Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1912-03-22

believe in me! Whose believes in me
shall live! Walk! Whose hath be-
lieved in me shall never die!
cannot tell you the effect which that
music had upon me. 1t seemed to
command me, personally, to come, to
stand up and come to it. 1t retreated
and l followed. Come! And be-
neve in me- believed in it. came.
| came and-this was the ex-
traordinary thing-my dressing-room,
as l moved, seemed to lengthen out
to lepgthen out. Evil
IDENTIFY, it must have been an effect OF
mirrors for I had the mirror
in front of me And, sudden
ly, I was outside the room without
knowing howl"
What! Without knowing how?
Christine, Christine, you must really
stop dreaming"
II was not dreaming, dear, was
outside my room without knowing
how. You, who saw me disappear
from my room one evening, may be
able to explain it; but I cannot
can only tell you that, suddenly. there
was no nGrror b.fore n,o, and no dress
lng-room. was in dark passage,
was frightened and 1 cried out. 1t
was quite dark. but for faint red
glimmer at a distant corner of the
wall. l cried out. My voice was the
only sound, for the singing and the
violin had stopped. And. suddenly, a
hand was laid on mine or
rather a stone cold, bony thing that
seized my wrist and did not let go. l
cried out again. An arm took me
round the waist and supported me.
struggled for little while and then
gave up the attempt. l was dragged
toward the little red light and then l
saw that was In the hands OF man
wrapped in a large cloak and wearing
a mask that hid his whole face. ]
made one last effort; my limbs stiff
fened, my mouth opened to scream.
but hand closed 1t. a hand which ]
felt on my lips, on my skin
hand that smelt of death. Then
tainted away. ...
when l opened my eyes, We were
still surrounded by darkness. A Ian.
tern, standing on the ground, showed
a bubbling we'll. The water spashing
from the we'll disappeared, almost at
once, under the floor on which | was
lying, WITH my head on the knee OF
the man In the black cloak and the
black mask. He was bathing my tenn
pies and his hands smelt of death. ]
tried to push them away and asked
Who are you? Where is the voice"
His only answer was sigh. Sud
denly, hot breath passed over my
face and l perceived white shape,
beside the mans black shape, In the
darkness. The black shape lifted me
on to the white shape. glad neigh
ing greeted my astounded ears and
murmured. 'Cesar!' The animal quiv-
cred. Raoul, was lying half back on
a saddle and had recognized the
white horse out of the Profeta, which
| had so often fed with sugar and
sweets. remembered that, one eve.
ming. there was rumor in the theater
that the horse had disappeared and
that it had been stolen by the opera
ghost. believed in the voice. but
had never believed in the ghost. Now.
however, | began to wonder. with a
SILVER, whether I was the ghosts
prisoner. called upon the voice to
help me, for should never have i'm
agined that the voice and the ghost
were one You have heard about the
opera ghost, have you not. Raoul?
"Yes, but tell me what happened
whel you were on the white horse OF
the Profeta?"
II made no movement and let my
self 80. The black shape held me up.
and I made no effort to escape. A
curious feeling Of peacefulness came
over me and thought that | must be
under the influence Of some cordial.
had the full command of my senses:
and my eyes became used to the dark
ness, which was lit, here and there.
by ftful CLEANS. calculated that we
were in narrow circular gallery.
probably running all round the opera.
which Is immense. underground.
had once been down into those eel.
lars, but had stopped at the third
floor, though there were two lower
still. large enough to hold a town.
But the figures of which | caught
sight had made me run away. There
are demons down there. quite black.
standing in front of boilers. and they
WELD shovels and pitchforks and poke
up fires and stir up flames and. If you
come too near them, they brighten
you by suddenly opening the red
mouths of their furnaces. :.
Well, while Cesar was quietly carry.
ing me on his back. saw those blacs
demons in the distance, looking quite
small, in front of the red fires OF their
furnaces; they came into sight, dis
appeared and came into sight again.
as we went on our winding way. AT
last, they disappeared altogether. The
shape was still holding me up and
Cesar walked on, unled and sure
footed. | could not tell you, even ap-
rroximatel,, how long this ride last
ed; | only know that we seemed to
turn and turn and often went down a
spiral stair into the very heart OF the
earth. Even then. 1t may be that my
head was turning. but l don't think
so; no, my mind was quite clear. At
last, Cesar raised his nostrils. shifted
the air and quickened his pace a lit
tie. | felt moistness in the air and
| Cesar stopped. The darkness had
lifted. A sort of bluey light surround