The Cook County herald., 1905-06-10

fd Having ;comp leted Ills prepar tions.
Clarence closed the partly perforated
7ds door q, and placed his back against It. {.
His face, smeared with flour from q
small sack Of that article in, the Skitch-.55
en-, en-, was hideously corpse-like and
ghoostly; his jet-black hair, brows, eyes.
lnustache and chin beard, In vivid con-
trast with this ghastliness, as was the
hue of his sable garb, also; and the
lamplight and Pickering light Of the
fire on the hearth. reflected from his
keen and bright eyes, gave a weird
and awful look to his cayernous coun
tenance. >..'g}
He tossed from him pair of tongs,
which, he had taken from the hearth.
with such good aim that they fell
squarely and with no little force. on
Bashfort's shaggy and mastiff-like
head; whence they fell upon the floor
with clang and clash that must have
aroused the sleeping ruf11an even had
the blow failed to do so..
Bashfort sprang to a sitting posture,
with snarl and snort of rage and sur.
prise.
"'Sfames! What was that?" he ex-
claimed, clapping his hands to his
head and glaring about him, his eyes
almost blind for moment from their
sudden opening upon bright light.
Neil Bashfort," said a solemn voice.
in most unearthly tone.
And at that instant the ruff1an's eyes
first perceived the ghastly-looking fig
ure at the door.
'Ha! the phantom face again! An
accursed dream!" calculated Bashfort,
hurting himself back upon his couch
and dragging blanket over his head.
But it instantly occurred to him that
he had received a blow upon the head;
that something had clashed and clat!
tered upon the floor, and that his name
had been spoken.
He ventured to draw the blanket
from his head and to look toward the
door.
The dread figure was still there, as
motlonless as marble, and apparently
as dead, save in the eyes, which were
fixed upon Bashfort. in a glare most
terrible to him.
1T is spirit, or a dream, or a spec
tre OF my brain, muttered Bashfort,
shudderlng, and unable to remove his
eyes from those which stared at him.
Spirit, phantom, fantasy or devil,
will fire at it!'
He seized one of his pistols from the
bench near him, and not rising to his
feet, but reaching forward in a sitting
posture, so that the muzzle of his
weapon was not more than ten feet
from Clarence's breast, took deliberate
aim and drew trigger
Flame and smoke and loud report
answered his fingers pressure, but the
figure at the door did not move.
Instantly Bashfort seized, aimed and
fired his other pistol and glared eager
ly to see the effect of his shot.
AS the smoke rolled aside, Clarence
stepped to the right, half wheeled
about, and placed forefinger of each
hand just below the two balls he bad
inserted in the door. saying:
"Were I mortal man, these would
have slain me, for they passed through
where my heart used to be, Neil Bash
fort"
He spoke in his natural tone, in a
clear, rich and manly voice, and to
Bashfort's ear this voice sounded ex.
actly as the voice Of Claude de Lavet
had sounded to him twenty-five years
before, when, at the Boar inn at York,
he had heard that unfortunate gentle
man say to the landlord:
"See 20 it that my horse be we'll
cared for, and that be called up at
sunrise"
"Whore your heart used to be-" re.
peated Bashfort, perceiving the bullets
in the door, and not doubling that they
had passed through the figure. What
are you?"
"A spirit!"
"Whose?"
"You know, guilty man, as well as I.
l am the spirit of Claude de Lavet, the
man you murdered at York, in the Boar
inn, by Zeno Sosias command, twen'
| ty-two years ago!"
"Ah!" calculated Bashfort, amazed
and dizzy with horror.
Ito Be Continued.)
SACRIFICED TO SCIENCE.