The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-05-16
he Mysterious
Shadow
BY H. SANBO2NE BROWN
Copyright by American Press Asso-
ctatian ISL
By H. SANBO2NE B2i

| tluital ;Sr there has NOT t-.,~td Ia lit
II border line betwee. the spiritual niii
bodily elements. There Hlr ~ sIianG'
things happening today rs ever hap
lened SIlunaer Thugs. ter we vi
believe uot!liuI ROM unless we cAl
eliminate every POSI-, i3tty Of fraud.
am Il country do'tor. formerly
used Il horse aud buggy To make III,
round Of VISITS. thea hiryrlp llirH ~
| automobile When | WAS uSihG NY
bicycle was called a. SEE It patient
| one moonlight evening IN early sum
nier IHh.lllg Any medicine ease II
The handle bars started OF on n very
smooth road To go II couple If miles
The night was still. nuu the ar WAS
soft. ! did not need my lamp
could have heard II lpuf tall among
the trees beside he road
| 4 bicycle in good coud ttun m0t 80
very silently Nevertheless. though
mine WAS III perfect trim. il was not
| without some sound uli this rery sin
night. WINS riding with my back to.
| ~
| the heavens and shone dawn ohiiuue
| ly over my right shoulder casting my
| shadow before me. Inclined II little 10
| the right Suddenly another shadow
came into my field OF view. gaining
on mine very slowly did not turn
my head. Keeping watch of the object
| following In my wake by it's shadow.
! When | could trace on the ground q
| distorted human figure riding a wheel
not six feet away from and abreast
of me turned my head. expecting to
see fellow traveller
Neither figure nor bicycle was there.
dropped my eyes again TO the road,
and there was the shadow
Pm not going to describe my feel
| inss- for there are no words for the
purpose, | was recalled to myself by
the wabbling OF my bicycle. Then
| somewhat recovering my equanimity.
studied the shadow beside mine 1t
was so punched that concluded 1t be
| longed TO a woman. especially since
there was a part which tluttered by
| passing through the ale. listened for
the slightest sound. but notwithstand
| ing the proximity of the mysterious
and invisible object casting its shad.
ow heard nothing.
Spook lore Is full OF cases of shad
owless beings. but never before had
heard Of shadow with no intervening
object between 1t and the light that
cast 1t. l turned my wheel to the
other side of the road. but the shadow
turned with me. SO absolutely did 1t
follow mine that 1t occurred to me
that 1t must be a duplicate of mine.
I turned in my saddle and looked be-
hind me ITO see If there, was any OBJ
Ject TO produce such a result. The
space at my back was free from any
Intervening object
By this time my nerves were all In
quiver--not that there was anything
to be afraid of, and did not fear the
invisible. but I would have given ten
years of my life to get rid Of the thing
simply because it was uncanny. 1t
would not be got rid of. If turned 1t
turned; If my wheel wabbled it wab-
bled; IL I slowed down 1t slowed down;
IL I went faster 1t went faster.
For a time 1t did not occur to me
THAI might have received some brain
shock. a single minute drop of blood
breaking through vessel Of the brain
will produce strange results. Paralysis
is the most common, loss of memory is
another, and we do not know how
many Authorizations occur from that
cause. I fancied that one OF these
drops of blood might have impinged
upon my eye in some way to cause me
to see a duplicate shadow of myself.
But in that case it would have been
an exact duplicate, and In the present
the other was not mine.
l entered place where overarching
trees cast their own shadows and
mine, and my attendant was lost /
prayed that when emerged into the
moonlight mine Awould alone remain.
Alas, was doomed to disappoint-
ment 1t was there as perfect as when
entered the archway.
A few hundred yards ahead the
road forked Would the invisible trav.
eler take my road to the left or 60 by
herself to the rfght2 watched with
bated breath. Nearer and nearer we
neared the fork; faster and faster beat
my heart. At last point was reach
ed where my companion must make
turn. When / saw our shadows show
the faintest deviation | heaved deep
sigh. Wider and wider grew the dis
lance till all doubt as to our following
different roads was removed
had got rid of the thing, and that
is what / most wished for. Nothing
was accounted for. but felt that from
this divergence the shadow was some
thing independent of me; that had
not created 1t, nor was l In any way
responsible for it
Once and once only I saw It again.
The two roads came together just be-
fore / reached the house where lay
my patient. The shadow Joined me
for few moments in unobstructed
moonlight at the roads Junction: then
1t was lost under overhanging trees.
I found impatient to be a girl about
twenty years old. She was In trance
that had come over her during an III
ness. had been sent for to see II ]
could bring her to consciousness.
Does she ride a wheel when well2"