The Shasta courier., 1866-04-07
a." A True Story"

Happening to be spendirg the winter o
the year of 1860 at Gibraltar. one dav, II
the course of my wanderings, found mysei
in the cemetery set apart there for the burla
Of strangers, Protestants. and the like, wht
were not members of the Roman communion
1t was bare and bleak spot enough, sit
uated on very high ground. and there wa,
not much in the surrounding details and
picturesoueness of the graves. sometimes
is the case in foreign burial places. to inter
est a sight-seer, with one exception In
the extreme eastern corner, and on the most
elevated ground stood simple white cross
of marble with initials 81 NJ. L." on it, and
the date of the persnn's death wreath of
flowers encircled the stone. and the grave
was evidently very carefully tended and
watched, presenting thereby considerable
contrast to those of the other strangers who
had found their last resting place on that
bleak rock.
So struck was with the neatness of this
individual grave, that seeing an old man
working hard by, | asked him If there was
any particular history attached to it. and ii
he knew who the person was that was buried
there his answer did not give me much in
formation beyond the fact of its being the
grave of an English lady who had died there
some years before, and whose husband paid
him fthe old mani small sum yearly for
keeping that spot in order. and supplying the
cross constantly with flowers.
This little incident had quite passed out Of
my mind as a matter too trivial to be worth
remembering. till | was reminded of it in
rather startling manner short time ago.
was stavino at a country house IN York
shire. the host and hostess being both Of them
old and dear friends of mine, when late one
evening the conversation happened to turn
upon subject sufficiently exciting to rouse
the most sleepily inclined of the guests int
wakefulness. 1t was debated whether in
stances had really occurred of people having
been buried alive-whether, /. e., any au
thentcated case could be stated of a mar
who had fallen into trance, had been il
that condition buried, had afterwards come
to life for brief interval and then had beer
sufocated in his coffin. Opinions were pret
ty equally divided on the subject, the one
party affirming that it was impossible, il
the present state of medical science, for any
body to meet with such horrible fate, anC
the other. though apparently unable to cite
any examples, declaring that they we're SURE
that such thing might happen, though they
admitted at the same time that cases of tha
nature would be less likely TO occur in Eng
land. where reasonable time elapsed before
burial. than on the Continent. where the
laws enforced the interment of the body S,
soon after death. In the midst of the dis
cussion. the lady of the house, who hat
seemed to take but little interest in it one
way or the other, suddenly surprised US al
by saying that if we would give her our at
tention for a short time. she would tell US
H. H..
had truly occurred to near relative of he
own, many years before.
You may have often heard me mention,
she said. turning to me. my two cousins
Charles and Frank Livingston, though
don't much think you ever had person
acquaintance with them. 1t is just twent.
years ago now that they fell in love witt
two of the prettiest girls in Yorkshire, sis
ters and heiresses. whose names were Mar
and Florence Arden. As the progress O
their love affairs has not much to do wit
the gist of my story, it is enough for me t
say that everything went very satisfac
torly, and that in due course. and on tn
same day. Mary and Florence became th
wives of my two cousins, Charles and Fran
respectively. Mary was the eldest sister
though at the time OF their marriage she wa
barely nineteen, and to my mind the mos
taking and ioveable of the two; of course
Frank thought differently, and perhaps
was as well he did so.
| need scarcely tell you that the happ,
couples passed their honeymoons very pleas
antly in visiting various spots in Englan'
and Scotland, and afterwards settled down
few miles from each other in close prox
unity to the city of York ITSELF
The marriage took place in the spring o
the year. and in the following autumn, mucl
TO the delight OF the two brides. it was de
termined that yacht should be chartered fo
few months, and the winter spent in cruis
ing about from place TO place: their idea
chiefly pointed towards the Mediterranean
as they one and all had great desire t
visit Malta and Gibraltar, and moreover.
possible. to land in Africa the latter | he
lleve merely that they might have the salts
faction OF saying that they had once beel
there Gibraltar was to be the first placs
on the list and accordingly. after experienc
ing rather rough voyage. which testec
their capabilities as sailors to consider
able extent, they found themselves anchored
off that huge rock. They saw all that wa
TO be seen in the shape Of the fortifcations
&C., and among other places that they wer,
taken to visit was the burving- ground Sc
apart for strangers who were not Roman
Catholics. Mary Livingston, who had been
so they afterwards recolected, silent and ap
parenfly pre-oecupied all that day. wheu
she Grst caught sight of the cemetery started
and seemed surprised after ther had look
ed about them and lamented the genera
untidiness that prevailed she suddenly as