Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1865-12-25

p. fAFNOtcluS u iuaunef, tno palieus Y
~ served: s7'isa - - 10 -
q 1t is nothing. You must get used
it, doctor. "saoag
az should not be content unless
: could explain them, as well as becou
indifferent to them" 4 replied.
HI This opened the way to q long conve
g satior, during which / probed my p
TENTS mind to the bottom, but withot
detecting shadow of belief Speakin
Of his wife, he said:
~ You heard HELEN promise to war
me Of my time to die2"
al did but you do not believe her2
j, "No. If il Is possible, she will kee
her word, in spite of heaven or hell. Bu
| il is simply impossible. She promise
to come in body and speak to me.
shall accept no other warning from he
save the literal meaning Of her words.
And what then p s.aq -
How much of her body is there left
even now, doctor7 and she has not com,
yet She promised to come from tha
grave, Can she do it? No, no; it is al
q humbug--a delnsion. Poor HELEN
Thank God, doctor, the deviltry which
90 haunted her life, and stool between
her soul and mine, cannot reach her
now" --...
But if she should comet You MAY
be deceived"
IL cannot Others may see her too
and hear her. | shall believe no spec-
tire, if there are such things. Her BODY
as it is, or win be. let that speak if il
can" dss lzse -.i.s s
:. From that day up to the hour of his
death / was with him almost constantly,
and was daily introduced to some new
and startling phenomenon. The neigh
fbors had learned to shun the house, and
even the vicinity, as they would the
plague; and strange stories travelled
from gossip to gossip, acquiring more of
the marvellous at every repetition. New
ertheless, my practice increased. 81
- On the morning of March 20 called
earlier than usual. Dnring the visit,
the manifestations of a supernatural
presence were more frequent, wild, and
violent than ever before. Il was in.
formed that they had been exceedingly
violent during the preceding night.
Their character, too had greatly
changed. Beside the moving Of all
movable articles, the linking of glasses,
and the rattle of tin-ware, there were
frequent and startling sounds, as of
whispered conversation, singing, and
subdued laughter-all perfect limitations
OF the human voice, but too low to en-
able me to detect the words used, il
words they were. Still however, none
of these unusual sounds had entered the
sick room. They followed the footsteps
OF Mrs. Green like demon echo, but
paused on the threshold of that room
as if debarred By q superior power from
entering there. l,l sel.r'. .,.
! | found Mr.. Hayden was worse, and
sinking very fast. He had passed bad
night. Doubtful whether he would sur.
viye to see another morning, / left him,
promising to call at evening and spend
the night with him, resolved, in my
secret thoughts, to be " in &C the death"
Ii there was to be a ghostly warning, I
meant to hear il, and, if possible, to
solve the strange enigma. 1904
aaaiaa ~ HfA
1.-The day had been exceedingly cold
and stormy, and the night had already
set in, dark and dismal, with q fierce
gale and driving storm of rain aud
bail, when ! again stood beside my pa
tent. The momentI looked at him,
perceived unmisfakabIe indications of
the near approach Of death upon his
features. he was free from pain, his
mind perfectly clear, but bis life was
ebbing away with every feeble breath,
like the slow burning out of an ex-
hausted lamp. em
y Meanwhile the storm rose to tenn
pest, and the gloom grew black aa death
IN the wild night without. The wind
swept in tremendous gusts through the
adjoining forests, rafting the lev
branches of the trees, and came wailinr
and shrieking through every crack and
Granny of the building. " trK
Within thers was yet wilder commo-
ton. All that had been said or sung,
written or dreamed of ghostly vista
tons, was then AID there enacted.
There was the ringing of bells, moving
Of furniture, crash Of dishes, whispers.
bowls, crying, laughter, whistling, heavy
and light footsteps, and wild music, as
# in very mockery of the internal re-
gions All these sounds grew wilder
with the rising gale, and toward mid
night they were almost insufferable.
As for us three--the patient, Mrs.
Green and::myself-we were as silent as
death itself Not word passed our lips |
after 9 o'clock. As for the state of our
minds, God only knows. Mine, in the
vide world Of thought and event which
followed, forgot the past, save what
have recalled and penned, bit BY bit,
above. l remember only looking for the
final catastrophe, which grew rapidly
nearer, with a constant endeavor to con-
centrate all my faculties Of mind and
senses upon the phenomenon which I,
Ut least, had begun TO believe would her.
aid the death of my patient.
As IL grew closer upon IL o'clock, (for
upon the striking Of that hour had my
thoughts fixed themselves for the expect.
ed demonstration, my agitation became
so great that it was with extreme diff.
entity could control myself.
Nearer and nearer grew the fatal
fatal / knew it would be,
to the patient at least--and at last The
seconds trembled on the brink of mid
night; the clock began to strike-one-
two-threel l counted the strokes OF
the hammer, which seemed as though
they never would have done-ten-
/ drew my breath
again. The last lingering echo of the
final stroke had died away; and as.yet
there was no token of any presence save
our own. W -fs s III
All was silent. The wind had lulled
for moment, and not sound stirred
the air within the house. The ghosts
had fed.
/ arose and approached the bedside.
The patient was alive-drawing his
breath very slowly-dying The inter-
walls between his gasps grew longer
then he ceased to breath altogether-he
was deadi ..-e-.-
Mrs. Green was sitting in her place,
her elbows resting on her knees, her
face buried ia her hands.
closed the open mouth and pressed
down the eyelids of the dead. Then /
touched her on the shoulder.
It is over" whispered.
Thank Godi was the fervent reply.
n
Then we both started. There was a
rustling of the bedclothesI Mr.. Hayden
was sitting erect, his eyes wide open, his
chests heaving in mighty effort for one
more inspiration of the blessed air. Be-
fore | could reach the bed be spoke:
y seMy Godl she is comingl' iHA 4
At the same instant the wind came
back with a sudden and appalling gust