Show PURSUED BY A PHANTOM I If what t I r am am m about to tell tel you yoi 01 makes m you smile smie with incredulity it i ino is no more than I t expect t. t I am nm used t to resting under the imputation on of of being either a n romanticist or a madman July 81 The he date is ind indelibly bly branded into to my brain It t was wt t a n chill chili wi ci windy y evening evening-a o a night fo for midsummer Before leavin leaving the tho house I had donned my overcoat and it was buttoned up to my toy chin The street I was traversing in was or ordinarily ordinarily i a is n much frequented frequente one ne but the thi chilliness of and the blustering bluster bluster- ing w wind d 11 had d driven diven n pedestrians s within within with with- in doors door and tho the sidewalks were almost almost almost al al- al- al most deserted I t ns was walking rapidly thinking intently intently in in- of tho the next days day's business en en- but still sti with every overy faculty thoroughly awake when my right fight hand han involuntarily gesticulating came in contact with some souse object be- be beBide Bide aide me nie I looked up quickly thinking I had accidentally struck some passing straggler There was vae no one near not neat not a no single living lhing soul was Vas within a hundred yards of where I stood I stopped startled The Tho thing was incomprehensible Had find I nn unconsciously unconscious unconscious- on ly struck my ray hand against tho tIse fence No impossible impossible- I was standing close to the curb and the tho fence was nearly a dozen feet away Had the wind caught the tho skirt of m and amI blown it 11 forcibly ng against irist my my hand Even en that las ya ras untenable Every button was fastened and th Lb coat fitted so snugly as to preclude the possibility of it bein being blown aside It was evidently eVIdently evidently evi eVI- dently I concluded a case of exaggerated g im imagination startling and I uncommonly acute and realistic but imagination jor all nIl that thet I 1 resume talk A moment nt later later la la- ter tei I was wn r conscious of oi a strange pres- pres beside sid me ot other footsteps beside be side my own of something that lived Jived and breathed hed At my lay side but which was totally invisible I Isto i stopped pe and It paused I could feel its breath oreath in my face face cold cold grave grave- lJ e like terrifying I strained my mr eyes I looked d here there everywhere here rubbed my eyes wildly and looked ajain but again but but no nol there was nothing there there jio human being near me I me-I I Iwas was nS alone alone alone-alone alone except for that invisible invisible in in- visible Tiling Thing that seemed breathing its unseen life beside me With it al fl frightened cry I turned and started back I I-fiad taken only a single step when I violently collided with the tho invisible sible Thing my hands instinctively endeavoring to thrust It away away felt what seemed to be the flesh of a n human being not being not warm and lifelike lifelike life life- like and yc yet et sentient with life lifo and feeling With a frantic effort I 1 pushed the form aside and fled my my heart beating benting with uncontrollable terror ter ter- ter- ter rot og while close behind me its breath on on my neck its footsteps ringing a sharp accompaniment to mine came caine that thet awful Something that no human eye ere could see but which my touch and hearing bearing told mo was always there I reached 1 ach d the steps inserted the tho key in the lock and turned it With a strength e that seemed herculean I thrust my invisible pursuer aside and sprin springing ing inside the vestibule slammed the door COOl behind me Then I sank helpless on the or I do not know how long I remained there It may have haye been minutes or My watch h had d stopped M M first thought was of my invisible pursuer Had I shut it out or was It still with me I reached out in the dark but felt nothing mere alarming than the frescoed fres free coed walls and the doors of the vesti vesti- bule Benumbed and exhausted I dragged myself up to my room yoom threw myself on t the e bed oed without disrobing and sank into a no heavy henvy slumber I can cnn not adequately describe the t effect of the night of terror upon my mind and life hife From rom l being a man of iron nerves I became nervous and sensitive to the point of actual cow- cow trai 2 I 1 S was afraid to w walk lk to the open ppe a air r at night alone I started started-at at every shadow shadow every every ow-every every footfall had a a. terror for me until I could see its owner When I reached homo home after being abroad at night I unlocked the thedoor thedoor thedoor door sprang within and hurriedly closed it as though the invisible Thing was still following upon my footsteps Toward the close of September an nn anold anold old school chum who had been at nt an Eastern college making a physician of himself and who was about to establish lish hish his practice in New York came home hom for a n brief rest and for Jor a n week or r more beside bein being my guest shared my bed so that without interruption we m might fight our schoolboy battles over again One evening ho he had gone out al alone ne and as ns ho he had not returned when I Iwas Iwas was ready to retire I locked the resolving ng to get et up and let him bim himin himin in on his arrival The day had been beena a long along lon one and I was greatly fatigued In a a. few minutes I was sound asleep About three thre oclo o'clock k I awoke with a a. natural instinct reached ached over over to see whether v m my chum Jack had come in My fingers touched a n soft yielding body and I 1 could distinctly feel the regular rise and fall of the chest as ns the form beside me Dear old Tack Jack JackI I thought though and relapsed relapsed re re- re- re lapsed into sleep again A t. t series of sharp knocks at the thedoor door startled me inc out o t of a a. fitful dream and andI I sprang up see the he sunshine pour pouring in ing in through the window The quilts were humped up on the opposite side of the bed as though Jack had become chilly durin during the night and bundled himself in them like a a. mummy The knocking at the door was repeated re ro and still only half awake I shuffled t tp to the door and opened it As I am a living livin man manJack Jack whom I had hod thought still asleep ep in the bed walked into the room He JIe was laughing heartily Youre a a. tremendous sleeper he paid aid I 4 I thought 1 I would arouse the tho whole bouse house last night trying to wake wako you yon and then I had to give it up and sleep sheep on the sofa in the sitting room What on an e earth earth- S f t y I Lt c J 1 7 e M Y The expression of terrorized amaze I i ment meat oh on my face must have alarmed Jack for he stopped suddenly ant nn and I looked at t me with a a. glance glanco of curious quest questioning What on earths earth's tho matter matted hi he continued presently Do liDo you mean to say you were no not in in this this' room night last last night I Tasked asked ns ed My ly voice sounded scarcely louder than a whisper Most assuredly I do was th the tho 5 re ply And you yoa didn't sleep in that tha bed bee with me Why hy no nol aol of course not aoL Jack Jack Jack I cried JI for Gods God's sake dont don't trine trifle w with lh me mc lle Say it if is all a n jest tell jest tell me you on were in this his room last n t night that night that you oli slept in mj mt bed hed Jock Jack old fellow v isn't it tn tru that you Olt got up early and loft left tin the room and now youve you've coma omo back to tc play pIny a a- practical al joke foke upon me The surprise depicted on Jacks Jack's face was evident I 1 dont don't know what you mean he menn he said I 1 simply know that I was nol in sri this room last night nn find and certainly did not sleep here Besides how could I enter the room without you yon unfastened the tho door nn and how could I have havo locked the door after leaving the this room roomY In my anguish of mind I had forgotten for- for tot gotten cotten ten that the door doot was locked here could no be doubt no doubt of of it JA J k had not been in ill tho the room but bitt It was It is true then I fairly screamed it Uit is true Tho The Thing has been here hero here here in my room room bolts bolts and bars can not keep it out Oh God I 1 am am lost lost Jack took my hand Youve been dreaming old fellow he said and besides he added youve youn got gota ot a 30 a fever Let me prescribe for you von No no 1 cri cried d its no dream I wish it was was vas Come Coine come come look here I dragged dragg d him over r to the bed bed to to I that hat side of the bed where It been and where the tho covers were ivere yet raised is us though some sonic form lay la- huddled be- be beneath beneath neath them them I them Look Look ook I 1 cried crie as I threw back the covers and antl disclosed the he disordered bed can Ican you dou doubt t that some one has slept there thoro No o ho he said Mid sur surely ly not but it it was yourself His disposition to make light licht of the ed me into telling him the whole story Ho scorned l interested and when I 1 spoke of how I hilt had fallen failE to o sleep with my arm around of tho the Thing lhing that slept me he lie looked considerably startled But Dut when I had finished he put his hand liis-hand hand handon on on m my m shoulder in his lais old familiar way vay and saul You need attention more than I thought bought You have been working too hard and 1 your head isn't just ri right ht Try Try-to fry to realize rc how preposterous the whole hole tIming thing is and dismiss it as an hallucination I saw that thit it it would be useless to tory try ry to convince him that he was wrong or to endeavor to shatter his theory so p I simply said nid Perhaps you on are arc right ight and later when hen he ho proposed to 0 put me un under er a regular course couise of treatment treatment- acquiesced willing rilling to please him but satisfied in in my own mind that the skill of no physicIan phy- phy ician on earth earths was competent tent to help Inc Ine r r Thit Thia second secona vj visitation maden madea made a far fat more lasting impression than tho the first one ne and my nervousness increased During the ba balance ance of Jacks J visit Jacks ack s visit isit always retired to together I took h his 3 allopathic doses dutifully and anti ened without out attempting to combat tt his ils arguments when he endeavored to 0 prove pro what a t poor imaginary thin thing my ny ghost was But But ben when at nt the sound hound of f a strange fo footfall I started in in teror terror terror ter- ter or or sitting bitting down at nt table tabo beside nn an n empty chair I instinctively reached out ut as ns though to twitch some unseen object his face revealed re the pity he lie felt elt for me He lie alone knew how much I suffered When finally ho lie went ent away way all nil hope seemed gone one out ot ol my life fe Perhaps you will blame me for what I am ani about to tell you I deserve your condemnation But lint what hum hum- nan moAn creature however sorely oppressed op- op oppressed pressed and tortured can n resist the this them m influence of a woman's womans love She was not ot more beautiful than other women but mt we loved lo and were married She trusted rusted me She did not know mow there was a u. dark horrible something some some- thing hing in my life that one day wreck her young life as ns well as mine I IdId Iid dud dId id not MI her That is where I was weak and selfish For awhile tho happiness of my new new lire life fe drove awn away the dark fears that shadowed me But it was only for i av few ew short months Then the old teror terror ter ter- or came back with tenfold bitterness and nd dread Since binco that night when It md had slept beside mo I had not actual actual- Jy Iy r felt its presence but the tho horror that liat was always in me that It would come ome back drove me to the verge of despa despair espair r. r My lV Iy wife noticed my abstraction and ander her er loving eyes looked into mine with wiLls a a. new tenderness but to all her sym pathetic questioning I could simply answer that there was nothing lin ling ing me that she might share Somehow I got a no mad idea into my head ead that if It ever came back I might kill it and with a strange murderous mur- mur derous erous instinct I small sharp pointed dagger dager and constantly carrIed arnea it with me ins hidden under my oat coat At night I hid it beneath my pillow illow How I kept her from frum seeing It 1 was a no marvel One day when she had h gone home to o her her parents for the day she s sent nt me word that she sno would not return until the following morning At 11 U o'clock clock I went to bed and quickly fell asleep sleep Early in the morning mornin I awoke The he blinds linds were closed and the room was densely ensely dark but I kneW mew that I was wae not alone I could hear deep deop breathing breath breath- ing ng in the bed beside me rue Reaching over ver I felt the tho flesh o of a a. living Jiving form I started up with a no cry of horror It hud had ad come back to me again My Iy wife was as away and the hideous thin thing that had ad made mado my life a a. curse was beside me in her place Quietly I rose upon my ray knees and rasping asping the dagger firmly handt hand drove e it into tho the silent figure beside I rae one The next instant there was a shriek a a wild agonized scream of pain and then anguish then all was quiet In a strange tumult of mingled exultation and ind terror I sprang up and threw open spen the blind bUnd My God Can I ever forget it A Af the light streamed in it fell fen across the bed aed and lighted up the dead face laos so sony soray ny ray wife She had come in while I slept and I frenzied by b- tho the fancied presence of that invisible apparition had ad killed her II What hat do you ou trunk of him asked the he police sergeant as the tIlO reporter leporter came ame out of the prisoners prisoner's cell ceU Crazy c Crazy vr a as L A l lOop |