At irregular intervals I dream
it, and each time, lately"--he hesitated and then went on--"each time
lately, the thing has been getting closer--closer--the waving of the
grass marks his progress and he nears me with each dream; and when he
reaches me, then----"

He stopped short, then without a word rose abruptly and entered the
house. The rest of us sat silent for awhile, then followed him, for it
was late. *       *       *       *       *

How long I slept I do not know, but I woke suddenly with the impression
that somewhere in the house someone had laughed, long, loud and
hideously, as a maniac laughs. Starting up, wondering if I had been
dreaming, I rushed from my room, just as a truly horrible shriek
echoed through the house. The place was now alive with other people
who had been awakened, and all of us rushed to Faming's room, whence
the sounds had seemed to come. Faming lay dead upon the floor, where it seemed he had fallen in
some terrific struggle. There was no mark upon him, but his face was
terribly distorted; as the face of a man who had been crushed by some