Year: 1870

the freight would not disturb the
! speaker, put myself in a position to
I follow his example.


! How long I slept know not, but
/ suddenly l aroused with start, and as
! ghOstly a thrill of horror as I ever re-
! member to have felt in my life. Some
! thing what, knew not-seemed near;
| something nameless, but unutterably
| aWfl.l.


gazed around. The fire emitted q
/ faint blue glow, just sufficient to show
( me that the room was exactly the same
| as when I fell asleep, but that the long
hand Of the clock wanted but five min
utes of the mysterious hour that was to.
be the deRth-mOment Of the 'summOil-
! cd" man!


Was there any thing in it, then p
sny truth in the story he had told?
The silence was intense. I could not
even hear a breath from the bed; and
! was about to rise and approach, when
again that awful horror seized me, and
at the same momont my eye fell upon
the mirror opposite the door, and /
saw


Great heavens! that awful shape
that CHASTITY mOckery of humanity!


Was it really messenger from the


buried, quiet dead? ? It stood there III


visible death-clothes but the awful
AC4CC W GlC EllCASLly W4bA CO1A pL4Olly anu
the sunken eyes cleaned forth q green,
CLASSY glare which seemed q veritable
blast from the Internal fires below. To
move or utter q sound in that hideOus
presence was impossible; and like
statue 1 sat and saw that horrid shape
move slowly toward the bed.


What was the awful scene enacted
t. ere l know not. / heard nothing,
except low, stifled, agOnized groan
and | saw the shadow of that ghastly
messenger bending over the bed
Whether it was some dreadful but
worldless sentence its breathless lips
conveyed as it stood there, know not;
but for an instant the shadow of a
claW-like hand, from which the third
finger was missing, appeared extended
over the doomed mans head; and
then as the clock struck one clear, sill
very stroke, it fell, and wild shrek
rang through the room "A death
shrek.


1 am not given to fainting, but l GER
tainly confess that the next ten min
utes of my existence was cold blank;
and when / did manage to Stagger to
my feet, I gazed around, vainly en-
deavCring to understand the chilly
horror which still possessed me.


Thank God! the room was rid of that
awful presence-I saw that so, gulp-
ing down some wine, 1 lighted a wax
taper and staggered toward the bed.
An, how [ prayed that, after all,
might have been dreaming, and that
my own excited imagination had but
conjured up some hideOus memory of
the disSecting-rOOm


But one glance was sufficient to an
gwer that. No! The summons had
indeed been given and answered.


j flashed the light over ths dead face,
swollen, convulsed still with the death
agony; but suddenly shrank back!
Even as l gaZed, the expression of the
face seemed to change; the blackness
faded into a deathly whiteness, the
conVulsed features relaxed, and, even
as if the victim of that dread appari-
ton still lived, 4 sad, solemn smile
stole over the pale lips.


l was intensely Mortified, but still [
retained sufficient self-cOnsciOusness to |
be struck professionally by such a phe-
nomenOn. Surely there was some
thing more than Supernatural agency
in all this this?


Again I scrutinized the dead face,
and even the throat and chest; but with
the exception of a tiny pimple on one |
temple, beneath cluster of hair, not q
mark appeared. To look at that corpse |
one would have believed that this man
naQ llOSGO UISu DH I4lO ElSIldl4OI1 OF
God, peaceful while 81 4eping.


How long l stood there know not,
but time enough to gather my scattered |
senses, and to reflect that, all things
considered, my own position would be |
very unpleasant if / was found thus
unexpectedly in the room Of the mys- |
teriously dead man. So, nOiselesSly
as could, / made my way out of the |
house. No one met me on the private |
staircase; the little door opening into |
the road was easily unfastened; and |
fresh Wintry air, as hurried along
that road by the churchyard.


There was u magnificent funeral
soon in that church; and it was said
that the young widow of the buried
man was incOnsOlable; and then ru-
nOrs got abroad of q horrible app2ri-
ton which had been seen on the night
of the death; and it was whispered the
young widow was terrified, and insisted
upon leaving her splendid mansion.


I was too mystiied with the whole
affair to risk my reputation by saying
what l knew; and l should have al
lowed my share in it to remain forever
buried in oblivion had l not suddenly
heard that the widow, objecting to
many of the legacies in the last will of
her husband, intended to dispute it on
the score Of insanity; and then gradu-
ally arose the TumOr Of his belief in
having received o mysterious sum-
mons.


On this went to the lawyer, and
sent q message to the lady that, as the
last person which lad attended her
husband, undertook to prove his san
ity; and l besought her to grant me an
interview, in which would relate as
strange and horrible q story as ear
had ever heard. The same evening [
received an invitation to go to the man
sion. / was ushered Immediately into
a splendid room, and there standing
before the fire, was the most dazzlingly
beautiful creature / had ever seen. She
was very small, but exquisitely made
had it not been for the dignity of her
carriage, should have believed her
mere child. With a stately bow she
advanced, hut did not speak.


[ come on strange and painful err
randi began; and then ! started, for
I happened to glance full into her eyes,
and from them down to the small right
hand grasping the chair. The eccd-
di9g-riHg was on that hand.


~ conclude you are the Mr.. Read


who requested permission to tell some
absurd ghost story, and whom my late
husband mentions here" And as she
spoke, she stretched out her left hand
toward something, but what I knew
not, for my eyes were fixed on that
hand.


Horror. White and delicate it
might be, but it was shaped like claw,
and the third finger was missing.


One sentence was enough after that:
Madam, all can tell you is, that the
ghost who nsmOned your husband
the third finger of the left hsnd was
missing, I said sternly; and the next
instant 1 had left that beautiful, sinful
presence.