Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1869-05-21

it. But at last the proof is found; have
it here; soon shall you hear the three
souls manifest and proclaim themsel res /;
you shall hear them!"t
M After this burst of enthusiasm, which
sent a cold chill through me, so much of
fanatic strength did it display, he sudden
ly became calm; and sitting down and
leaning his elbows upon the table, he
went on, pointing at the same time to the
wall in which was the opening before de-
scribed:
"The proof is there-behind that wall;
you shall soon see it for yourself. But
first, you must follow the onward march
of my ideas. Il have maintained the dis
tinct existence of three souls. : Reason
told me that every man, before reaching
his final development, must pass through
the condition of the plant or animal I
determined to resolve this problem. To
do this, it was nc ceseary to extinguish in
myself the three souls succeesively, and
then to revive them. / had recourse to q
rigorous fast; but, unfortunately, the hu-
man soul had to yield first, in order to
permit the free action of the animal soul.
Hunger made me loce the faculty of OBJ
serving the animal state in my Jelf7+tbe
exhaustion prevented me from judging
anything concerning it. After many
.fruitless attempts upon my own organism,
i felt convinced that there was but one
means of reaching the desired end-I must
have some one else. But who would be
,lling to submit to such treatment ?"
z Wolfgang paused; his lips were con
tracted; and, in quick tone, he added,
"I felt must have subject at any price !:
I determined to experiment upon some
,oner' .E 4a,.,t 9,~
| shuddered, for this man was, saw W,
capable of anything. I
"Do you understands" said he
Perfectly. You wanted victim"
q '"To analyze," added he, coolly.
8 s"And have you found one?"
eyes; I promised that you should hear
the three souls. 1t will be difficult just
now. But yesterday you could have heard
them, off and on, howling, groaning,
praying, and gnashing the teeth" /
My face grew pale: but Wolfganp calm
ly lit small lamp which he used Tor his
study, and, approaching the hole contriv-
ed in the wall, "Look,' rid he, advanc-
ing the lamp into the darkness beyond,
that we might see the better, come and
look-and then listen !" -
In spite of my fatal presentiment, in
spite of the chill which ran through me,
drawn on by mysterious attraction, l
bent forward and peered into the space
behind the WALL Then, by the faint light
of the lamp, I saw rude apartment,
about fifteen feet high, and having no
other outlet than that by the garret where
we were At first I could perceive moth
ing, and told Wolfgang so.
"Look closely" said he, in low voice /;
E" do you see what looks like bundle of
clothes in one corner? 1t is old Catha-
rine Wogel, the apple-woman
He had not time to finish, for sharp
angry cry, like the howl of a Cat in agony,
was heard, and an enraged being sprang
up, and seemed trying to climb up the wall
with its nails.
More dead than alive, with the cold
sweat starting from my forehead, drew
back, crying, "Oh, it is horrible!"
"Did you hear it ?" said Wolfgang, his
face lighted up with an Internal joy.
(" Wasn't it the cry of cat? Ha! ha
Yes! The old woman has been both
cat and panther Yes! yes! Hunger
and thirst work wonders, I can tell YOU"
He did not look at me; he was enjoy
ing his internal triumph. The bowling of
the poor old woman had ceased and the
maniac, laying his lamp down upon the
table, added, in explanation:
"This is the fourth day of her fast. I
enticed her here under pretext of selling
her some kirsch- water. / made her go
down into that room, and then l shut her
in. The first two days the human soul
was strong in her. She prayed, she i'm
plored me, she protested her innocence,
saying that she had never injured me in
any way then she loaded me with re-
proaches denounced me as monster and
wretch, and called down upon my head
the curse of heaven. The third day, which
was yesterdsy-Wed edne esday-the human
soul disappeared altogether. Hunger was
strong, and she began to NEW and howl
like cat Luckily we are in an out. Of
the way place, for last night you would
have thought that there was regular bat
tie of the cats-the cries would have made
you shudder. But, now, Kasper, when
the animal soul shall be extinguished, do
you know what will come then? The
vegetable soul will have its time, and it is
the last. 1t has been noticed that the
nails and hair of the head grow while the
body lies in the grave. In the same way,
there is formed in the opening of the skull
a kind Cf human lichen, which is thought
to be species of moss, engender by the
Juices of the brain. At last, the vegetable
soul itself will die. 50, you see, Kasper,
that the proof of three souls is COM
plete" - ~ {
These words struck upon my ear as the
rawlings of a maniac. The cry of Catha
rine Wogel pierced to my very marrow
l seemed to lose all knowledge of where |
was, or what had happened. But, all of a
sudden, waking from this moral stupor,
sprang up, seized the maniac by the
throat, and dragged him toward the lad
der.
"Villain p cried /, show have you dared
to raise your hand against your fellow
creature to satisfy your infamous curiosity?
l will give you up to justicel'
He was so much surprised at my attack
for to him his act seemed perfectly limo.
cent-that at first he offered no resistance;
and dragged him easily to the ladder.
But there, turning on me with astonishing
quickness, he in turn seized me by the
throat, lifyed me from the floor, and with
one hand held me tight against the wall
while withthe other he opened the door OF
that terrible hole. Seeing his intention, ]
made frantic effort to break away, but in
vain, for he seemed endowed with super.
human strength, After desperate strug
gle felt myself again lifted off ny feet
and hurled into space, while in my ears
rang these strange words: .e
So perish the rebellious feshl So tri
umph the immortal soulP -
There lay, bruised and exhausted on
the floor of this chamber of horrors, while
the heavy door was closed on me, shutting