Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1908-02-20
A MURDER
OF THE MIND
By DONALD KENNIcoTT
Copyright. by Daily Story Pub. Coz


Surprise was my first feeling-mere
stupid, sleepy surprise. 1 had spent
the morning, as usual, in the office;
the afternoon, half holiday, / had
passed at the home Of my fiancee, a
little way out in the country. Return
ing early In the evening to the board
ing house in which lived, after few
moments chat with my fellow-lodger
and prospective brother-in-law, Francis
Rand, 1 had gone upstairs to my own
room, retired, and very soon fallen
asleep. Now, at what hour of the
night I could not know, had wakened
to find myself standing at the head
of the stairs, some distance from my
own bedroom.
Gradually then, with the realization
that l had suffered a recurrence of my
old childhood habit of sleep-walking.
surprise was replaced by annoyance
at the return Of propensity at once
perilous, mysterious and absurd Often
in my boyhood. 1 had been put to
shame because Of some ridiculous per-
Torrance of which 1 had unconscious
ly been guilty-usually the carrying
away of some object from another
room to my own; that now l should
again have exposed myself to humilia-
ton, was distinctly unpleasant to dis
cover. Yet my own sense of humor
was keen, too, and l remember that as
l made my way back along the hall to
my own room, even laughed at the
ludicrous figure must have cut, CROP
ing my way with outstretched fingers
and open, unseeing eyes, along the
dim halls of Mrs. Lorings.
l had reached my door and had
raised my hand to the knob. when for
the first time 1 became aware that
grasped tightly in my fingers I had
been carrying something cold and wet
and hard. Entering my room, 1 closed
the door softly behind me, turned up
the gas jet, and glanced at the long
mirror over the bureau. And therein
reflected, 1 saw the figure of a man
which at first could not recognize as
myself-a man partly dressed, with
disheveled hair and white, tense fea-
lures, under which the muscles
twitched convulsively. Clutched in his
right hand was a dagger; on his shirt
cuff. a dark stain.
For moment / stood there motion
less, while understanding forced itself
upon me-a realization that this was
no trivial eccentricity of childhood,
but that something monstrous had oc-
CURED; that under the dominion of
some evil genius of the night, I had
been guilty of shocking thing, that
guided by some lunatic fiend who had
come bat-like to crouch on the throne
OF my sleeping soul, my hapless and
helpless body had been driven to the
commission of crime, crime I'M
known, unimagined even, doubly hor-
rible.
Sick with fear, my trembling limbs
refused their office; unnamed sank
to the floor beside the bed, a huddled.
invertebrate heap. For long l crouched
there, my flesh benumbed, my tongue
pressed close to my palate as against
metal plate, my heart throbbing
strangely, with slow, shuddering pull
sation, mind and viii and sentence
alike obliterated by the crushing
weight of the terror that lay upon me-
Gradually at last, thought reasserted
Itself, and a sudden transitory hope
that the blood came from some self
inflicted wound-roused me to strug-
gle against my weakness. The hope
proved a vain one-I could not find so
much as a scratch upon my person
but with the renewal of movement
came a resurgence of courage; and
though my brain seemed for the most
part still torpid, some one portion,
that portion which spurs the cunning
of desperate animal when the dogs
are close, awoke to a swift and remit
ting activity.
/ crept softly to the door, opened IT
an inch or two, and listened breath
lessly, but there was no sound in all
the house, save the slight noise of the
gas Jet, turned over high. Closing the
door again, 1 tiptoed stealthily back,
and with infinite precaution to insure
absolute silence, set about removing
the stains with which my nameless
crime had marked me. The knife and
my hands likewise, carefully washed
at the little lavatory which my room
fortunately contained. The shirt re-
moved, and cutting 1t into little strips,
with great difficulty contrived to stun
them into slit in my pillow. And
the dagger l employed to hollow out
for itself a hiding place in the mat
tress. Then carefully arranging my
clothing in a natural disorder, |
turned out the gas. slipped swiftly into
bed, and pulling the sheet well over
me, pressed my hands to my throb-
bling temples, waiting for the unknown
horror that the morning would bring.
The dawn came. and as the gray