October.
THE WEST SHORE.
him, I slipped noiselessly into my cham
ber.
And now, at this point, I must become
minute, ana perhaps even tedious in detail,
for I have a stranire storv to tell, and wish
faithfully to relate the strange occurrences of
mat nignt.
There was but one other boarder on the
second floor of Mrs. Hone's house besides
my uncle and myself. This was a stem,
unsociable man named Foster, a bachelor,
who always returned mv cheerful "Good-
morning I" with an unmoved face and a
jerky bow, as though his good angel had
suddenly pulled some invisible string to
prevent mm irom seeming Me surly fellow
he really was. This gruff personage
stalked up the stairs and into his mom
soon after I had entered mine. Our
apartments were at the back of the house,
and adjoining, though his, being but a
sman cnamDer at tne end o the hall, had
its door standing at a riirht anirle with mv
own. I could hear him moving briskly
around his room for a while, and finally, as
i arusc 10 close my door, saw him emerge,
carpet-bag in hand, and disaoDear at the
turn of the stairway. Soon after there
were other footsteps in his chamber, ap
parently those of two persons, and I could
near my landlady's voice saying, in her
usual indiscreet over-tone,
"There is no other way: we will have to
uv puis, mougn i aread th conse
quences." Then there was some muttered reply,
and a discussion ensued, through which I
could plainly distinguish the words "no one
in here to-night" "never knew it to fail"
" children " " horrible I" "the uncle's
room" "danger" "uncle can't get out
bed" "no, it's better here," etc., etc.
Just then uncle's hand-bell tingled out
its familiar summons, and I hastened to his
bedside.
"Fanny," he said, "can't you make it a
little lighter heref I've had one of my
ugly dreams, and I want to be certain you're
all right."
"To be sure I am, uncle dear," I re
joined, cheerfully, at the same time lighting
the gas near the head of his bed. " Is that
too bright for you ?"
" No, no; leave it up so. Now come
tell me what you have been doing this
afternoon."
Should I tell him every thing? No.
He would either be distressed at his own
powerlessness, or would laugh at my ner
vous fears. So I replied, at the same time
lifting a small table nearer his bed prepara
tory to bringing up his supper,
" Doing, uncle ? Why, I have been here
with you most of the afternoon, and before
that I was reading a letter from"
"Ah I I understand. Well, it's all my
own fault for ever letting that fellow with
the buttons have a word to say to you. I
shall have to hire some fat old nurse in a
year or two, while you'll be sporting around
with that scamp hey f "
My only answer to this was a laughing
thread to go to the young scamp at once if
uncle were not more respectful; though, at
heart, I felt quite resolved that, married or
single, I should never resign my self
imposed duty of nursing him.
" Well, well," said uncle, "you've always
been such a good girl I shan't be hard on
you. See if it's time for my mixture."
"No, not for an hour yet. You must
take your supper first."
"Very well. Don't put any butter on
the toast to-night; and if the chicken's as
tough as it was yesterday bring up some
thing else."
" Yes, uncle."
On my way from the dining-room with
uncle's supper I could not resist the temp
tation of taking a look into Mr. Foster's
apartment. So resting my tray in a vacant
niche at the head of the stair, I turned his
knob; but the door would not open. It
was locked, and the key had been taken
away. Thrust portly under my own closed
door was a penciled note from one of the
lady boarders, requesting that, if my patient
were well enough, I would pass the even
ing in her room. Well pleased at the
prospect of a cheerful gossip with Mrs.
Gray's delightful family, I resolved to
avail myself of the invitation after my uncle
had falien into his usual slumber, and so
lost no time in attending to my evening
duties.
It was nearly half-past eight before I
found myself in Mrs. Gray's pleasant par
lor, and by this time the beautiful afternoon
had passed into a chilly, unpleasant even
ing. But we soon forgot the outside dark
ness in the brightness and comfort within.
We talked of the campaign, Thomas,
Canby, and others, and in our excited com
ments developed sundry original and
startling views upon matten and things in
general, and the strategy of the present
campaign in particular.
Well entertained by the conversation and
the music that followed. I lingered in Mrs.
Gray's room until ten o'clock. Then, after
seeing that uncle was comfortably settled
for the night, I sought my own room, and,
carefully locking the door leading into the
hall, commenced to undress. This done,
I stood in my long night-wrapper near the
gaslight, and began reading once more the
words of my absent soldier. I had just
come to the passage, " By-the-way, my
dear Fanny," when a sudden, but continu
ous, clicking startled me. It might have
been the sharp dropping of rain-drops on
the roof of the piazza beneath my opened
window, or the ticking of the queer clock
in Mr. Foster's room; or it might have
Deen caused Dy some leakage in the water
pipes, or the creaking of the poor sick
baby's cradle in the room above. It mieht.
in short, have arisen from either of these or
twenty other innocent causes, and so I tried
to reason as, hastily putting the letter away,
I turned the gas entirely off (unintention
al, ior mat matter, Dut my hand was not
steady) and sought my pillow, quite sure
that 1 should not sleep a wink that ntoht.
But youth and health are often proof
tgduuu mure serious alarms man mine nad
been, and I soon sank into a profound
slumber.
Hours afterward I awoke with a start
from some troubled dream. What it had
been I could not precisely recall; but I
was agitated, and my brow and neck
seemed fairly dripping with perspiration.
In an instant the deep tones of the town
clock striking "two" reassured me, with
its familiar, everyday sound, and I soon
floated off again into the land of dreams.
This time the sleep was far less sound; and
more than once, without quite awaking, I
instinctively drew my muslin night-sleeve
across my forehead; it was strangely moist,
though I could feel the cool night-air steal
ing through the darkness from the open
window opposite. After turning uneasily
upon my pillow for a while, I finally sank
into a deeper slumber once more, and must
have remained unconscious for nearly an
hour, when suddenly I started up with a
sense of acute pain; and, wide awake in an
instant, became conscious that was nol
alone m the room. Use why that heavy
thump upon the floor, and the quick rush
that followed ? All was dark, but I could
feel that the pillow, my face, neck, and the
shoulder and sleeves of my night-dress were
covered with a strange, clammy moisture.
Seized with a horrible suspicion, and dart
ing from the bed in an agony of terror, I
flew to the other side of the room, and
groping for my uncle's door, burst with a
cry into his room. Dimly lighted as it
was, I could see every object distinctly as I
entered; and first of all, because the long
mirror hung directly opposite the door, and
the small gas-jet threw its rays full upon
me, I saw my own reflection in its bright
surface. Great Heavensl I was covered
with blood I My hands were wet with it,
while my cheek and throat were crimson
with the streams which flowed profusely
from my temples. What could I do ? My
uncle still slept soundly, under the effects
of an opiate which his physicians had pre
scribed for him. Frantic with fear, I tore
into the hall, flew up the stair, and would
have gone into Mrs. Gray's room, had I
not come in collision with my landlady at
the landing-place.
"Goodness I Miss Fanny, was it you
that screamed? What has happened?
Hush I" and she drew me quickly into her
little room. "Why, your shoulder's all
wet I Gracious! child, what it the matter ?
Here, you're safe enough now don't cry.
Oh I where arc the matches? I haven't
had my room dark at night before, I don't
know when here they are I Hush I you'll
scare Mrs. Gray."
By this time the room was lighted, and
apparently Mrs. Hone was as much alarmed
as myself when she saw my condition. She
was, however, a woman of stronir nerve.
and in a moment was coolly bathing my
face and neck and endeavoring to stanch
the blood still flowing from my temples.
When the bleeding ceased she lost no time
in changing my garments and making me
as comfortable as possible.
For some time I stayed in the landlady's
room, and we talked over the affair together.
There was but one solution of the matter;
and when, with a shudder, I suggested it to
her, she answered softly
"Just so, Miss Fanny, it was nothing
else, depend upon it. Poor child! Did
you tu him ?"
" No," I whispered, " the room was dark ;
but I heard him distinctly. Oh, Mrs. Hone,
I can never sleep in that room again! I
must leave the house to morrow."
"Dear, dearl" exclaimed Mrs. Hone;
"it's always some trouble with me: first
one thing, and then another. But I'm sure
I can't blame you, Miss Fanny; though, if
you would stay, I could get a man here to
morrow who told me he could soon put a
stop to all such troubles. But I hated to
have him come before, because I knew it
would make so much talk in the house,
ami uiaKc uie neip saucy, uoouness knows,
they're unbearable enoueh alreadvl"
I felt sorry for the landlady, but in my
own mind fully resolved to leave.her roof as
soon as possible. The clock boomed out
" four."
"Oh, Mrs. Hone!" I exclaimed, struck
with a new fear, " I have left uncle alone
all this time. Will you go down stairs with
me? I can't go alone!"
The landlady was naturally unwilling to
run any further risk of disturbing the house
hold, and tried to persuade me not to go,
but I was resolute.
The dear old man lay there safely
enough when we entered his room, but his
sleep was heavy too heavy; and his brow
was burning hot. The next day he was
worse; and when I asked the physician
concerning him, the reply was,
" Oh, it's nothing very serious. Perfect
quiet for a week or two, and careful nurs
ing, are all that are necessary."
So there, of course, was an end for the
present of my plan to leave the house. But
i did not attempt to sleep in my apartment
again, or even to undress at all. For four
nights 1 stayed in the sick chamber, resting
uinr in a large arm-cnair, or pernaps in
dulging in a brief repose upon the lounee.
On the fifth day uncle was 60 much better
mat, unconscious of all that had happened,
he insisted upon my retirinir to mv room
and seeking rest. Willing to relieve his
anxiety, ana Deing really very much ex
hausted from continued watchirar. I obeyed :
and in a few moments was comfortably re
clining on a sofa which stood near the win
dow across the corner of my room.
That pleasant, sunny room I How dif-
lerau Jia appearance was now Irom what it
naa Deen less than a week ago! Then, all
was order and neatness: and the mantel
toilet-table and walls had been decked with
various tasteful articles and engravings,
uiu.&cu mu unuKes. now. me wa s were
bare, and the pictures stood on the floor
ready to be taken away as soon ns unr-ti-
should be able to leave the house (for I
now felt confident I could persuade him to
go), and the little nick-nacks and souvenirs
were already saiely stowed away in trunks.
The curtains were drawn tastelessly back
uy ueiiy s ruinicss nana ana on the lurni-
ture lingered a peculiar bloom neither
cleanliness nor dirt left by the house
maid's duster. To add to the air of dis
comfort, in one corner stood a pile of
uuiiKs iwmcn naa pcen noiselessly packed
while uncle slept); and in another lay por
tions of a dismembered bedstead and a
quantity of bedding, which the landlady
had asked permission to leave there, "beintr
as the room wasn't used."
All these thinirs were duly noted as I lav
there, vainly courting the sleep I so much
needed. I could hear my uncle's heavy
breathing in the next room, and the occa
sional passing of footsteps along the hall as
the boarders came straggling up from din
ner. It was no feverish dream then that
possessed me when there, in the broad day
light, I saw the detested creature who had
attacked me in the dead of night, and the
traces of whose diabolical work were still
upon my temple, cautiously enter my room,
and, gliding slowly and stealthily along,
close up to the very wainscot, actually se
crete himself under the bedding in the
comer!
Goaded to desperation I leaned from the
couch, and. scarce conscious of what I was
doing, flew to the spot, and, seizing a small
peapost which lay there, beat with all my
might upon the place where I believed his
neaa ana Dreast to be I Mo sound escajicd
him, but from the first stroke I felt that he
was in my power. Blow after blow fell,
for I had the strength of a maniac, and I
darid not stop. By this time my cries were
heard, and my landlady and several of the
boarders rushed into my room. They
forced me into a seat, and lifted the bed
ding trom the Door. There he lay, motion
less 1 They turned him over. He was
dead! stone dead! and by my hand!
"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Mr. Wil
liams, the strong young man from the third
story, ss he lifted my victim from the floor,
" he is dead, big as he is; but how did you
ever find courage to kill him I"
"I'm sure 1 hardly know," I gasped,
except that I was desperate. He lias tor
mented me almost to death for two or three
weeks past, and last Saturday night he ac
tually did came near killing me in earnest."
"How? how?" cried everybody but the
landlady, crowding more closely.
The good lady winked prodigiously at
me just then, and tried to cliange the sub
ject; but I to too excited to heed her.
Turning with a shudder from the lifeless
cause of my past miseries, I explained how
I had felt a natural antipathy against him
from the first moment I had encountered
him in the hall at Mrs. Hone's; how terri
fied I had been when I saw him pass
through the reception-parlor where I sat
conversing with a gentleman; how I had
heard and seen him several times since;
how he had actually dragged a letter Irom
my room out into the hall; and, above all,
how he had bitten my temple on that fear
ful night I had just raised the hair care
fully from my brow to show my audience
the still unhealed traces of those cruel
teeth, when Biddy, the chamber-maid,
came bustling in. The moment she saw
the lifeless corpse she shrieked.
"Who killed him? Not you, Miss
Fanny! I'd have been skecrcd to death.
I'm glad he's dead, anyhow. I told you,
ma'am," she added, turning to Mrs. Hone,
" twan't no use tryin' to pizen him. We
couldn't have got rid of him; and he'd
smelt awful all summer; and "
"Hold your tongue!" exclaimed Mrs.
Hone, out of patience.
. Thus tenderly admonished, Biddy sub
sided, only murmuring, under her breath,
that people's lives "hadn't been safe with
a critter like that runnin' around;" and
finally uttering a piercing shriek as Mr.
Williams, the strong young man from the
third story, lifted the lifeless body toward
her.
At that moment Mrs. Hone's oldest son,
Fred, a student in the academy, burst into
the room. He stopped for a moment, sur
veying the strange tableau. There was I,
flashed with the excitement of my exploit;
Biddy, angry at being checked in her vol
uble exclamations, and shrinking from the
corpse; Mrs. Hone, severe in her dignity
as head of the house, glad that the obnox
ious creature was dead, yet anxious to pre
vent any talk among her boarders; and Mr.
Williams holdinir un the dpad hnJr sn llmr
all could see it.
Master Fred, who being six years my
junior was my sworn admirer, and hated
my IUJ3WUUUS iuu us mucn as i uiu, iook.
in the whole aftair at a glance.
"You've killed him, Miss Fanny, have
you?" he exclaimed. "Bully for yout
He's the biggest fellow I ever saw. 'A
rat, dead for a ducat, dead!'" he added,
imitating as nearly as he could the tone and
attitude of R. W., whom ho had seen the
evening before ill Hamlet at a private the
atrical, pointing at the dead body of the
huge rat whom 1 had just killed, which Mr.
Williams was handing to the shrinking
Biddy to be disposed of.
Possibly the ready ol this narrative may,
like my lord Hamlet, have taken this
slaughtered rat for "his better." If so, he
has read with his imagination instead of
his eyes "a bad habit; I pray you avoid
it."
I have only to add here that my strange
enemy was the first and iIia int nf I.:., i,;...i
that has ever succeeded in jiciiclrating into
me immaculate mansion ot iwrs. Hone.
"Are there any fools in this city ?" asked
a stranger of a newsboy " No; do you
feel lonesome ?" was the reply.
A bad little boy, upon being promised
five cents by bis mother if he would lake a
dose of castor oil, obtained the money, and
then told his parent lliat she might cast-et
oil in the street.
A scH0oi.Bov being asked by the teacher
how he should flog him, replied: " If you
please, sir, I should like to have it on the
Italian system the heavy strokes upwards,
and the down ones light.
. Down in Connecticut butter is being made
at a cost of three cents per pound. When
an unfortunate man gets a mouthful of the
compound, his chief anxiety is to find a
good place to have a fit.
A man in digging a load of sand from a
sand bank in Seneca Kails was buried to Ills
shoulders by an avalanche of the treach
erous earth, When discovered by his
friends he had been planted about three
hours, and was beginning; to crow dis
couraged.
A rustic VOUmrslpr. lwinff nuLirt mil fn
take tea with a friend, was admonished to
praise the eatables. Presently the butter
was passed to him. ulun lu r,.,,,rU,l
"Very nice butter what there is of It,"
and observing a smile, he added, "arid
plenty of it such as it is."
Doctor Bolus, who was verv ninrrv
when any joko wns paused on his
profession, once said:
" 1 defy Bny ponton whom I ever
attended to accuse mo of ignorance
or neglect"
" l hat vou may do safely, doctor,
replied a wag; "dead men tell no
tales: