Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1906-05-24

der into his race.
1t was mad ening. He had nc
lights. II he opened the door OF the
room the thing would get away. In
the darkness he saw Pawkins quite
distinctly, laughing at him, Pawkins
had ever an oily laugh. He swore
furiously and stamped his foot on the
floor.
Hapley very suddenly decided to
give up the moth and go to bed. But
he was excited.
Then he found the moth crawling
over his counterpart. He sat ON
the edge of the bed in his shirt
sleeves and reasoned with himself
Was 1t pure hallucination? He knew
he was slipping, and he battled for
his sanity with the same energy he
had formerly displayed against Paw.
kins. So persistent is mental habit,
that he felt as If IL were still strug-
gle with Pawkins. He was well versed
in psychology. He knew that such
visual illusions do come as q result
of mental strain. But the point was,
he did not only see the moth, he had
heard it when it touched the edge of
the lampshade and afterward when 1t
hit against the wall, and he had felt
it strike his face in the dark.
1t was dim, gray night; an almost
unbroken sheet Of watery cloud was
sweeping across the moon, and the
hedge and trees in front of the house
were black against the pale roadway.
Hapley's landlady, hearing strange
noises, looked out of her window and
saw Hapley, like a ghost in his shirt
and white trousers, running to and fro
in the road and beating the air. Now
he would stop, now he would dart very
rapidly at something invisible, now he
would move upon it with stealthy
strides.
Mrs. Colville," said Hapley, calling
down the staircase next morning, 81
hope l did not alarm you last night"
you may well ask that" said Mrs.
Colville.
"The fact is, l am sleep-walker
There is nothing to be alarmed about
really l am sorry I made such an
ass of myself ! will go over to Shore
ham, and get some stuff to make me
sleep soundly."
Halfway over the down, by the
chalk-pits, the moth came upon Hapiey
again. He went on, trying to keep
his mind upon chess problems, but 1t
was no good. The thing fluttered into
his face, and he struck at it with his
| hat in self-defense. Then rage, the old
rage-the rage he had so often felt
against Pawkins-came upon him
again. He went on, leaping and strik.
ing at the eddying insect. Suddenly
he trod on nothing and fell headlong
There was a gap in his sensations,
and Hapley found himself sitting on
opening of the chalk-pits, with leg
twisted back under him.
Late that night after his broken leg
was set, he was feverish. He was
/ lying fiat on his bed, and he began
to run his eyes around the room to
see If the moth was still about. He
tried not to do this, but it was ne
good. He soon caught sight of the
thing resting close to his hand, by
the night-light, on the green table.
cloth The wings quivered. With Q
sudden wave of anger he smote at y
with his fist, and she nurse woke up
with shrek He had missed it.
THAT moth" he said; and then,
at was fancy. Nothing"
All the time he could see quite clear
ly the insect going around the cornice
and darting across the room, and he
could also see that the nurse saw moth.
ing of it and looked at him strangely
He must keep himself in hand. He
knew he was a lost man if he did
not keep himself in hand. But as the
night waned the fever grew upon hip
and the very dread he had of seeing
the moth made him see it. About five,
just as the dawn was gray he tried I'd
get out of bed and catch it, though his
leg was aiire with pain. The nurse
had to struggle with him.
Because OF this they tied him down
to the bed. At this the moth grew
holder, and once he felt it settle In
his hair. Then, because he struck
out violently with his arms, they TIED
these also. At this the moth came
and crawled over his face, and Hap
ley wept, swore. screamed, prayed un
availingly for them to take it off him
Now Hapley is spending the re
mainder of his days in padded room
worried by a moth that no one els,
can see. The asylum doctor calls II
hallucination; but Hapley, when hi
is in his easier mood, and can talk
says it is the ghost of Pawkins, and
consequently a unique specimen ant
we'll worth the trouble of catching.