The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1857-06-04

The day had been exceedingly cold and
stormy, and the night had already set in
dark and dismal, with fierce gale and
divlng storm of rain and hail, when again
stood by my patient. The moment | look.
ed at him, perceived the unmstakeable in
dications of deatl, upon his features. lie
was Tree from pain, his mind perfectly clear;
but his lie was ebbing away with every
breath, like the slow burning of an exhaust
ed lamp.
Meanwhile the storm arose to tempest,
and the gloom grew black as death to the
Wild night without. The wind swept with
tremendous gusts through the adjoining
forests, startling the icy branches of the
trees, and came wailing and shrieking
through every crack and Granny OF the
building.
Within there was yet wilder commotion.
All that had been said or sung, written or
dreamed, ofghostly visitations was then and
there enacted. There was ringing of bells,
moving of furniture, crash of dishes, Wills.
pers, howls, crying, laughter, whistling,
groaning heavy aud light footsteps, and
wild music, as if in mockery of the Internal
regions. All these things grew wilder with
the rising gale, until towards midnight they
were almost insufferabe.
AS for us three-the patient, Mrs. Green
and myself-not word passed our lips af
ter nine o'clock. AS for the state Of our
minds, God only knows. Mine, in the wild
whirl Of thought and events which follow
ed, forgot all the past save what have re
called and penned, bit by bit, above. Ire.
member looking only for the final cas,astro-
phe, which grew rapidly nearer, with a con.
slant endeaEor TO concentrate all my facul-
ties OF mind and sense upon the phenome.
non which |, at least, had begun to believe
would herald the loss Of my patient.
As 1t grew closer upon twelve o'clock,
for Upon the striking of that hour had nv
thoughts fixed themselves for the expected
demonstration) my agitation became so
great that it was with extreme difficulty
could control myself
Nearer aud nearer grew the fatal mo
mentor fatal perceived il would be. TO
the patient at least; and, at last, the seconds
trembled on the brink of midnigh,: the
clock began to strike One-two-three,
counted the strokes of The hammer which
seemed as though they never would have
done-ten-eleven | drew nv
breath again. The last lingering echo of
the last stroke had died fairly away, and as
yet there was no token of any presence
save our own.
All was silent. The wind had lulled for
moment, and not a sound stirred the air
within the house. The ghosts had fled!
arose and approached the bedside. The
Datlent ulIya---lr, Ia.
slowly-dying. The interval between his
gasps grew longer; then he ceased to
breathe-he was dead. Ms. Green was
sitting in her place, her elbows resting ON
her knees, her face buried in the palms of
her hands. | closed the open mouth and
pressed down the eyelids OF the dead then
touched her on the shoulder.
1t is over," | whispered"
THANK God" was the fervent reply.
- % 4
Then we both started. There was a
rus;ling of the bedclothes. NJ. Hayden
was sitting erect, his chest heaying with a
mighty effort for one more inspiration of
the blessed air. Before could reach him
he spoke
MY God! she as comimgt"
AT the same instant the wind came back
with sudden appalling gust, as i, swept
through the crevices Of the building. Then
there was an opening of the outer door.
then staggering and uncertain step in the
outer room! the latch lftedl the door was
swung home! aud then, my God! what a
spectacle!
wonder. even now. tliat dare describe
lt-thlnk OF It-remember it, | would |
-ieved i. then, or do now, that did not
so mad, or drop down dead.
Through the open door there stepped n
hgure--a figure not OF Mrs. Hayden, nor
of death, but,a thousand times more horri-
BILE, thing of corruption and decay, worms
and rottenness.
The features were neatly all gone, and
the skull, in places, cleaned through, white
and terrible. Her breast, abdomen and
neck had been eaten away, her limbs were
putrid, green and inexpressibIy Ioathsome,
the cavities Of her shoulders, chest, abdo.
men, neck and thighs, were living mass
OF great and ugly grave-wolms, which, as
she stepped, dropped away to the floor, to.
gether with gouts and clots of putrid flesh!
Her trail, over the threshold and into the
outer darkness, was marked by these loath-
some tokens, II luminous line of corruption
and crawling worms, the effluvia Of which
was most horriblel
And yet to those putrescent jaws there
was born voice-smothered indeed, and
strange, but distinct
"Come, William, they wait for you-.I
waiL"
dared not turn my eyes from tho intru-
der. could not, if dared-though
heard groan behind me and fall.
Then 1.-THE thing before me-sank
down in heap, dark and loathsolnc heap
of pulrescence and fragments.
| remember did not faint, that did
not cry out. How long ! stood transfxed
know not; but ut last, with an effort and
prayer, turned to The bed Mr.. Hay.
den had fallen upon the floor, face down