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Cosmic Tales, v. 2, issue 1, Summer 1939

Page 8

8      COSMIC TALES

and I do not try to explain what, made me feel that I should keep James under personal observation that night. Somehow this idea was connected with the fact that the picture was finished, and that anything might happen. I recall that I thot that it would be an ideal time for a praecox to kill himself. So I walked to his room, dismissed the night guard, and said that I would stay in the hallway on the rocking chair till daylight. James was asleep. He seemed to be peacefully asleep. I wrapped a blanket around me, turned on my flashlight, saw that everything was alright in the room, and sat down in the chair. And I must have dozed. anyway, when I next looked at my watch it was after two. The room was flooded with a dull, pale yellow moonlight, but it seemed to come from the moon in the picture and not from the moon in the sky."
"this is all very interesting," murmured Ludwig, bending over with an odd gleam in his eye. "Of course you expect me to believe what happened after that?"
"You can do as you please. I would not blame you if you bluntly said i was drunk, or hallucinating, or asleep and dreaming. You can react anyway you wish to. if you listen to the rest of it, or I will stop here and leave the rest to your imagination."
"No. Positively not. You must finish."
"I suppose that I must. And, in telling you, i will use as plain and simple language as I can.
"there was more moonlight in the room and anyone could see now that it came from the wall.
James sat up in bed, and then left it and stood on the floor. I could see his face plainly, and it had the blank expression of a somnambulist. He took off the coat of his pajamas, folded it neatly, and placed it at the foot of the bed. Suddenly his expression changed to one of fear. And just them it seemed that the printed picture of the mother stood up, and the other women in the painted picture on the wall started to walk off the wall. I waited a few seconds, a few fatal seconds, thinking that I would waken any minute from the dream. Then a soft, warm hand closed over my mouth and I could not call for help. I raised my hand to find the wrist and pull it away, but there was no wrist there. But other hands held my arms and pressed against my body, and two wolves caught me at the ankles with their teeth."
"How do you know they were wolves?"
"By the smell. Wet fur tainted with carrion. And it seemed I could hear them snarl. Anyway I was held there. I could not move. And it was a woman who held her hand over my mouth. I could feel her hair and smell her perfume as it pressed against me. But I could see! James started to struggle. Every muscle became tense and his face showed fear -- terrible, devastating fear. And it seemed to me, that in spite of his struggles,he was picked up and placed on the floor at the bottom of the picture, face down. His arms were pulled away from his body. he never made a sound, but all the time the women in the picture were leaving the wall, and I could hear the wolves starting to howl.
"The room became dark. The hands left my body, and I reached for and turned on the flashlight....."
Ludwig interrupted me. "And James was dead?"
"James was dead. I ran in and dragged his body out into the hall, shut and locked the door, and rang the bell for help. i counted the wounds, none large but all deep, and the neck on the right side was torn. But there was no blood!"
Ludwig smiled. I wondered if he believed me. He simply said in a whisper. "We have gone back to the necromancy of the middle ages." 
"Believe it or not. Do as you please, but there was no blood. We took the body to the mortuary, and I was able to put a broken knife in the right hand before the Coroner came.  He was an ignorant politi[[?]]; I was a heavy tax-payer;
(cont on page 3)
ing 13)

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8 COSMIC TALES and I do not try to explain what, made me feel that I should keep James under personal observation that night. Somehow this idea was connected with the fact that the picture was finished, and that anything might happen. I recall that I thot that it would be an ideal time for a praecox to kill himself. So I walked to his room, dismissed the night guard, and said that I would stay in the hallway on the rocking chair till daylight. James was asleep. He seemed to be peacefully asleep. I wrapped a blanket around me, turned on my flashlight, saw that everything was alright in the room, and sat down in the chair. And I must have dozed. anyway, when I next looked at my watch it was after two. The room was flooded with a dull, pale yellow moonlight, but it seemed to come from the moon in the picture and not from the moon in the sky." "this is all very interesting," murmured Ludwig, bending over with an odd gleam in his eye. "Of course you expect me to believe what happened after that?" "You can do as you please. I would not blame you if you bluntly said i was drunk, or hallucinating, or asleep and dreaming. You can react anyway you wish to. if you listen to the rest of it, or I will stop here and leave the rest to your imagination." "No. Positively not. You must finish." "I suppose that I must. And, in telling you, i will use as plain and simple language as I can. "there was more moonlight in the room and anyone could see now that it came from the wall. James sat up in bed, and then left it and stood on the floor. I could see his face plainly, and it had the blank expression of a somnambulist. He took off the coat of his pajamas, folded it neatly, and placed it at the foot of the bed. Suddenly his expression changed to one of fear. And just them it seemed that the printed picture of the mother stood up, and the other women in the painted picture on the wall started to walk off the wall. I waited a few seconds, a few fatal seconds, thinking that I would waken any minute from the dream. Then a soft, warm hand closed over my mouth and I could not call for help. I raised my hand to find the wrist and pull it away, but there was no wrist there. But other hands held my arms and pressed against my body, and two wolves caught me at the ankles with their teeth." "How do you know they were wolves?" "By the smell. Wet fur tainted with carrion. And it seemed I could hear them snarl. Anyway I was held there. I could not move. And it was a woman who held her hand over my mouth. I could feel her hair and smell her perfume as it pressed against me. But I could see! James started to struggle. Every muscle became tense and his face showed fear -- terrible, devastating fear. And it seemed to me, that in spite of his struggles,he was picked up and placed on the floor at the bottom of the picture, face down. His arms were pulled away from his body. he never made a sound, but all the time the women in the picture were leaving the wall, and I could hear the wolves starting to howl. "The room became dark. The hands left my body, and I reached for and turned on the flashlight....." Ludwig interrupted me. "And James was dead?" "James was dead. I ran in and dragged his body out into the hall, shut and locked the door, and rang the bell for help. i counted the wounds, none large but all deep, and the neck on the right side was torn. But there was no blood!" Ludwig smiled. I wondered if he believed me. He simply said in a whisper. "We have gone back to the necromancy of the middle ages." "Believe it or not. Do as you please, but there was no blood. We took the body to the mortuary, and I was able to put a broken knife in the right hand before the Coroner came. He was an ignorant politi[[?]]; I was a heavy tax-payer; (cont on page 3) ing 13)