Amos Kilbright; His Adscititious Experiences by Frank Richard Stockton
page 42 of 103 (40%)
page 42 of 103 (40%)
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broadcloth suit--not laid out at length, but all in a compact heap--but
I saw the shoes and stockings, the collar and cravat; everything. Near by lay a whisk broom. The truth was plain. While giving the last touches to his wedding attire, all that was Amos Kilbright had utterly disappeared! I stood where I had stopped, just inside the door, trembling, scarcely breathing, so stunned by the terrible sight of those clothes that I could not move, nor scarcely think. If I had seen his dead body there I should have been shocked, but to see nothing! It was awful to such an extent that my mind could not deal with it! Presently I heard a step, and slightly turning, saw my wife close by me. She had passed the open door, and seeing me standing as if stricken into a statue, had entered. It did not need that I should speak to her. Pale as a sheet she stood beside me, her hand tightly grasping my arm, and with her lips pallid with horror, she formed the words: "They have done it!" In a few moments she pulled me gently back, and said, in quick, low tones, as if we had been in presence of the dead: "In less than an hour she will be at the church. We must not stay here." With this she turned and stepped quickly from the room. I followed, closing the door behind me. Swiftly moving, and without a word, my wife put on her hat and left the house. Mechanically I followed. I could speak no word of comfort to that |
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