The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1859-12-29

rupted the man, shaking me off. He
hurried on after the rest, and disap-
peared within what may be called a
doorwayj but there w0s no door. There
were many openings as for doors in the
hall-none of them had doors. This
also excited my curiosity. Why no
doors2 / walked slightly across the
floor, pleased at the briskness Of my
own step, and again I accosted a fellow.
inmate of the strange place.
81 beg pardon" said I, courteously;
"but why is this hall left unfinished;
who no doors where these lofty open
ings are left2"
"Find out for YOURSELF no ezplana-
tions are given here"
"Stop one moment, I am q stranger
just arrived. Many dear friends have
come here before me. Tell me, pray,
how l am to find them?'
"Find them! This is Infnity Those
who move on never return to the same
place. those who come after never catch
up to those who have gone before"
"W hat! shall never see even my own
mother?"
"Never. This is eternity; once lost,
forever lost"
"But my own motherl What has be-
come of her? whittier has she gone?'
"How do l know"
"But I shall ovortake her." I ex-
claimed angrily.
"And if you do?' said the man dry
| ly, "yoU would not know each other
you do not wear the same bodies as you
did in life. Perhaps you and I were
intimate friends once. You do not
know me now, nor you. No knowl-
edge of each other amongst The Dead. "
The man hurried on through the
opening. / was so amazed at what he
said that l awoke.
"This is the most extraordinary
dream" l said to myself, when awake
Glow wish that could continue it!'
In a few minutes I was asleep again,
and there 1 was-ozactly in the same
| place in that hall where the man had
left me, near the opening. 1 followed a
string of passengers through that open
ing into a narrow corridor-the same
height Of wall, the same dull blue sky
overhead.
GLOW light it is" I said to a man in
the throng, "and yet there is no sun,
and no moon, and no stars. Is it al
ways as light here, and is this day or is
it night"
"Neither day nor night. No day, no
light, to the dead. Time here is dead,
tool"
I tried in vain to keep this man in
conversation. l tried in vain to make
friends with others; all answered curtly
and impatieutly, shaking me off and
hurrying on. What now began most
to perpleX me was the utter absence Of
all social intercourse No one seemed
to talk to another; no two persons walk
ed arm-in-arm. l said to myself: "Ln
any city on earth one stranger may ac-
cost another, and get some information
what he is to do-where he is to find
lodging. Society seems dissolved here
every one for himself 1t is we'll, at
least, that l feel so strong and so young"
passed my hands over my limbs
Yes, l lcas flesh and blood. Suddenly
l began to feel hungry. This amazed
me- Again l accosted one of the
throng. "Can it be true that one feels
hungry here? do the Dead know hun
ger?
Hunger! of course; you have a body,
have you not"
"And how can one get food?"
"Find out for yourself"
"Stop, must one pay for it?"
"Pay? of course, Of course; you can
not rob The Dead" The man was gone.
hurried on with the hurrying throng,
and began to feel in my pockets. In
my right trowsers-p pocket l found a
sovereign and twelve shillings in silver,
exactly the sum that had in my pocket
when / went to bed the night of that
dream, Again 1 began to WONDER
GLOW did bring this money with me,
why no more2 Can l get no more
money? Is this all that is to provide
for me throughout eternity" Several
Of the crowd now stopped before re-
cess in the corridor; in this recess per-
sons were serving out coffee, which I
observed those who took paid for.
longed for the coffee, but was seized
with a prudent thrift. l thought: II
must not fritter away any part Of so
small a sum, until know at least how
to get more" l resisted the coffee
shops, and continued to rove on-al.
ways in a building, always in luby-
rinth Of halls, and chambers, and pas,
sages. l observed that none of them
seemed formed for residence, none of
them were furnished, except here and
there was a thin comfortless bench
against the tall undecoratcd wall But
always, always a building-always, al
ways as within a single immeasurable
house. l was seized with an intense
longing to get out off 1 could but
find my way into the fields" said 1 to
myself "if l could but wander into the
country, l have been always so fond Of
nature"
Again I accosted O man. Chow can
l get out of this building?"
"You can't get out of it, you are
dead"
"Yes, know am Dead but I still
long to see Nature"
"Thero is no Nature here. Nature is
fnite-this is infinite"
"But is infnity circumscribed to this
building2 no escape from these walls?
Explain2
"Explain" interrupted the man with