Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-11-28
THE STORY OF DEATH.

nv physician. 1 shall not curse him now.
Time has taught me that it is better to bless
than to curse. And feel, bitter as my mali
son might be- that a more miserable condition
were not possible to him than the consciousness
Of his murderous wantonness must bring upon
himself hardened as fear his nature is. But
let that pass
Twill tell you the story of my death.
died at the age of %. A stalwart man, who
on my father farm moved my swath or hoed
my row with the BEST in an unfortunate hour
became the victim of the practice Of medicine
which then prevailed. but which now, happily
is nearly disused. had some sort Of fever; no
doubt was ill enough From my right arm
one day the physician took ounces of blood
how many / knew not; certainly, in liquid
measure, gallon Of the red fluid flowed I did
not mend that day; at least | suppose did not,
Tor ON the next day be cut my left arm and
took thence like meaSure-the crimson meas
urc Of half a life. L was u dead man then. But
shudder or two always must come before the
conscious soul lets go its hold upon the frame.
With me the shudders were in the shape of cold
swoats. There were three of them. By the
closk-so some one at my bedside whispered
the chill anGhswsat lasted six hours. Six dim,
dark centuries they were to me. The third
its commencement, its fierce chill. its dead cold
compared with which ice were a pleasing
warmth--itS dread, slow march remember, but
nothing more. In the midst OF ii lost all sense
of life and its pains. The great gates of the
valley of death rolled on their ponderOus hinges
and shut NE in.
do not recOllect the circumstances Of funeral
and interment. In fact, do not deem that was
buried. The weight felt above me l knew was
no mere ten feet of earth, in quiet nook, with
daisies SpringIng from it. The mountains were
resting on Lac, l realized their weight.
Straight up TO the light-if light existed-as
under the centre of the central mountain L lay,
IL was many miles thrOugh solid rock. was
not imbedded in the rock, like a cold toad.
caught in during the formative era Of the gcol-
Oyists. 1t lay upon me. / felt all its weight.
Sense had gone, but consciousness was with
me. Forty millions of millions Of tons weight
was upon me. Oh, how suffOcateI and smooth
cred But, dead as was. consciousness cruel
ly clung TO me. L had died-why could / not
cease to be, Time had passed away there
was no day, no night. But if mortal measure
could Indicate the period / lay alone, and
dark, and suffocae, beneath that weight, CEN
turieS might have flown above my head.
The silence was as dread as the sutfOcatiOn
was terrible. There was no sound. All was
still, still. dark and hopeless. Had the noun
tain rOared rs il crushed. it would have been
an alienation. But it did its work without
sound, without remOrSe, like Fate, grim and
silent.
have said there was no measure of time to
tell how long this meaSurelesS weight pressed
me down. There came relief. sense of
hearing came to me, or the internal fires of
earth had rolled nearer 10 me. ! heard their
Voice, distant rs yet like the wind in the
leaves OF ten thousand fOrests-like the surge
Of thousand unseen oceans. l felt its heat
But it was far away. A new sense of suffoca-
ton came upon me. This sufOcating force
now surrounded NE, came within me, and
pressed me out. The sufOcatiOn within was
like some vast expanding force, but it did not
hit the weight OF the mountain that was upon
me. That still held its awful pressure. But I
heard the Iitans breathing they fed the
fires This state lasted-whO shall say how
long
Then came-was IT true could | believe
i:2-a dim sense of sight l saw dimly and
afar, the forms Of those giants who fed the CEN
trai fires Of the planet. They moved silent
snd grim, watching their work; and when a
IA. Cf molten rock giiled apart from the mass,
they stsid 1t with their pOnderous feet, and
scoOpsd IT back to its place with vast hands.
Then the mountain began TO lift and swell.
II seemed slowly TO rise-the hundredth part
OF On inch Then, part Of the way back ii
sank. 1t might have been a year in rising
that little space. But at times 1 could feel
that il was rising Into the chinks that il made
as Il rUse. pressed, hot and fierce, vapors Of
su'p1ur from the fires. These enveloped me
more closely than even the mountains s weight
prayed that the mountain woald again shut
dJwH and press them out. Its blank, dead
suH1catIsl, with all its eternal weight was
better
But the vapors thinned as the mountain
sHgdtIy. almost imperceptibly, lifted. Great
IOd telt the touch Of human fnger-a
live finger II lay beneath my arm, in the
arin-pls. / felt it plainly-the artery throbbed
against il. Was there life was it life ? No,
no. The touch died away. had no arteries
no human sensation. IL was a dream Of the
sleep OF death L awoke from it-awokc to
eternal death, the mountains weight. and hot
hery vap1rs- Unyielding, they pressed me
scl3. Tl,ain and without.
AZa'2-Uas ii again dread dream? had
saas= a hight, yeiled and cIouded light. as
t'iTorSa s.eeper's unopened lids. The light,
IL a. y was. steady and continued /
wall It loag-long, Ages was the only
lEeasC.e, II measure beyond the grave there
g - But dim it was that hope grew
s'"t al C.el- and rOtted within me and /
E. back INFO the old desoIate suffocatiOn-the
e's.na., urydrying pressure of the mountains
Eel 5Rt- I0re aZes went by.
Iaen, all ]; vuce was light and a voice and
human LanI. Light, sound, touch, flashed
OF once u"1n me. How they mingled and
tlr'05s with the dead sufocatiOn 1t was
tJo maca Vow, on the Of relief, had
nv tc-Her prayer answered. Sensation passed
away | was not. Annihilation had come
From anEihilatiOn-Or from an utter blank
Oi c..-:;oJsness-I awOke, with pain and ia
tigue. and still the sense of weight unuttera-
be. % fll that there was indeed light, and
touch. aEt hearing The tOuch-it was n live
hauG-a human hand. God, the merciful and
kiEi it Was my own fathers hand 1t was
his finger beneath my armpit Now felt it
NEE, tae artery. / myself felt in sympathy
win hun. the throb. I had come back to life
D-4 : was over.
It'Jzh il was no dream this awakening
th"rgl 1 knew il to be real. yet for hours
held DJt state of semi-cOnsciOusness. But L
knew t4at death was oyer-I knew / lived /
rec ,Ll>ed the various members Of my family
IL H-y ROOM. l heard my fathers voice. sub
duel bet joyful, Proelaiming his unwavering
i4Ith, during all, that | was alive.
Iael the doctor came. lie entered the room
where | lay.
The boy is alive, Doctor exclaimed my
father
Nonsense .' was the heartless knaye's re-
ply-this devil Ol a doctor At times | feel
must hate him this doctor who bad college
On