Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-12-28

body being Of no more value. IN his eyes.
than the trunk Of a dead tree.
"wouh you value your old violin casc'"
he would say, when any ons demonstrated
with him upon the subject. "Tho strings
broken the instrument, Destroyed
Of wha, value !. tha, which was but formed
for its pro,ec,ion' For my part. when my
soul has taken high, care no, what you
do with thi. combination OF aesh aud bones
which now contains IL, and upon this prin'
ciplc be SEEMED to &C, individually.
One nlsht-oh, how well remember II ;
q sold. black evening in m'd.winter- sat
alone beside my ere. absorbed in medi,a.
ton. The book had been reading lay be-
side mo upon the table, and INV candle burnt
low within the socket. for IL was nearly one
o'clock. although had not ,ot retired.
Suddenly was aroused by a loud ringing
Of my door bell. and the sound Of sand
thrown against my window from without,
and lighting another taper, descended and
opened the door.
Tbsrc, upon the steps, stood Robert Red.
law and four other fellow students, all the
vor.c for liquor. and all IN boi.terous 'pir-
it, let u. in old fellow :" CRED Robert
we want to tell YOU Of our lark. by
George we've made night Of Il. Such
punch a. we've been having at Tom r..
while you have been moping over your mus
ty old books. You must 50 with Us neI,
time"
There was no us- Of rcmons,rancc. and.
ono by one, my unexpected visitor. mount
ed the stairs, anl took ,heir places around
my 6rc.ide.
81 say. Bob frightened Us all, awhile
ago." began one Of them, after temporary
.ilcncr.
How =" asked.
How q" lauehci Bob; "why with
this" And without another wori OF pre-
iacc. no drew folded 'kerebicI from hi'
pocket. aud, unfolding It, exhibited a hu.
man hand.
Rob. wherc did this come from >" ask.
cd. involun,arily drawing back a step or
two.
" lie took it from q grave which the rain
had washed open. answered tall young
fcllos turning away with shuddcr. "Cut
iI or with hi. knife a. cody as be might a
b,, Of wood. although III swear a Sigh or
rroan or scream, or all Of them together,
came IRON the body when be first laIi hi.
finger upon it,"
Rah q" laughed Robcr, R~ilaw, your
ycn,riloqui,, trick. can nc'c- imrosa upon
the. | took the ll,,lc hand in spite ofihcm,
and shall sccP IL. 4 pretty creature It
mus, have belonged 70 Look a, tho al.
mond shaped nails. Grey',ock ,"
"a womin's hand" said "a and. oh, =,
Bob. there i' a wcddingrinE upon the fin.
ger ="
$50 there IT," said the boy. leaning
across the table; go there IL. Strange
that did not notice !, boioro. Come, r,u-
ilemen. Grcy.tOck j. in a ssriou. mood
le. u,lcA'e him. And wrapping his strange
prize oncs more in the 'kcrehiei, my Wild
friend and bis comrade. departed.
passed the night in restless dreams, in
all Of which that pale li,,ls hand, which
had been laid before me, played u con.pic.
uous part, aud arose at daylight unrcircsh.
cd and dispirited. While | was putting
the finishing touches to my toilet, some one
RAPED a, my door, and on nv calling out
A" come in" opened !, and entered. |, was
Bob.
&" How DO you do, my dear fellow ," h'
said. " 'hopo VOC fOcl better than | do.
For my part, nevar passed 90 restless 4
night Some opo in the house. or next
door, KEEP, upa continued moaning; and
the strange part Of it was that when aros,
TO listen, tearing some one was III or dying
the sound ceased, until I once more placed
my head uron the pillow, when they wer'
resumed more loudly than before. As one
time thought tho other fellows were try
Ing to irich,sn inc abouNhe hand, bu, ,ber,
was no chance Of That. You remember my
little pet hand Grcy.,ock? | have il
bottled in spirits, In private cupboard
where my Ian ldress, who once tainted a
the sight Of u skeleton. will never be alarm
el by It,"
lie spoke merrily, bu. there was some
thips about him diieren, from his usua
manner, Thought, as We went %, TO break
iss, tose,aer. IL was icggy morning
AMI The streets were very drcary. Their,
wc1 but few people abroad, but, as vi
TUNED n corner. we eamo face TO face will
iEsoman whose bead was bent upon her bo
sUn. and who was moaning bitterly. Sh,
wore no bonnet, and was dressed in white
sut the mud and rain bad drenched ant
drabblcd her until sbe was pitsble Object
to behold. lpaused and spoke to her.
"wLa, is the matter, | asked. "Can
do anything to help yOuI"
As spoke, the woman raised her eyes,
and showed me face the beautiful feature.
OF which were an asben pallOr then. with.
out speaking, held both her arm. towards
me. Upon the lett there was no hand. In
my asiOni'hmsnt, stepped aside, and, a.
I did 80, the white robed figure glidsd past
the, and vanished IN the fog. Ia vain we
looked for her. She was gone beyond our
sight or hearing.
"Tha, is strange" l said, turning to
Rohsrt ~ How miserabla tho mar ,,.a