That woman had come
thither, on this stormy night, to murder me; and she had very nearly
succeeded. Had she found me asleep, I should never have waked.
Fortunately, I was awake. Some noise frightened her, and she
disappeared. A moment afterward one of the nurses came, and finally the
surgeon.
"When I told him what had taken place, he laughed.
"'Well, colonel, go back to bed,' he said, 'such dreams retard your
recovery more than every thing else.'
"I obeyed, without taking the trouble to contradict him. My breast was
bleeding again, and I did not get over the excitement for some days.
The phantom did not return. I slowly recovered, and was taken in due
time to Fort Delaware--the rest you know.
"I forgot to tell you one thing. The surgeon almost persuaded me that I
had been the victim of nightmare. Unfortunately, however, for the
theory of the worthy, I found a deep hole in my pillow, where the
poniard had entered.
"So you see it was madam, and not her ghost, who had done me the honor
of a visit, Surry."
XXIII.
THE GRAVE OF ACHMED.
An hour afterward I had dined with Mohun at his head-quarters, in the
woods; mounted our horses; and were making our way toward the Rapidan
to inspect the pickets.
This consumed two hours. We found nothing stirring.
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