Charlevoix county herald., 1908-01-11
"a
! THE HAUNTING EYE !
By DAVID HILL 9
Copyright. by Daily Story Pub. Coz
By DAVID HILL

would suddenly appear to rivet her
eyes upon me with frigid, stony stare.
Not once did she attempt to interfere
with my plans. Neither did she con-
duct herseif Ieprehensibly or in way
open to general criticism or complaint.
Dressed i'm the deepest of black, her
features half-hidden in a veil OF the
same somber hue, her apparition-
like form would rise up. and after a
look-a dagger's CLEAN from the cold
blue eyes-would gradually drift out
of sight.
"At first this method of following
me about seemed unique and more
amused than caused me pain. To be
haunted by pretty blonde, especially
one with forget-me- blue eyes and
pink skin, was more of an exquisite
pleasure than the torture it afterward
became. l rather enjoyed the nov
city OF the situation. / would point
her out to my companions as The
Haunting Shadow, The Beautiful
Woman in Black My Girl with the
Staring Blue Eyes, and dub her with
other terms appropriate to the case.
Many a joke was cracked at her ex-
| pense. In these l joined in the laugh
with the rest. A heartless laugh, |
will admit, and which must have
wounded her full sore. If so she did
not manifest it by outward sign or the
slightest discernible change of the
eye. They only continued to gaze
at me, and-nothing more.
But all that is novelty has liNit,
and then the irksomeness of it be-
| gins. Those haunting eyes began to
| tantalize and mock me in my delirium
of fancied bliss The charm of the nov
city then became abhorrent and l was
no longer jubilant or filed with en-
thusiasm when they appeared. This
| feeling grew upon me slowly, OF
course, but it grew, and i was doomed
to suffer The results. / became ir-
, ritable anG nervous and III at ease,
| There was falling off of my compan-
ions, especially those butterfly com
panions in the social whirl, who made
it plain they did not fancy sutton
I followed by shape From irritabil-
| ity | turned to rage and cursed this
author Of my despair; but the curses
were as useless as my taunts or the
hollow mockery of my former laugh.
| She needed them not. Neither did
| they change one lineament of her
face, or add new flash or CLEAN to
the cold steel-blue of her eyes. All
the love once seen in those tender,
lovable orbs had disappeared. They
now shone like winters sky, icy as
have said, and l might add, as i'm
penetrably clear. They became I'M
ndurable-maddenin
Finally l fled. l would escape this
Nemesis who was slowly but surely
dragging me down. Flight would re.
lieve the strain which those haunt
ing blue eyes were bringing upon me.
1t was no use. Wherever l fed, she
followed. No disguise was Intricate
enough to obscure my path. She was
ever present, though never to chide
or upbraid; only to face me under
the most trying conditions, and-look.
1t was the same everywhere. If I
reveled with danseuse or grisette, she
was present. If | attended the thea
ter, she was there. If visited some
bar to drown my troubles in the cup,
she would manage to seek some posi-
ton to give me one whitening glance.
AS final resort 1 applied to the
police. They could do nothing. She
had not violated a single clause in the
law. pronounced her insane and en-
tered a complaint to that effect. In
this l also failed. Before an examin.
ing board of physicians she was pro-
nounced as sane-more sane than /.
What was l to do? So indelibly pho
tographed upon my brain did her eyes
become, that they began haunting me
in the dark, and in the obscurity OF
my room when l was alone. They
glared at me from the foot of the bed,
from the papered walls, from the CELL
ing overhead. 1t was horrible-hor.
rible. Murder entered into my heart.
Was to blame? Who would not kill
that which is sapping the life out of
him? / was insane; or that is, l
soon would be under the continued
strain and knew that some crime
the killing of this girl, would be the
result
Therefore to escape the inevitable
| entered here. 1t was easy to pave
the way, to prove that I was insane,
to show that murder was in my
heart. You know how it is-all men
are insane; only in some the insanity
is more pronounced That is all the
difference. Certain subjects and con-
ditions excite us though We are ra-
tional upon all other points. l rave
over an eye; an eye that has been
working the horrid canker of insanity
into my soul. But here l will es-
cape"
Yes" he almest cried in savage
glee, here / Will escape those eyes
which are for me a hell upon earth.
She dare not enter where shrielxs,
and horrid cuEses, and maniacal raw