St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-09-22
Horror Seven Hours Long
An Exhibition of Courage by a Yankee
School-Mhtam.

fas>~-s~~As-s-s>>-s~ s-s>~>~S-e>>~S
hYT IS said, remarked the old
doctor, that person can't
| live and. retain his senses in a
state of Hind, animal terror for
/ more tban very few minutes at time.
| Either nature will take refuge in her
I eyc1one cellar, unconsciousness and
the person will faint: or the brain ten
/ sion will get beyond the swapping point
/ and he will become insane; or the heart
will collapse under the strain, and
/ death will follow. Or any two or all
i of these things may occur at once. So
say the authorities. / was of the same
/ opinion once, but I've known better for
good many years, although I've never
seen a second case to disprove the rule.
Did it ever occur to you when some
/ long-standing record of courage or en-
duranee, or the ability to bear pain has
been broken, how often it is woman
that breaks it?
This was a young woman, New
England school-teacher by the name of
Mildred Wieks. She had been invited to
pay visit to two elderly maiden
/ aunts who lived ON the outskirts Of an
old town in the central part of Vir-
| ginia, whore / began the practice of
medicine. The house was one of those
| three-storied southern colonial struc-
lures with broad verandas and futed
/ columns the entire height of the front.
| From the left, in therear, there extend
| ed a considerable wing which, in some
former period of prosperity, had been
/ given over to the guest chambers, but
which now for years had been little
used.
"By some misunderstanding the
| young woman arrived just week ear
| lier than she was expected, to find ner
/ cunts house in the midst of prepare
tory housecleaning. 1t consequently
| became necessary, until the room in
| the main part Of the house could be
prepared for her to put her in one of
the wing chambers, and in one of these,
on the third floor, she was duly in
| stalled. 1t was one of those enormous,
high-studded rooms that have entirely
gone out of fashion nowadays, even in
| large houses. There was great fire.
place in it and solid mahogany furni-
ture of somber, old-fashioned type.
sThe elderly aunts were somewhat
apprehensive lest the remoteness and
long disuse of the chamber ni ght cause
their niece some uneasiness, but she
was healthy young person not given
to nervousness, and scoffed at the idea.
1t was arranged, nevertheless, thatthe
housekeeper, who ordinarily slept in
the main division of the house, should
occupy, that night, chamber adjoin-
ing the visitors for the sake Of COM
pany.
ssAt bedtime, however, an unexpected
difficulty arose. It was suddenly re-
membered that the keys to both the
young woman's and the housekeeper's
chamber had been missing for a,num-
/ Der of years, and the doors were also
| unproyided with inside bolts. The only
duplicate keys were in the housekeep-
er's bunch held together by solid
brass. ring. from which they could be
removed only by breaking or fling the
brass ring. Leaving the young Wom-
ans door entirely unsecured was, of
course, not to be thought of. The
housekeeper finally proposed that she
should lock the door for the night from
the outside, taking the keys with her
into her own room and unlocking it
again early in the morning. The win
= !
stories from the ground there was no
possibility of intrusion from that
source, and should the housekeeper's
presence be needed at any time during
the night it needed only a few vigor-
our raps on the wall to summon her.
The young woman found no objection
to this plan, and the housekeeer, after
bidding her goodnight, went out and
locked the door after her.
"Left to herself, the young woman,
tired from her journey, lost no time in
undressing and getting into bed, and
once in bed it was very few moments
until she was sound asleep. The next
she knew she found herself sitting up
staring out into the room. How long
she had been asleep she could not tell;
hours, she thought, since there had
been no moon when she had gone to
bed and it now shone in her window
from well up in the sky.
tsThen with start it came to her
that she had not awakened naturally;
that there had been some sort Of a
noise. She peered around the room,
but could see nothing alarming, and,
save Tor the sound of the insects, the
night was as quiet as the grave. So
finally she lay down again and in a few
moments was halfway in doze. Then
suddenly she found herself sitting up
again, her heart throbbing wildly.
Something was moving along the base
of the wall opposite her bed. As it
moved there came q series of gurgling,
sputtering, sterterous sounds, exactly
as though some one was choking. The
young woman clutched the bed clothes
and tried to pierce the darkness. But
she could distinguish only the vague
outline of crouching form. Thechok-
ing, gurghng sounds, however, contin-
ned. and then suddenly she heard the
clank of chain being dragged along
the floor.
.sThe thing reached the corner of the
wall and paused there for moment.
Then it emerged and began to creep
slowly along the base of the second
wall which would bring it within a.