear the wind howl and sweep
round the house as it does tonight,
know that the lost are near. 1t IS
their swift flight through space-fee-
ing before the scourge of memory and
conscience that causes that sound.
THAT tomorrow you may not think
you are dreaming, here is token" and
she touched the palm Of my hand with
her finger-tips, and as you see, my
child, to this day there are three Grim
son spots in the palm of my hand that
nothing will eradicate.
do not fail me, and pray for us,
Jeanette, pray and with longing,
wistful gaze and deep, sobbing sigh,
Nancy Black faded from my sight.
"Am I dreaming" l exclaimed as
rose from my chair and rang the bell
when the servant entered. l babe him
attend to the fire and light the lamps,
and 1 went through the room to see if
any unusual arrangement of the fErHi-
ture could have caused the appearance,
but nothing was apparent, and l babe
him send my maid to attend me in my
chamber, for l could not help feeling
unwilling to remain in the library any
longer that evening.
While making my toilet for the night
my maid said:
"IIave you burned your hand, mad
am?"
CHANGING hastily down I saw three
dark crimson spots upon the palm OF
my left hand. They had an odd look
scared as though touched by red-hot
iron, yet the flesh was soft, not burned
and not painful. Making some excuse
for it, 1 did not allude to it again, and
dismissed her speedily, that l might re-
fleet undisturbed over the singular &C.
currance There were the marks upon
my hand; could not remove them, and
they did not fade. In fact, their deer
red made the rest of the palm lose its
pinkish hue and look pale from the
strong contrast. Could l have been
asleep and dreamed it all. and by any
means have done this to myself?
thought, but finally concluded that on
the morrow I'd go over to Nancy
Blacks old residence and settle the
question; and with that conclusion haG
to content myself until the morrow
came.
When morning came l took .ht
keys, and, with my maid, went over t.
Nancy's house. 1t had never been dis
turbed since her death, which was sud
den and somewhat singular, and the
furniture remained just as she left il
when taken to her last resting place
We went to the room Nancy had di
rected. l babe Sarah take up the car
pet, and, sure enough. there was {
plank with knot-hole in it; so l sem
her from the room, and lifted the planl
myself, and there, between the two
joists, rested long box, the lid no
fastened. Opening it, l was Mortified tt
see two skeletons-those of an infan
and of a woman, small in stature an(
delicate frame. In a moment it flash
ed before me that I saw all that re
NAMED of Nancy Blacks young sister
girl of II, who had left home some
what mysteriously years ago, and hat
died while absent-at least, that wa:
the version Nancy had given of he
absence, and no one had dreamed @
doubling it, her tale was so naturally
told.
Left orphans when Lucy was only
years and Nancy 10, she had devoted