The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-01-07
VOL. XII

ing and the shutter Q ia window. All could
discover was the on, siG of his figure and the
shining top of his 81 ED cap. Ny wife pointed
out to me the impse5lility of mans being
able to compress hiIeskl into 80 narrow space.
But to me, it was I'd possible, all right, all
natural. Therefore > Tilted her ignorance of
natural lawa, and sts:if atway the barber van
ished. But the reaAst will find anon that he
returned again. -
Early in the eve NJ of that eventful day,
several ladies dropps "a to make a neighborly
call, and all copgrss sc ed me on my recovery.
What a recovery liked and laughed with
them, and felt quite atsrful. Thought should
be able, 10 the mora rf, to 90 to my Office and
resume my labors. S-.,1 after dark had occa
sion to pass through led chamber with lamp,
in order to gain aces. 10 my kitchen, where was
a pail of cold watersS was aihirst, and wanted
to drink. On my W. 2 through the chamber, /
noticed that the ma on the floor seemed to
be gorgeous tsps@ 81 carpet, every figure of
which glowed with The matchless brilliancy
of the costliest ges,sA,: diamonds, rubies, eme,
raids, pearls &c. / : assured that had been
sick, and had BEEN spg my eyes too steadily
before / had reccssed sufficient physical
strength. Satisfied tn this solution of the
phenomena, l pass ION to the kitchen, and
| then aud there my ~ ct torment fell upon me
with crushing weighs. No sooner had enter,
ed the apartment fsI-r / saw boy, of about
twelve or fourteen. D Is of age, dart across it.
His step was nois Ia He was dressed in a
complete suit of gr 10th, with a gray cap on
his head, and gait s If the same color on his
feet. l saw all thi - glance, and marvelled
much. | spoke tim, and asked him what
ne wanted. TheI as no reply. Thinking
he had come to es. one Of the ladies home,
and had been frolieg~ with my son, followed
up my interrogate.1 but without success.
stepped toward hss aud he darted into .
pantry. Thinking ~ Ill very strange indeed, I
called to my wife, "a she came out from the
sitting room, throusssSs short hail. to ascertaie
what | wanted 4 she approached, l was
surprised to see snoSser urchin, though smaler
also dressed in grey following on behind her,
in an attitude of specification. told my wife
there was neighbo4:s boy in the pantry, and
that he acted very strangely. She went into the
room. and l ,folloesd. At first l saw him
crouched downsin OF, corner, but noticed that
while he preserved b. silver. gray color, yet he
had shrunk to the cape and dimensions of o
good sized apple. s;y wife instantly turned,
with countenance sSeathly pale with affcight
and said to me, Issre is no one here" The
announcement fell 80 my heart like lump
Of cold lead. feL&that / was the victim Of
optical illusions Slad read much and often
about these painfus phenomena. All that II
had ever reard or his 4 on the subject surged in
upon my mind liksss food, and stood ont an
instant startlnglv cfar, as it is said do the in
cidents of mans v. ole life in the moment of
deadly peril.
| A clammy sweat sc-oke out all over me nv
heart palpitated VIC nty; my knees Knocked
together; my temple ahrobbed as if they would
burst asunder, and i seemed to me it would be
relief if they wot /. But / soon recovered
myself. My wife LEI the room moment, ana
! as | turned to go i,Ee my bed room--not wis, =
ing to reenter the m where my visiters wee
sitting-I saw from my kitchen window, which
was directly opposii she grapery in the gardsp,
young man who as engaged in my offies,
and who often visisd me. He was standing
under the vine, swa, ng to and fro, with a Long
stick in his hands. heard him say, Let oe
come in" So bsssed, and beckoned him 70
enter. He made - movement to do so.
thought it stssi ge, but thinking that per-
hacs he knew bad company, and that he was
difhdent, | openeo5 4 door, and invited him to
come in. He mac no reply. l repeated iny
invitation. Still nc eply. | told him he col ID
come into my room Ind see nobody but mys IT,
And even yet no re ". / became annoyed aod
lrritated. There ae was, moving BAG edward I'D
forward with his ssick, and not one word did he
say. l told my lLtl, son, who had come to he
/ uOOE, THAT -7,(teu strangely. w n.y. "a
ther," he replied, Ythere is no one there &C.
membered then r. adventure in the kitchun,
and felt alarmed e Il uneasy; but, determined
to satisfy myself atSto the reality of the thiog,
l walked rapidly s-wards my friend, with an
exclamation of In patience at his hesitation.
He stood his grot~,d until l had approac ,ed
within about five f~,t of him, when be stepped
behind the trellis .5rk, up which he went i'm.
media.ely, feet fortr nost, and disappeared tver
my head.
My heart sankcSwithin me. The sun cal
mockery" of the appearances forced ,elf
upon me Overwhelmingly. Pale, alarmed, md
trembling, l reent ed the house. My wife vas
frightened, but 81 ceeded in concealing her
fears from me, ant strove to reassure me. NY
physician was cos alted He told me tht. he
had expected just is result, for he had sea- cely
ever witnessed SUI state of nervous irrit ,bil.
ity and exciteme-s as was manifested d. ring
my illness, and especially while the fe ,ile
symptoms were thoroughly developed. He
prescribed remedr S, consoled me to the BE- It of
his ability, and = III all the kindness o his
generous nature, nd left me for the light
Oh, what night sStas that Its infinite o.Sors
are indescribables hough every one of thea all
is indelibly dagr rotyped upon my mei 5ory.
L will mention BIZ a few of the phenome "a of
that period OF illness. To mentio. all
would fill volua +, too plethoric to tenn Pc
rusal on the part the most patient read E.
Soon after my SIysician lefF, and while was
sitting in my che in q corner of the 70 m, a
little colored boy. AAme directly through door,
and, grinning az me Familiarity isspryared
through panels Then a swarm of besstiful
lop-eared Engifs rabbits creatures at
have ever admir- sprung across the Soom.
Some magnifcer butterflies, glaring in b yes of
gold and emeras flew all about; and one,
more beautiful IN all the rest, lit upSa my
nose. Bats, owls, ad birds of glorious plu aage,
new about the re n in great profusion. 3 The
floor became &C sred with familiar alj in.
human creature of all shapes, colors, and
dimensions. Nos we're repulsive, none mon.
strous, but all W 'e remarkably active. They
amazed me territ =, for L knew they wee un-
real, even whileE2l made constant efo-ts to
avoid them
There occurret another queer change "a this
grand phantas, agoria." CHANGING ], oking
toward windovTI was startled to see l.pman
race pressed clos against each pane of g sss in
the large doubleSeash. / recognised the coun.
tenance OF but or, of my visiters, and tn Il was
the barber beteIs alluded to. His 81 ppery
physiognomy, us nose, and CHASTITY, me- Ining-
less, horrible g. d, garnished with teeth of
spotless whitenes formed the centre p zee in
the window. muttered necessarily, in a
supernatural tor words that could MT hear
clearly enough = understand. The mo uent /
advanced near :. window, these specifies dis
appeared. 1t Eat close to the windo,f, they
did not reappea Retiring beyond a certain
focus, they all re rned, and with comms-,dable
alacrity. At fir | could dispel them al with
a wave of my hsz d, even at the farther side of
the room. Buts soon lost this power.$ This
peculiar phase ontinued only that Isyening,
except on the e. afternoon and nisht That