The Idler Magazine, Volume III., July 1893, page 9 by Various Authors
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d blood? a creature of air? a creature of my own imagination? what matter; it was real to me.
"It came last night, as I sat working, alone. Each night I have waited for it, listened for it--longed for it, I know now. I heard the passing of its feet upon the bridge, the tapping of its hand upon the door, three times--tap, tap, tap. I felt my loins grow cold, and a pricking pain about my head, and I gripped my chair with both hands, and waited, and again there came the tapping--tap, tap, tap. I rose and slipped the bolt of the door leading to the other room, and again I waited, and again there came the tapping--tap, tap, tap. Then I opened the heavy outer door, and the wind rushed past me, scattering my papers, and the woman entered in, and I closed the door behind her. She threw her hood back from her head, and unwound a kerchief from about her neck, and laid it on the table. Then she crossed and sat before the fire, and I noticed her bare feet were damp with the night dew.
[Illustration: "THE WOMAN ENTERED."]
"I stood over against her and gazed at her, and she smiled at me--a strange, wicked smile, but I could have laid my soul at her feet. She never spoke or moved, and neither did I feel the need of spoken words, for I understood the meaning of those upon the Mount when they said, 'Let us make here tabernacles: it is good for us to be here.'
"How long a time passed thus I do not know, but suddenly the woman held her hand up, listening, and there came a faint sound from the other room. Then swiftly she drew her hood about her face and passed out, closing the door softly behind her; and I drew back the bolt of the inner door and waited, and hearing nothing more, sat down, and must have fallen asleep in my chair.
"I awoke, and instantly there flashed through my mind the thought of the kerchief the woman had left behind her, and I started from my chair to hide it. But the table was already laid for breakfast, and my wife sat with her elbows on the table and her head between her han