Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1869-10-20

Nv here did you get that?" l asked.
In the heart of a man who is dead -
started with amazement at so singular
reply; but the doctor sat there beside me,
calm and perfectly cool, looking with a
grave face toward the dim spires on the ho-
rizon.
Il sail the heart" he resumed, ''in or
! der to strike your attention, without having
to explain thing at tedious length In sci
ence, however, the expression is heresy
But had at once said the plenrG. you would
not have understood me- Let me now re-
mark that the pluera proper consists of two
mt mbraneS, one Of which lines the interior
surface of the ribs, and the other touches
the lung. P!uera, lung, mediastine, and
heart, such is the quadrupIe combination
that forms totality which we term life.
| This article was in the pluera."
This explanation had hopelesgIy darkened
the whole affair for me How could so large
an object introduce itself into the heart !?
How could it be there moment with )ut
causing the most terrible disorder, if not i'm.
mediate death? Then, above all, what was
il?
The doctor continued;
This deceased friend Of mine was forty
years Of age. We had gone through col
legs together Fifteen years ago, he fell
desperately, sincerely, in love with a young
girl Both were free, but his whole family
bitterly opposed the idea of his marrying a
lady whose pedigree they asserted was stain
ed with crime and the condition Of aliairs
surrounding him was such that he had to
defer 10 their opinion, for the time at least,
yet under protest and iokng toward the
day when he should be absolutely independ-
ent, aud cou make his bride happy in a
comfortable home
Bat the poor girl was ccnsumptivc, aud
her chagrin at the indignity put upon her
by the relatives of her preferred lover was
such as 10 hasten the progress of her uala-
dy. In few months, she died leaving him
utterly desolate. Sill he did not weep
Alas, the fountains of his tears were sealed
by so paraiyziug sorrow. lie watched 10y
the dead assisted with quiet dignity at her
burial and then, turning away from her
grave with a face ghastly yet stern, was
seen no mere in his accustomed haunts for
several days Some said he had gone upon
long journey. But about week after
ward, he was found lying in a remote part
of wood, some thirty miles from--,
with discharged pistol on the grass beside
him. Yet there were signs OF life about
him, and lie was brought to the nearest town,
where | Glanced to be at the country house
of an old patient The local physician and
surgeon happened to he absent, and | was
summoned in haste 20 the inn to which the
dying. man had been conveyed. Brief ex-
animation convinced me that not only was
the wounded man still living but that there
was even a possibility oc his recovery. His
hand had not been steady, and the bullet
must have passed the most vital portion o.
the heart without injuring it. | tended
him as one tends fayoFi;e brother. HI
was restored to concjouSness, but it was i'm
possible to extract the bullet. A peuris,
set in with the worst symptoms; but
saved him.
His fist question was, whether had re
moved the bullet | could but acknowedg
that to d. so was beyond my power when
to nv surprise, he smiled and shook me b,
the hand After that he recovered suffi
ciently to move about and mingle with tn
q world; but he, thenceforth, lived utterly re
r tired and alone, never joining III any les
q tivity, and hardly ever SMILED.
This sort OF existence continued 10
nearly fifteen years, and everybody respect
ed the great sorrow that made him reciuse
At leug;h, a fortnight since, be sent for mt
! and when | called on him, he said: al
going to die, sir; she beckons me to joi
f. her."
This peculiar announcement | did nc
. understand, although knew what he mcar
] when he said She
l did my best. but in vain. One da
n he asked me whether he was dying.
q Yes, | replied for as l told you, love
+ the man and | could not tell him an III
! truth.
4 "Then, he replied, when am dead yo
- will extract the ball, and-you will keep
u won't you %
| promised that. would. My frieT
D, died, and did as he had requested
e searched for the bullet, and found it
h the pscs that I described to you. Bu
e. here it it is, and, as you see, it Is not br
let in the proper sense of the word, but
ut sheath, aud it is not lead, but soldered pla
vs. inum. The soldering as you may kno
= could be effected only at an extraordina
y white heat. How was it done? and VIII
,e mystery does this case conceal? Sclen
a must inform US.
t. By this time night had set in with l
| doubled gloom. and the chandeliers with
es having been noislessly lighted by servan
es while we were both intent upon the narl
D. tive. we withdrew from the balcony and ;
of cended to Gen up stairs, where, In t
re lower tier OF lofty turret of solid masonl
ge | have all the apparatus and material OF
al thorough chemical labratory, and above
telescopes and night glasses 20 sweep
to starry heavens