Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1915-11-04

so, rolling myself in my blanket, l lay
down on the floor. But hard wood is
not comfortable for a couch, and after
titful sleeping for a couple of hours l
arose, mastered my repugnance to the
moldering bedclothes and, spreading
my blanket on them, tried again to
sleep. But, the uncanny place getting
the better of my feeling. / arose and
got my 40 caliber revolver. There was
nothing alive to shoot at. but some
how there was a sense of protection i'll
The weapon.
How long I slept before waking
again l don't know. l was, or thought
l was, awakened by a sound. But
there was a strong wind. and many
parts Of the house had rotted loose
and ratified. The fire had gone out.
blazed and cast a lurid light about
| the apartment. Directly opposite was
the portrait l have mentioned, and the
eye which l had noticed being unlike
the other seemed to me to belong to a
human being and was looking straight
at me.
l rubbed my own eyes to see more
clearly, and when 1 looked again the
human expression had gone out of the
eye of the portrait. Thinking that I
must have been mistaken, l composed
myself to sleep. Naturally l thought
Of my money and my weapon. The
former was in a belt made for the pur-
pose Of carrying funds and strapped
around my waist. The revolver was
in my hand on the bed.
My next awakening came from a
heavy weight falling on the floor in
the room above. Then came the sound
of whistling wind, followed by a cry.
Then all was still again. In a few
minutes the stiffness was broken by
| frightful shriekS. From the moment
of the first sound 1 sat up, clutching
my revolver. My gaze lighted on the
portrait of the old Spaniard, and it
had again become human.
| cannot say that l was frightened,
but l will assert positively that 1 was
mad. Yielding to an impulse which I
cannot we'll describe, 1 raised my re-
volver and sent a bullet straight at the
eye that caused the commOtion within
me. And So sure was my aim that an
| open space was left where the eve had
| been.
Something fell on the floor Of the
adjoining room. The sound seemed
to come from behind where the por-
trait was hanging. Throwing myself
from the bed, recocking my revolver
with my right thumb and snatching
a burning brand from the fireplace,
I ran through Il doorway and stood on
/ the other side Of q partition. There
lay the body of Il man. l had shot
him in the eye and pierced his brain.
The stiffness was broken by some
one running in the patio. but this was
all the indication | had of the presence
of any one except the dead man. I
stood listening for some time, then
was seized with a desire to get out of
the place as soon as possible. started
for the patio, dropping my torch as /
went that it might o make me an il
Illuminated target. and, reaching the
door of the house. gained the outside.
There / stood trying to pull myself to-
gcther.
There was Il streak of dawn in the
east. 1t tended to quiet the horror
there was within me. After all. what
was there to flee from? | could hear
10 sound from within. and all except
the wind was still without. | was as
well armed and had the same chance
as any one else. | had killed a man.
and | preferred to learn if possible
whether had been justified in doing
so. Summoning my resolution, | re-
entered the house, peering through the
dim light for any one who might be
there.
/ regained without opposition the
room in which ! had slept. There
We're embers or the hearth. and l re-
kindled the fire. There I stood with
my back to it, waiting for the day to
break. As soon as | could see without
artificial light I went to the room,
where the body la in the same posi-
ton I had left it. 1t was on the floor
beside a table. and the table was di-
rectly under a hole in the partition,
the latter being about the height of a
man. | got up on the table. put my
eye to the hole and looked into the
bedroom.
Now l could form a theory. There
had been two or more men in the
house. One Of them had looked
through the hole. which formed an eye
Of the picture. and seen me on the
bed. If he wished to rob me my re-
volver was in his way. An attempt
had been made to brighten me. but
whether to get an advantage over me
or to drive me out of the house l could
only conjecture. | inclined to the lat
ter opinion.
Having gone thus far in my investi.
cations, l resolved to go further. !
ransacked the house. l looked into
closets, up chimneys, under furniture
The last thing 1 did was to pull the
clothing and mattresses off the bed
on which I had slept. Out rolled a