Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-10-15


been steady, anil The bullet must lhave
passed the most vital portion of the heart
without iniyningit. l tended him as one
tends q tayorite brother. Hcwas restored
to consciousness, but itawS,s impossible to
extract tile bullet A plcutisy set in With
the worst symptoms; but saved him. '
His first question was, wheLher--I l. had
removed the bullet. l could but acIpowl.
edge that to do so was beyond my pSsrAr,
when, to my surprise, he smiled, and shook
me.warmlyShy the lrRsd. lfferFthats he
reedyefed sufficiently b. move about and
minglewith thc Morm but4 he q thcnec-
forth, lived utterly retired and alone, never
ioinfhs gf1 i any fftiNt9, and aaGlF ever
"This sort of existence continued for
nearly fifteen years, and everybody res.
pcctcd the great sorrow tlat made linn a
recluse.' AT length, a fortnight since, he
sent for me, and, when l called on him, he
said; sal = ,o hm g, going to de sFi shceckons
"This peculiar announcement did not
understand, although l knew what he
meant when he.said.' She 80
/" His ailmentwas again pleurisy. did
my best, but In VAIN. Day before yester-
terday he asked me whether he was dy-
ing. - ffaegFcg TlTF
"' Yes 1 replied, for, as told you,
loved the man and could not tell him an
untruth. r.I. 4tr
"'Then,' he reioined, when am dead
you will extract the ball, and--you. will
keep it, won't your
"I promised that ] would d-;g my friend
died, and did rs he had requested
searched for the bullet and found it
in the place tina, described to you. But,
here it is, and, as you see, it is not bull
let in the proper sense of the word, but u
sheath, and it is not lead, but soldered pla.
tinum. The soldering, as you may know,
could be effected only at an extraordinary
white heat. How was it done ? and what
mystery does this case conceal? Science
must inform u.s."
BY this time night he'd set in with re-
doubled gloom, and tlle Chandeliers with
in having been noiselessly lighted by u
servant, while we were both intent upon
the narrative, we Withdrew from the ba.-
cony and ascended to u den upstairs,
where, in, tho lowGr tierIof a. loftysturrct
OF solid masonry, have all the apparatus
and material of a thorough chemical Ia
boratory, and above it telescopes and
night-glasses to sweep the starry heavens
nay, even the foggS atmosphere.
The doctor nc once went to work, and
quickly succeeded in opening the little
cylindrical sheath. Two things fell out of
it-a little pinch Of whitish dust, and
battered ring. The latter was plainly of
pure gold. The electric heat had not
reached it directly, but it had softcned.
The ring, whitish dust, the mystery,
were there, palpable and visible before
us.
The problem of life had taken shape
and form.
The doctor placed the dust under the
lens of microscope.
"This," said he, "iS human ashes"
"Then the ring" - NJ ~
"There are letters engraved upon the
ring Remember and below these an in
scription in very fine text 'J. L. February
2Sth,, 1854 But j. L.--those were not
the dead lady'sfinitials" 4.
journal! perhaps is the word they
designate" l exclaimed.
The doctor glanced at me with mock
ing look of surprise ~
{" You are jewelier, afeyod ?" he said.
D" Perhaps" was my reply. "but why
may not these letters mean some register,
some mementoY There is date, and
nothing agrees better with the idea"
At the same moment, my gaze fell upon
some blank-books and documents belong.
ing to the deceased, which the doctor had
brought with him, and had mentioned
to me when he first came that evening.
He had laid them down upon the open
leaf of my secretary when he began his
experiment with the platinum case.
picked up one ofthe blank books and
rapidly turned over thelcaYes.F 1t was a
journal regularly dated, and on the last
page was written in large letters, "F56ru-
arg 2Sth, 1854"
81 love you" ran the text. "You have
just placed the ring of our bctrothal on my
finger. Should die before you do, take
the ring and wear it on your heart for the
remainder of your life"
Lower down, were these words in an-
II have have oiboycd. You died. The ring
clung tightly to your finger, and l have
taken both ring and finger from your be-
loved corpse. | shall not keep them on
my heart only, but az my heart" 81 &
The distracted man had 9mpritatedA the
joint abov6cwliich the ring rested. Then,
by whom and how had he caused it to be
enclosed in the platinum sheathg No one
probably will ever tell. At all events, it
was with this strange missile that he had,
intended 10 pen petRtc his heart and change
alone had saved hifn N ~ Ns3-saF -.
rms lS peculiar story, nut true one,
and the annals of surgery show that haz-
ard has, in the lapse of time and the null
tiplicity of cases, produced some similar.
escapes, that appear little less tliap mira.
cles to the every day reader.
If you would know the name of him
who thus bore love-token, literally
next his heart, for thirteen years,
glance at the medallion on the
broken marble pillar that counts as the
third from the gateway on the left
hand side as you pass up the willow walk
in the - Cemetery. The. device rep
resents heart, on which is car ted d la1y's,
finger bearing ring, and the inscription
as we have previously given IL: