The St. Johns herald., 1901-02-23

 from half way down the wall. She tried
 to think what would have happened to her had she failed to awake when she did.
 By degrees it seemed to grow calm CT, and finally in turn crawled down from the head of the bed. The young woman could not tell whether it saw her or whether it could see. As it ap- preached, she moved softly along the wall When she reached the corner she proceeded down the next wall, the thing following, until, with many pauses, they had made the circuit of the room. Then the circuit was re- peateG. On this time round she heard clock in some distant part of the house strike 12. The housekeeper ex- pected to call her about seven. Later she heard the same clock strike one. Once she .shuddered at the thought of fainting in the things path, but she knew that she should not faint. She thought of its leaving the wall and making for her directly across the room, but it stuck closely to the base board, feeling it's way along. The dis tant clock struck two. Then it seemed to the young woman that the journeys around the room were being made at a slower rate. The thing paused often CT, and longer at a time. Finally it must have stopped for a quarter of an hour, only to creep on yard or two and stop again. After that it moved no more. The young woman stood watching half a dozen yards further along the wall
 ''In the morning the housekeeper un- locked the door, looked in, and prompt ly tainted across the threshold. The young woman still stood with her hands against the wall. She tiptoed across to the hOusekeeper, dragged her into the hall, locked the door behind her, and went swiftly downstairs. In the sitting-room she came upon her aunts. When they saw her one of them fainted as promptly as had the house. keeper upstairs. The other ran up to her screaming:
 Mildred, what has happened?'
 Then the young woman smiled and began talking foolishness. They called me in to see her within an hour It happened that I had seen her on her arrival the afternoon before, brown eyed, dark-haired, beautiful girl. It was small wonder, therefore, that I was a bit shaky when I had been brought into the presence of my pa tient. In one night her face had been scared and furrowed as with the cares and sorrows of three-quarters of cen tury, and her hair was as white as snow. Incidentally she was suffering from an ugly-looking case of brain fever, and for two months reason, and life itself, hung in balance that would have turned for hair. But four months later, when she went back home under the care of her mother. her mind was as good as it had ever been, and the lines and furrows had been rubbed out of her face, and the plumpness and color of youth was re- turning fast. But her hair was never anything else but white as snow.
 What was the thing in her room? Nothing in the world but horrible example of public savagery and official carelessness. There was a poor-farm some eight miles from our town, and miserable pauper, having gone violent ly insane, they knew nothing better to do with him than chain him in an out house and treat him like dangerous animal. You can imagine, or rather, you can't imagine, the effect on both ! his personal appearance and on his dis ease. One afternoon he escaped, carry ing part of his chain with him, and in his wanderings reached the elderly aunt's house, which stood open In the midst of house cleaning. Attracted by into the old wing, where he had en- tered one of the chambers. and hid [ den in the great fireplace, and gone to sleep. The light of the young wom- ] ans candle that night had reused him, and his journeys round the wall were mere animal instinct searching for an exit.
 They called for him the same morn ing, and I saw the poor devil when they found him lying up there in the room. h is a solemn fact that his canines projected an inch below his upper lip. He didn't have on enough rags to cover the backs of a mans two hands, and his hair and beard and skin had been indescribabiy misused, and the pcor wretch was in the last stages of ccn- sumption. But his nights adventure proved not such a bad thing for him, for he died two weeks later in compar- ative comfort. But the manager of that poor-farm had no such easy exit from the troubles which overlook him." IN. I. Sun.
 Old Spiral Chr Springs.