The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-05

oy. and daily grew ws.ksr and ws.hsr ince from my veins.
 Before long the supply win be exhaust. ed. and then-then--l dare not think Of .t! And yet I must think of 1t. I csn.
 T have ki written this. down that men may know the terrible sin of brother man. and the knowledge of what l have them to pity for one who has no hope of mercy. Confession is the only expia- ton l can make. By warning others of as thas dhansr wnan aa os s' M a to tal to know, am doing what can to atone for that sin. But that atonement VIII avail 70 little! 50 little. God. why sought the threshold of Thy mysteriess Oh, If I could have known the truth before It as too late! But remorse is vain. have done what have done. and ] must s take the. the consequences of my pre-
 T shall leave this with some one. to be read immediately after my death. AS soon as possible thereafter I wish him come to go to. the room above me and viii not Se long @ tiil iii the end comes. Al. sSSs, sssa, ,:ss :m as on the s of tSs |edge--into whatf I know not. I only know this--whatever the future is. wher. sss ta fass with M y sh . stand and forever! Oh, God! ifJThou couidst have mercy. But dare not ask it. There can be no mercy for man who has dared no forgetfuinese, no oblivion!'
 felt as if nightmares spell was upon me when I finished reading the strange story Julian ssarlse had written: I we. I was in . world of ghosts. Was there could there be-any truth in itf Or was 1t the dream of 2 mad fancy? l could 1S,n not believe , # to be true, and yet some. I went immediatel to the searles res- idence. The old servant seemed to have been sxp.tting my arrival for he met When did he dier' I asked.
 About an hour. ago." the old man answered. as he led the way to the tow as possible after he breathed his last. He had told me that l was to do so."
 Julian searles had died in his chair. AS l looked at him, sitting there before dead ashes on the hearth, he seemed more like the shadow of a shadow than anything else I could think of. so frail was he The face of the dead man had the dead, but seemed face wrought out of frost. that would vanish at touch
 s a' s.ss t s 2. .sss ..s, m s: message came to me; In it he speaks of
 The old man shivered as if with an
 f don't know what 1t is." he said. Out there's something there. I've never seen 1t, but-gve felt It." And he shud- dered again, and I could see that his
 Win you go up with mel" I asked. I was trembling from head to foot with something thlt was hardly fear. I felt !as,I as f I stood stood on the threshold of ths 6 in searles had sought to fathom. "It you want mo to- the old man an- We went up the tower-stairs. awed into door?
 put my hand upon the latch. and then hesitated. half inclined to turn back
 man ,Sss 'fh s. go isat n the 'hs s1s ef Open the door! I can stand anything better than this uncertainty.
 I obeyed him. The door swung open and we stood upon its threshold. and
 On a couch in the centre of the room | lay shape covered with a sheet-a long, awfully suggestive shape that sent a l shudder through us as we looked at It.. I shivered as if a cold wind was blowing
 over me, chilling me to the marrow. l Even then turned, as If under an im-
 pulse to flee from the room and its | terrfuIs secret.
 ! The old man read my thoughts and put out g shaking hand to stop me.
 We have gone too far to hesitate now"
 he said. "Lift the sheet"
 A sudden courage that was perhaps | moro a desperation born of mortal terror | took possession of me.
 l l advanced to the couch, put out my hand. and lifted the white cloth. and saw-the face of John Fordyce, who had died men said. three years before, and yet the form before me was that of one l to whom death had come not more than an hour or two ago, for there was still about 1t that faint warmth which in- gers so long after the breath stops. Then we knew what Julian Searles had written must be true, for before us was the proof of 1t. The vampire life had ended with the life on which 1t had de- pended for existence for three long and terrible vearsi