The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-05-20
20 1869.
w THE THREE SOULS.
ICONCLUDED.


After this burst of enthusiasm
which sent a cold chill through me
so much of fanatic strength did il
display, he suddenly became calm
aud sitting down, and leaning his
elbows apon 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 seeit for yourself.
"a" But first, you must follow the onward
march of my ideas. have main
tanned the distinct existence of three
souls. Reason told me that every
man, before reaching mis- fnal devel-
opment, must pass through the condi-
, ton of the plant or animal. l deter
mined to dissolve this problem. To
do this, it was necessary to extinguish
10 myself the three souls successfully,
and then to revive them. had
recourse to a rigorous fast; but, un-
fortunately, the human soul had to
yield first. 10 order to permit the free
action of the animal soul. Hunger
made me lose the faculty of observ-
ing the animal state In myself-the
So exhaustion prevented me from judg
ing anything concerning it. After
many fruitless>attempts upon my own
was but one means of reaching the
desired eud-I must have some one
else. But who would be willing to
submit to such treatmentY"
"a Cd yWOlfgang paused; his lips we're
contracted; aud, In a quick tone, he
added, Il felt / must have a subject
-s at any price; | determined to expert
ment on some one"
HHTrI shuddered, for this man was, /
saw. capable Of anything
rAla Do you understand p said he.
Perfectly. You wanted a VIC
tim"
d To analyze," added he coolly.
1i And have you found one?"
Yes; | promised that you should
hear the three souls. 1t will be diff
cult just now. But yesterday you
could have heard them, off and on,
bowling, groaniDg, praying and gnash-
ing the teeth"
rd My face grew pale; but WOligang
calmly lit a small lamp which he used
for his study, and approaching the
hole cOntrived in the wall, Look,
said he, advancing 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 attrac
ton, / bent forward and peered into
the space behind the wall. Then, by
the faint light of the lamp, | saw
rude apartment, about fifteen feet
high, and having no other outlet than
that by the garrett where we were. AT
fst5l could perceive nothing, and
told WOlfgang so.
Look closely" said he, in low
voice; do you see what looks like
bundle Of clothes in one corner? 1t
- old Catharine Wogel, the apple
He had not time to finish, for a
sharp angry cry, like the howl of
cat in agony, was heard, and an en-
ragged being sprang up, and seemed
trying to climb up the wall with its
nails.
More dead than alive, the cold
sweat starting from my forehead, L
drew back, crying, oh, 1t Is hor-
ribleP
II. = Did you hear it?' said Wolfgang,
his face lighted up with an internal
Joy. Wasn't it the cry of cat?
Ha! ha! Yesl The old woman has
been both cat and a panther. Yes!
yesI Hunger and thirst works won
ders, can tell you"
He did not look at me; he was en-
joying his internal triumph. The
bowling of the poor old woman had
ceased; and the maniac, laying his
lamp down upon the table, added, in
explanations:
This is the fourth day of her fast
enticed her 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 implored me, she protest
ed her innocence, saying that she had
never injured me in any way; then
she loaded mo with reproaches, de-
nounced me as a monster and wretch,
aud called down upon my head the
curse of Heaven. The third day,
which was yesterday Wednesday-
the human soul disappeared altogeth-
err. Hunger was strong, and she be-
gan TO new and howl like a cat
luckily we are in an out the way
place, for last night you would have
thought that there was a regular bat
tie of the cats-the cries would have
made you shudder. But now, Kasper,
when the animal soul shall be extin-
guished, 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 Les
IN the grave. In the same way, there
is formed in the opening of the skull
a kind of human lichen, which is
thought to be species of moss, en-
gendered by the juices of the brain.
At last, the vegetable soul itself will
die. So you see, Kasper, that the
proof Of the three souls is complete.
These words struck upoR my ear
as the rawlings of maniac, The cry
of Catharine Wogel pierced to my
very marrow. | seemed to loose 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
ladder,
VillajnI7 cried 1. " how have you
dared to raise your hand against your
fellow creature to satisfy your IN
famous curiosity? | will give you up
to justiee"
He was so much surprised at my
attaek-fJr to him his act seemed
perfectly innoeent-that at first he
offered no resistance, and | dragged
him easily to the ladder But there,
turning on me with astonishing
.duickness, he in turn seized me by
the throat, lifted me from the floor,
aud with one hand held me tight
against the wall while with the other
q u