The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-12-07
A MENTAL PICTURE.

Midnight and the rush and whirl
Of ti"c.. rcss flying south. Between
me and my destination 800 miles.
Three Hundred miles passed over in
This c,!,lying fight. The events of
that nig't ! remember how wildly /
Anhousll ] ll;,d dozcd frequently on
the journey, I distinctly remember
calculatiu:; in my mind thcre now
renHined b:.t one other station at
w!nc. sioppago would be made be-
fore roching London. This was
Norton icnth. No one alighted, and
only ono person entrained.
The deer of my own carriage was
quickly dung open, and q man some
what younger than myself sprang
i'll. closing the door bohind him.
Never brstowing upon me even tho
| must casual glance the stranger set
tSl into Il corlS:r and yielded him
sell up to the rhythmic whirl Of tho
wheel, VIII L Increased almost i'm
pcrccp,ll .th the velocity of the
a train u, il ed ovor the darkcned
4 country.
4 Aftcra little while he took from
one OF lis pockets a flask of brandy
4 which he emptied at Il draft and
thcn -elshtcd his cigar, which had
gone oilt .;inco he entered the car
rage The monotonous hum of the
4 wheels, together with tho quantity
3 of spirits he must have consumed,
4 heightened his drowsiness tolethar-
4 gy, and he gazed vacantly through
A the darkened window into the un-
searchable gloom of wreathing
4 smoke that wove itself into 1,C0O
4 chimeras past the magician's Gun
A ming.
4 Wo had journeyed thus for nearly
d half an hour when, by chance turn
q Ing my eyes in the strangers direc-
u ton, behold the man haggard and
a terror stricken. The half smoked
a cigar lay on the floor near his foot,
q and he had taken a grim hold on
4 the door handle, and, rigid with
4 fear, ha gazcd away into the dark
Il ness twas no ordinary sight which
Il thus held his attention, I was GER
q tain.
Fearful Of intruding on the pri-
3V Vacy OF SO complete a stranger, for
q somo time refrained from speaking,
u out the strangers movements now
q became 80 many nameless fears not
be endured. Unable longer to
Il bear the horror of the mans face, I
length passed over and looked.
tout.
The night was dense, a deep plu-
ttonlan darkness, not star visible.
alhe agony of the white face upon
Atae pane caused me a shiver. Now
aaad then a spasm convulsed his
81 whole being, and for rare instant
sue fixed oyos were closed. How
long this state continued I never
knew.
4 At last could endure the thing
3ao longer. I seized the man s hands,
each IN one Of my own. Even as ]
old SO the droning of the wheels in
xeased, and against the blackened
spane vague, half formed contours
oesSan dimly to shape themselves,
9s,mlng and going Enthusiastically, like
ahouettes Of the dancers against.
sae curtained window of ballroom.
z4lao train, however, appeared to be
iaVellng at much greater celebrity,
ana tue peculiar effect for some tiIno
Aelted my curiosity to q high pitch.
housed to a keener .:synse OF OBJ
ovation, I began to cant about for.
lo cause of the fantasy. An empty
p train, hitherto unnoticed, had
laed end for some distance jour
|5f.cyed abreast Of us. And yet, how
|'Sec, 1t seemed unreasonable to sup
use !. that the train had slowed down
l'ef coming up with as. Indeed
~ rapid was our passage that the
iatriascs could be felt to oscillate
ss8lpolly ss as the train eddied round q
Susrp bend in the track. .as.
# 90 strange sndweird seemed the
setlHg shapes upon the pane that
5Ve long time Twas utterly aE q
Ss to account for the curious freak
2Sua yet plainly enough it was nos
'o N.Y., ofher train That had Elackene7
o. 49, but we who hnd, as I could
ns h. aoobt,. now increased our own
H - - Mero consequ ucnt q = moving moro
,eSs collateral with tho darkened
LA H. empty carria gcs, 4 \
X ~ naa heard of these OPTICAL illu-
s,.s before and ascribed ii to my
|s5S Ss;ss ss;sssrought imug glnati on. Finally,
sued with Thesis dis coyeries, s
I'M ned my attention to tho stranger.
N e gaze had become fixed and In
So WAS auro it syas no sleeping