The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

to appear in the chair under the strong
est lights. That is the explanation II
is quite satisfactory.
I shall never forget the first time !
saw it. ! had dined alone downstairs.
l never drink wine. so that what hap
pened was eminently normal. 1t was in
the summer twilight that l returned to
the study. l glanced at the desk. There
he was. sitting. So natural was it, that
before knew l cried out "JimP Then
/ remembered all that had happened. Of
course it was 'hallueination. I knew
that. l took the poker and went over
to it. He did not move or vanish. The
poker cleayed through the nonexistent
substance Of the thing and struck the
back of the chair. Fabric of fancy, that
is all it was. The mark is there on the
chair now where the poker struck. /
pause from my writing and turn and
look at it-press the tips of my fingers
into the indentation.
He did continue the argument. stole
up today and looked over his shoulder
He was writing the history of our dis
cussion. II was the same old nonsense
about the eternity Of forms But as I
continued to read, he wrote down the
practical test / had made with the poker
Now this is unfair and untrue. I made
no test. In falling he struck his head
on the poker.
Some day somebody will find and read
what he writes. This will be terrible. I
am suspicious of the servant, who is al
ways peeping and peering. trying to see
what write / must do something.
Every servant / have had is curious
about what | write.
Fabric of fancy. That is all it is.
There is no Jim who sits in the chair. !
know that. Last night, when the house
was asleep, / went down into the cellar
and looked carefully at the soil around
the chimney. It was untampered with.
The dead do not rise up.
Yesterday morning, when / entered
the study, there he was in the chair
When had dispelled him, I sat in the
chair myself all day. / had my meals
brought to me And thus escaped the
sight of him for many hours, for he ap-
pears only in the chair. 1 was weary
but / sat late, until II o'clock. Yet, when
/ stood up to 60 to bed, / looked around,
and there he was. He had slipped into
the chair on the instant. Being only a
fabric of fancy, all day he had resided
in my brain. The moment it was unoc.
cupied, he took up his residence in the
chair. Are these his bossted higher
planes of existence-his brothers brain
and chair, After all. was he not right
Has his eternal form become so atten.
uated as to be a hallucination? Are
hallucinations real entities? Why not
There is food for thought here. Some
day shall come to a conclusion upon it
He was very much disturbed today
He could not write, for I had made the
servant carry the pen out of the room
in his pocket But neither could write
The servant never sees him. This j.
strange. Have l developed a keener
sight for the unseen? Or rather, does
it not prove the phantom to be what i,
is-a product of my own morbid con.
sciousness?
He stole my pen again. Hallucination.
cannot steal pens. This is unanswer.
able. And yet I cannot keep the pen al.
ways out of the room. want to write
myself.
/ have had three different servant:
since my trouble came upon me, and moi
one has seen him. Is the verdict oi
their senses right? And is that of mine
wrong? Nevertheless, the ink goes toe
rapidly. l fill my pen more often thar
is necessary. And furthermore, only to-
day found my pen out of order. I die
not break it.
have spoken to him many times, bu
he never answers. sat and watched
him all morning. Frequently he looked
at me, and it was patent that he knew
Ime.
By striking the side of my head vio
lently with the heel of my hand, car
shake the vision of him out Of my eyes
Then can get into the chair but / hav,
learned that l must move very quiclSl,
in order to accomplish this Often h,
fools me and is back again before I car
sit down.