The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-08-24
THE OTHER LODGERS
WERE ALL DEAD ONES
(By Ambrose Bierce in Cosmo-
politan.)

politan.)
I'm order to take that train,' said
! Colonel lowering, sitting in the Wal
dorf-Astoria hotel, you will have to
remain nearly all night in Atlanta.
That is a fine city, but l advise you
not to put up at the Brathitt House,
one of the principal hotels. 1t is an
old wooden building in urgent need
of repairs. There are breaches in
the walls that you could throw cat
through. The bedrooms have no
locks on the doors, no furniture but
single chair in each and bed
stead without bedding-just mat
tress. Even these meager accommo-
dations you cannot be sure that you
will have in monopoly; you must
take your chance of being slowed in
with a lot of others. Sir, it is most
abominable hotel.
THE night | passed there was an
uncomfortable night. | got in late
and was shown to my room, on the
ground floor by an apologize night
clerk with tallow candle, which he
considerably left with me. | was
worn out by two days and a night of
hard railway travel, and had not
entirely recovered from gunshot
wound in the head received in an
alteration. Rather than look for
better quarters l lay down on the
| mattress without removing my cloth
ing and fell asleep.
along toward morning l awoke.
The moon had risen and was shining
in at the uncurtained window, illu-
minating the room with soft, blush
| irI xr,I,i oh
| uncanny, though | dare say it had
no uncommon quality; all moonlight
| is that way if you will observe 1t.
You car imagine my surprise and in
dignation when | saw the floor oc-
cupied by at least dozen other lodg-
ersi | sat up, audibly damning the
management of that unthinkable no.
| tel, and was about to spring from the
| bed to go to make trouble for the
| night of the apologize
manner and the tallow candle-when
something in the situation affected
me with strange indisposltlon to
move l suppose | Yves what a story
writer might call frozen with terror.
For those men were obviously all
dead!
"They lay on their backs, disposed
orderly along three sides of the room,
their feet 10 the against the
other wall, farthest from the door,
stood my bed aad the chair. Every
face was covered, but under their
white cloths the features of the two
bodies which lay in the square patch
of moonlight near the window show
ed with a sharp and CHASTITY defini-
ton. The clothing of some was
freaked and gouted with blood.
81 thought this horrible dream
and tried to cry out, as one does In
a nightmare, but could make NO
sound. At last, with a desperate eff
fort l threw my feet to the floor, and
passing between the two rows OF
clouted faces and the two bodies that
lay nearest the door, escaped from
the internal place and ran to the Of
flee. The night-clerk was there, be-
hind the desk, sitting in the dim
light of another tallow candle-just
sitting and staring. He did not rise;
my abrupt entrance produced no ef-
| feet upon him, though 4 must have
looked veritable corpse myself. II
occurred to me then that | had not
before really observed the fellow. He
was a little chap, with a cOlOrless
face and the whitest, blankest eyes
ever saw. He had no more express
sion than the back of my hand. His
clothing was dirty gray
damn you!' I said; what does
this mean?'
"Just the same, l was shaking like
a leaf in the wind and did not recog-
nize my own voice.
1.-The night-clerk rose, bowed
alphabetically and-well, he was
no longer there, and at that moment
1 felt a hand laid upon my shoulder
from behind. Just fancy that If yor
cant Inexpressibly frightened,
turned and saw a portly, kind-faced
gentleman, who asked,
"'What is the matter, my friend?
# was not long in telling him, but
before l made an end of it he wen1
pale himself. see here, he said
are you telling the TRUTH
81 had now got myself in hand anG
terror had given place to indigna
ton. If you doubt it, I said, I'll
hammer the life out of you.'
ono he replied, don't do that
just sit down till | tell you. This Ii
not hotel. 1t used to be; then il
was a hospital. The room that yor
mention was the deadroom-there
were always plenty of dead. The fell
low that you call the night-clerk USED
to be that, but later he booked the
patients as they were brought in.
don't understand his being here. He
has been dead a few weeks
And who are your l blurted out
"'Oh, look after the premises.
happened to be passing just now, ant
seeing light in here, came into in
vestigate. Let us have look into
that ROOM he added, lifting the
suffering candle from the desk.
"'I'll see you to the devil first!
said l, boiling out of the door into
the street.
"Sir, that Brathitt House, in At
lanta, is beastly place! Don't yor
stop there"
God forbid! Your account of il
certainly does not suggest the Wal
dorf-Astoria. BY the way, Colonel
when did all that occur?"
I'm September, 1864-shortly af
ter the siege"
Women" remarked the old bach.
elor, "have no continuity of pur-
pose"
That's where you go lame, re-