The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-06
The Globes Daily Short Story

voiced maid brought tbs chairs. and VIZ
sat at the broad window I'm the hall until
il o clock. Every time that I forgaye
Tom and wished he would come near.
and call me Peg, the light would CLINT on
That hateful little ring, and something in
my soul would shut with a click
1 was drowsily weary when [ at IIse
shut the door Of the haunted room upOn
three faces; one scornful, one tenderIy
sohcitous and one full Of dumb pleading
But the hand which held open the door
Tor last chance was marred by a gold
band. How ] hated that girIi
NO. % was a match for the heavy OLD
silver in the dining room, the quaint.
carved furniture in the parlOr, and those
weird works Of art adjoining the manteIs.
a ponderous walnut bed stood i'm one
corner Of the room. At the side was q +,
small fireplace, now clean and brusEfd
or the tell-tale ashes. over by the win
dow, where the gray light from the sea
struggled through at early dawn, stood
huge bureau. went and looked at NV
self in the glass. And then hOrrisT
lear crept upon me Under my foot
stretched a great rug, much too large
for the room, and pushed under the legs
Of the bed to get rid Of the extra cor
neTs. l did not dare look under that
rug. Instead Of my own face young ana
heavy-eyed with sleep, / seemed to see
the Wretched cOuntenance Of another
woman, alone, mateless because OF her
too great love, and sinking to an ag0n-
lied death by her own hand. l moved
from the spot If the mirror had helped
in the doing of the evil deed the rug was
guilty of hiding the dark stains.
L remember Of thinking Of everything
In @ hazy way. 1 was very unhappy,
but fell asleep at my prayers. and final
ly climbed into the great bed, tO slide
oF
slumber
1t was early in the morning wnen
awoke. Too early for the dawn ten,
show. 1t was raining, too, and the viii
howled about the corners Of the roof
like an enormous man, who was III. It
was a small sound that brought me,
clear minded and keen-eared, to my sens
es. A gurgling, slop, slop, something
| thick like blood. Weird and bubbIiug, the
noise grew nearer
Then sudden, uncanny, hor-ible I heard
my heart beats-in twOs and thre5s-With
startling jumps. My hair stood o1 end.
my body laid helpless in the great bed.
For there, moving in that tiny room with
me was somethingl Something white
and long and lean, coming nearer and
nearer, with a beasuy slOp, sIOp, gurgle
and bubble Of blood. I rerneber of won
dering why there was so much blood
from a bullet wound. God IN HCavell
The thing was coming toward me. 1T
fumbIed with the covers, striving TO turn
! them up from the bottom. LiVid fear
held me, tongue-tied and trembling, TO
the Deu. And then something in me DrOE6.
at the sound Of the figures voice. Clear
and golden, English all over, came tho
beautifully modulated tOneJ: Dear me,
but l have had the trouble this night.
! My feet like ice. and never bit Ot hot
water. This water will never get them
| back to their proper state. / have 2
! mind to rouse the proprietor" I sat bolt
u q m
| old lady, for such she was, turned ~
| CHASTITY face upon me. Sheer horror tied
! her tongue; that had but a moment gone,
| been so timber. DO you know where
you are?' said I. You are in Number
/ shall never forget her face The
! principles Of a lifetime were forgotten.
| She thought I was a ghost, and the
| ghost Of an American at that. With
| terrible screech she was gone down the
hall. spreading her fright-like disease
through the hotel. moved I'm
the bed, and the gurgle again fen upon
my ears. ! picked UP a lukewarm gum
ard hugging that awful instrument ~
torture when Theodore and-Tom Merrill
burst into my room. have always told
Tom since that he actually patted me
on the back that night, and called me
calling. while he was attired in a
| bathrobe and pajamas, and I in most
a blanket: / couldn't make them under
stand. They wanted TO soothe me. and
quiet my nerves, and those two idiots
OF men actually spilled half pint az
good Overholt before 1 could get any
thing into their heads. They might have
known that 1t was huge joke instead Of
Mysteries though | never. never told how
that mistaken old English woman did
really scare me into a fit. At last aided
by my faithful water bottle / got the
story out, and was left alone But not
before Tom had whispered: you'll have
| to marry me the first thing In the morn
| ing, Peggy, love. TO save my reputation"
ond time that night the happlest girl IN
| the world, and the sunshiny dawn OF
| my wedding day streamed through the
| broad window OF No. S.