The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-02-16

. -, iainss which cannot be exp.a;ns
things entirely and sb.ol ate,y coutrsr
nature, and therefore must Be sppern..,
i ':Do 7oa really believe sueh axs,.. !,
sa<e place. Did you ever sea or hear an,
thing Of the kind1
'.idon's sag positively believe ius.sa -
| and so, and yet am no; prepared - =
taa. ! entirely disbelievs it,,
sd hEeto have ron tr!n, on vor- moot
I and let Us know waa. you 10 bel;eye. r.
cause We can't understand hosr 4 .hipr
done. - certainly no ssrs Of evidences Ia
any snperhuman agency is AZ WORK.,
/ kao" that, but when . tfips canno. h
| accounted for after i,ae most rirId exau;,s
ton, whea % natural r.encies have he
exsfied 70 produce such III effect, we ma
reasonably thing
.Th.nk WHAT ,ha. we don,t k,ow ,,-
! thing about il, and own our ignorance + :
honest men. and not pretend that we trny
eaact!s 10 ~aieh category to place it, III
possible or impossible. | tel. you Mac
mere more We don't l:aow than yeu ere
creamed Of in your philosophy -
'ihe TACT that circumstance has nora
/ been explained 10 rs is no proof. certainly
taas II eanno. be explained sadCol. Raw
son. 81 knew poor fellow who was FRA.
ened INTO his grave by Il noise which anrear
ed perfectly inexplicable at the time. thougt
We afterwards found out all about IT,"
~ hat was it ~ asked Mcdonald. -
don't think ever heard you mention it,
III was when Twas studying Iax,', re-
pied the Col, 81 was boarding with Fri.
,"'e i"mi.y. There was ap2.her young fell
LOW, 81 the name Of Huntingdon. that
boarded there also, and bis room ia;nsd
NINE. We had only been there n few t,ays
when invited Huntingdon 10 spend the
evening with me. TIE weather had sul.
denly grown cold, and we had a iremcndoy.
IRE III the stove. We were having first
rate time over new game, which we did
not either Of US half know, when We were
startled by noise, which seemed 10 be n
heaVy BIO" upon the partition that separated
GU. rooms. We sIgaag to our feet. bu,
before We could speak another blow came.
and then another. We went into Huntipr.
done room, but nothing had been disturbed.
y Attie Ere Was burning on the hearth, ana
everything was perfectly qGict. We went
down stairs and enquired Of the family if
they had heard the noise. They said they
had beard it, and thought We had dropped
some wood, or other heavy articles on the
Eoor. As we returned to our rooms.
said 10 Huntington, you know raps against
the wall are sign Of death, and as it came
from your side of the house. suspect il
must DO a call for you /! OF course vas
only joking, and thought he would take it
so, but found he was really alarmed. lie
made the excuse that his room was cold, to
beg lodgings with me, and in the morning
he complained Of being sick, and insisted
upon going home, which he did that very
day. l. is possible that he was not we'll
before, his nervous system might hare been
disordered, mt any rate he grew worse, and
in less than six weeks he died. There was
something peculiarly sad about his case
lie seemed to be in fear of something, he
could not tell what, and every noise startled
him. lie evidently Iabored under derange-
mebt, and frequently thought he heard some
body rap on the wall. never had a doubt
but that his death was fastened, if no,
caused, by that fright
swell. what was the noise 2" said Nc
Donald, Il begin to grow frightened my
self"
"Itvas very simple hing indeed, in fact,
almost ludicrous, but we did not ascertain
the truth about it for long time. The
house had formerly been n public house,
. ~ tho roaros. We nrcuriad had heen mad
out of the ball room in the third story
This was divided into several small rooms
-, board partitions. Huntingdon's room
yos : = the end of the building, and con
oipea . fireplace, but mine, W hitch was next.
yas beateG w n stove. The alterations in
he house had .'st been made, and the tim
,er of which the r. >rtiton was built was not
we'll seasoned. Then they had covered the
PARTITION with wall pap while 1t was still
,rcen, and the heat of the SoVe caused the
wood to shrink from the SEAMS, ana Of
course the paper burst from top to bottom,
md that was what made the noise" i
"That is n simple solution O. the mys-
ery.'' said Mcdonald, Il wonder you did
,oi think of it in the first place. Il
"Perhaps we should if we bad known al
hose circumstances about the house, but
vc were strangers to it, and so, in fac. /
we're the family, for they had but just come
o the place, and rented the house,
"Well. that don't explain everything,'
aid Mcdonald. "There are things taking
,lace, do not say frequently, but OCCASION /
.lly, which DO seem to point to connection. |
II commuR cation between this world and
he world of sp:ri,s.'
81 should Ike to have Won favor us with !
ONE of your experience on the subject. that
s, if you have any to relate" said Long
John. !
But Mcdonald continued to rock back /.
md forth on the legs of his chair, with his
lands c,asped on the back Of his head, and
us ewes fxed on the stove door. At lsngth
he asked
"pou't you think sometimes when Per
IONS are near death they seem to stand, for
, moment at least. midway between both
worlds. and to have a view of both 20
al cam, answer that question from OK
ocrience Just now" replied Long JOHN
when lhave chance, III try to let you
know. But surposing they DO, what then ?"
"Don't YOU think that Mt such a time they
ran lock farther into the future than others
who are not in their condtlon?'
r,,t g. --... - t.--.r ,,s~ sc. 1F
prophesv in addItiontO the privilege of see
Ing both worlds ut the same time: that's
good deal OF an admission. certainly. But
what Is 1t you are driving at? What have
yoa got into your brain. that has suggested
tbs notion What Is il, Mae" said Col.
Rawson, "what do you know upon this sub
;sct more than we DO Tell US for PHYS
sake. aud perhaps your experience will
ihrow some ligh, on that insanity case which
IS coming en- at the next court"
But Mcdonald looked very grave, and it
was not without considerable urging that ne
to relate the circumstance which
for years had remained the deepest Of mvs-
eries to him. and which, more than any
,;her thing, had convinced him that there
vas connection between the living and the
lead, and that people sometimes received
and intimations without
tny assistance from human agency.