being a man of large business responsibilities, was
frequently troubled with insomnia.

Suddenly Mrs. Hasbrouck woke with a start. Had she dreamed the words
that were ringing in her ears, or had they been actually uttered in her
hearing? They were short, sharp words, full of terror and menace, and
she had nearly satisfied herself that she had imagined them, when there
came, from somewhere near the door, a sound she neither understood nor
could interpret, but which filled her with inexplicable terror, and made
her afraid to breathe, or even to stretch forth her hand towards her
husband, whom she supposed to be sleeping at her side. At length another
strange sound, which she was sure was not due to her imagination, drove
her to make an attempt to rouse him, when she was horrified to find that
she was alone in bed, and her husband nowhere within reach.

Filled now with something more than nervous apprehension, she flung
herself to the floor, and tried to penetrate with frenzied glances,
the surrounding darkness. But the blinds and shutters both having
been carefully closed by Mr. Hasbrouck before retiring, she found this
impossible, and she was about to sink in terror to the floor, when she
heard a low gasp on the other side of the room followed by a suppressed
cry.

"God! what have I done!"

The voice was a strange one, but before the fear aroused by this
fact could culminate in a shriek of dismay, she caught the sound of
retreating footsteps, and, eagerly listening, she heard them descend the
stairs and depart by the front door.

Had she known what had occurred--had there been no doubt in her mind as
to what lay in the darkness on the other side of the room--it is likely
that, at the noise caused by the closing front door, she would have made
at once for the balcony that opened out from the window before which
she was standing, and taken one look at the flying figure below. But her
uncertainty as to what lay hidden from her by the darkness chained her
feet to the floor, and there is no knowing when she would have moved, if
a carriage had not at that moment passed down Astor Place, bringing with
it a sense of companionship which broke the spell holding her, and gave
her strength to light the gas which was in ready reach of her hand.

As the sudden blaze illuminated the room, revealing in a burst the old
familiar walls and well-known pieces of furniture, she felt for a moment
as if released from some heavy nightmare