The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-10-20

, tOut-a-fa1t cOnvenable! He will not
harm monsieur or any one else, poor
fellow. He IS only-what we shall
all be some day-dead. Enfin, if mon
sieu does not object to such company
until tomorrow morning. he can be
made quite comfortable. Tomorrow
early it viii be moved. Tonight It is
too late-besides. there is this sacree
fete. No one Will attend to anything
de ce genre today Beyond this one
bed have not corner vacant in the
house. Monsieur must decide"
How I should have regarded SO
weird a proposal under ordinary cir
cumstances I can't sayi think I
should have preferred the open plain
and the company Of the stars. But
now 1t was a case of any port in
storm. The craving for rest prevailed
/ over the instructive dislike of the liv-
I ing for the presence of the dead. I
l flung my reins to a Kafhr boy loafing
near and followed my landlord to the
I lOnged-for haven he promised.
/ AS he had said, the room was
1 good one, and to my wistful eyes the
/ bed looked both clear and inviting
1 So much remembered clearly. Near
/ the window, ON trestles, lay the poor
fellow who had so lately taken that
/ last long journey from which there Is
, no return. He looked very quiet and
! peaceful, I thought, under his light
/ linen covering. and I wondered, with
/ the curious, dull apathy that comes to
4 suffering humanity, whether I was
! destined soon to follow in his foot
/ steapS. After that things became con-
fused. The objective world was fast
! slipping from me. Mechanically I re-
moved my outer clothing I was dimly
aware that the landlord was talking
volubly the while and giving me de-
/ tails Of the dead man and his fitness.
1 which had been short and sudden.
I can vaguely recall a suggestion of re-
/ freshment -declined-and an offer of
a doctor in the morning-accepted
with avidity.
The square face and figure OF. the
! kind-hearted little landlord seemed to
grow still more square and rectangu-
lar and to increase and multiply till it
filled the room. The monotonous
sound Of his voice beat measure in
my head, finally swelling into a gil
gantic buzzing and droning, which in
/ turn was succeeded by a soundless
calm; had flung myself on the bed
and knew no more
What happened afterwards I must
tell as it appeared to me- changing
/ nothing adding nothing, concealing
nothing. Whether I was waking or
/ sleeping, in the flesh or out of the
/ flesh, I knew not. The only two men
who. with the exception. of myself, are
are of one opinion. I am of another.
Which IS right? Who can say? To
the best of their belief they have be-
/ friended me as few in this life have
I
fellow creature. But the horror. the
doubt, the possible blood-guiltiness
| that they first suggested they cannot
! remove. Am branded with the mark
Of CAIN or am I the innocent victim
| OF some CHASTITY concatenation OF cir
cumstances unexplained and undream-
ed Of by modern philosophy and sci
ence?
How long lay unconscious I have
no idea I seemed to have been in
utter, outer darkness, on the very edge
/ Of the precipice that divides 5entienf
from non-sentient being, when
| aWoke, not to sober everyday con-
sciousness. but to the s6adovrv 1nEIb-
stantia1 existence Of a dream. In a
way my senses were acting. I could
see, and hear, and feel, but realized
and told myself-as one sometimes
ing them with reason was severed. and
that should wake up presently, when
things would be normal again. Mean
while was full of unreasoning, ire
sistible. overwhelming terror. Ny
whole body tremb1ed; my parched
tongue clave to my palate: my clothes
were damp with PRECIPITATION. The
dread Of the unknown and the dark
shadow Of the valley Of death were
upon me.
At hrst the silence was so profound
and unbrOken as that OF the blank
world Of insensibility from which
AlaQ just emerged. men a sound
faint, low and uncertain, reached my
straining ears, and I knew 1t to be the
one I had been listening for. Unmis-
takably It was the noise of movement
and it came from the bierl BY the
dim light from the uncurta1ned win
dow I could see the rigid form dis
tincty in Its covering. Even as
looked saw the sheet move; its stifr
lines broke confusedly and ran into
one another like those OF a tumblinz
sea. First an arm tWitched, then a
leg. then the whole body writhed with
motion. The white surface wavered
and was tossed aside The dead man
sat up Slowly and hesitatingly. as
dead men should, he left his place and
with uncertain steps crossed the room.
STUN bling as one learning anew to
walk. He fell, and I lost him 10 the
shadow Of the floor.
, spell-bound, unable to move or