The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-07-14

woman i'll England. 1t came first that
night. ! woke in the pitch dark and
found the room rapidly growing light.
Distinct beams of light appeared to shine
from wall to wall, and at last formed a
dim circle. Then marks--horrid, creep
ing marks-aRpeared on the bright circle.
and these gradually shaped themselves
into the fingers of a moving hand. 1t
was like Il human hand cut off ut the
wrist. and it began-O God! swear to
You it began to write slowly on the wall.
The letters grew into words, and the
words grew into Il sentence. At last |
read in strangely formed caligraphy the
awful warning: Prepare to meet thy
Cod
II was terrified to death and unable to
move; and as | watched, spellbound, the
fearful letters faded away and the room
was left in utter darkness again.
II lay the rest Of the night rejecting
upon, this apparition and wondering
whether 1t was meant for me or for
Tom, or for both of us. When day
light returned my nerves felt rather more
steady, for the room was exactly as usu-
al and showed no sign of the ghostly
writing. l almost expected to find it in
dellbly recorded upon the wall. |
thought perhaps the whole thing had
been nightmare and determined to say
not word about it, but to sleep alone
IN the room again and see if it were
repeated.
THAT was the day you sent me to bed
early; and. being. worn out as the result
OF the previous nights experience, sooE
fell into titful doze. On one of my
getting light just as before The circle
!reappeared, the marks in it, the great
black hand, the gradually formed letters;
but the warming was different, 1t read:
God shall judge"
II sprang out of bed and rushed to the
writing. put my hand on it's horrible
sable signs, and it vanished instantane-
ously. 1t WIS no dream.
"You can imagine the condition in
not call my husband, for l had an indie
Unable sense that some danger, in which
he was concerned. was impending in this
room, and that a warning had been
vouchsafed to me that he would be UNI
able to perceive with his different and
rather unbelieving constitution.
THAT morning he insisted upon my 60
ing. with him to Great Malvern; and
while we were away from this fearful
house l felt ii seiise Of freedom, and re-
gained measure Of composure; be-
gan almost to think Hgaiii, us the days
went BY, that the whole thing must have
been a passing madness, ati1 determined
oil my return to spend yet one More hight
i'll the rom alone before asking him to
come back to me.
But, last mig hit was more horrible
than all: l awbke with d great start iii
black dar kness; There catiie a burst Of
denly as, had come, aid left d darkness
that gould lie felt. Then auother; burst,
and the darkness again. Theii the dim
circle began to appear in the same hid
Cdus 6utlihe, aiid as 1t got brighter the
hand traced slowly the cruel doom
Your hour is nigh. tainted away, and
r r, ,e: }9gothing mere until daylight this
AS she spoke 1t Occurred to me that
more than d vivid Authorization POSSIBLY
the harbihger Of insanity. If sd, it had
had an extraordinary physical effect, al
lowing for the. girls delicAtelk strung
nerves. aid irtist}c temperamtilt. Still;
the eff6ft must be made to fathom the
mystery.
Answer ME one more question truly
l urged. DO you know any one who has
a grudge against your
Doctor she replied, with a troubled
look in her innocent eyes, 80 far as
know, l never injured a living creature.
I never disagreed with anyone much, eX-
cept an Italian in my stage days, who
would persist III wanting to marry ME
after l was pledged to Ton.'
His naney'
Count Bclloni, a vile creature; but
have not seen or heard anything Of him
for year.
That night Tom Whyte and / entered
into a little conspiracy. asked him and
his wife across to dinner, itominally to
stop Margaret brooding, aud having got
them away from h9int insisted Oh keep
ing them FOR the night. Tom pretended
to Margaret that, if he were III ally dam
ger, it was at least iassehed while lie
was with. lille, aid SO gained her accept
ailce Of the invitation. When they Had
retired l went across With TOMS latch
key, let MYSELF Into his house unknown,
even to his SERVANTS, and prepared to
spend the night sitting in his bedroom.
AS waited, thinking deeply about the
myste?ry; | bechme more THAN ever CON
key to the trouble. There Is Said to be
kink somewhere iii tho nisNtal constitu-
ton of every tlit ST us; and surely, |
Thought; there must be some such ex-
p!anation, which would put these weird
,vlsltations into the category of imagin-
lngs; My meditations on the pathology
Of the matter were rudely interrupted
The room was filed with m instonta-
neous flash Of white light, which came
and Went IL second: leaving everything
totany lark: l started up and waited
oreathless. The flash appeared and van
lshed second time, as before. My brain
seemed stirred to abnormal ACTIVITY. /
felt. rather than Thought positively, that
here Was eviHIhce which DESTROYED The
Ra'iNrislation theory, for l was iii prosaic
health. l even reasoned un;ntentionnlly
that here was flash whose first At,,}ear-
ance would discQmfose d SLEEPER, and
whose, secontl when, lie had been dis
turbsc, would complete his awakening.
Then began the most appalling moment
OF concentrated horror that has fallen to
my lot: am held professionally to have
a COCA Operating nerve; but to think of
down my back. At the time NV ewes
seemed to start from my head, and nv
hands were lifted up in terror. SLOWLY
but steadily the white circle grew ~,
the wall. There was dark mark In tho
center, which gradually formed itself in
to the awful hand whose writing nrn-
no'inced doom. Instantly the word -nn;nt-
ing of the Book Of Daniel rukhr,t Into
my mind: ''''
''ln the same hour came forth {;soar<,
Of mans hand, and wrote vneF ~ a lnSaIs
the candlestick upon the plaster Nf H.
wall IF the kings palace; and tho o. t; lie
Jaw the part of the hand that wr6ta
Then the kings countenancs Was
changed and his thoughts Troubled HIM
so that the joints of his loins We're ioosad
and his knees smote one against an,
other:' '' "ll-
And even while these thoughts conrsed
through my burning brain the hand be.
gan to write. 1t traced one fearful word
and only one. "Tekel." Daniel bimse1fi
has translated that portentous svmh ei.
Thou art weighed in the balance. and
art found Waiting anu
nhe tision disappeared from nv nm
willing gaze, and l was again sitting in
the darkness. How long | remained com.
atose L cannot say. Ultimately T Ipht-
ed the gas, and found that it was 800
O'Clock. The power of thought seemed
to return to me slowly; but after time
l recovered my mental faculties. and h.
gan to try and unravel the tangle. The
hallucination theory being obviously i'm
possible. ! began to look for a Dhysical
explanation. l was still at it in a dnll
kind of way when the dawn of another
day broke, and then l began to think
that L could see light in a double
sense.
/ placed table under where the hand