Vicksburg weekly herald., 1870-08-13

wife reproachlug nerseiI lpf lhh-
c:cl carelessness, and Bentiy tried
80 cheer her up. SAYING that u was
a tit of some kind. which the doc.
tor could easily throw of. Hart
dill not care much, feeling to him I
self that il would oil turn out
funny Joke that they could laugh
over: nor was he heightened when
the doctor, after feeling of his
pulse, his heart. and trying TO
open his fast closed mouth, told
Bently that the man was dead OF
heart disease, and that no doctor
on earth could raise him.
Perhaps all Of us have heard the
walls and sObs that are uttered |
around couch Of the dead and
dying, and have ourselves felt the
cutting grief that comes Of seeing
the light Of life fade out of the
body and soul of a dear friend,
and there is no need to tell Of the
scene around this bed. After
time BentIy went away, and when
he came back Hart realized that a
man came with him to measure
the corpse for its coffin. soon
after several men came in, "the
body was removed to the parlor,
a table was drawn out, a board
brought in, and the living dead
was washed and wrapped in a
sheet. To show how active the
mind was in the dead body, Hart
stated that when the table was
drawn out, one Of the castOrs
caught and tore a hole in the car.
pet, the sound and the result par
ticularly impressing itself on his
mind. After the body was laid
out, Mr.. Bently came in, and there
was whispering and talking about
q shroud; other ladies came in,
and it was finally decided to en-
shroud the corpse in a suit Of
black. a new one, and the very
suit that the man had on as he
gave us the facts! The men put
the clothing on the corpse, lifting
it this way and that, and a scar on
one Of the arms was noticed and
spoken of.
And then there was a change in
the feelings Of the man. He knew
that he was laid out, that his cof-
fin was making, that the windows
had all been opened, and two men
were watching" talking in low
tones over the sudden demise, and
one of them related a similar Incl
dent that he had heard of. The
brain began to get numb, the vol
ces died away TO a murmur, the
sounds from the street came faint.
er, and the dead man felt as if
swinging in the air, and at last he
remembered nothing more. There
was no dream, no more feeling or
thinking.
Did you ever wake up quietly
OF your own accord, and yet lie
still, your eyes open and seeing,
but your resting place so agree
able that you did not care to move
and desired to remain just so,
without any harsh noise breaking
the quiet spell ? Well, Hart awokc
just in this way. There was no
sudden shock, no warning voice /;
but the eyes opened, the flesh re.
sumed its feeling, the brain work,
ed, and the man resting on his
back, on his "dead.board," knew
not but that he was in his bed,
and that his awakening was as
usual He missed his wife, and
thought to himself that she had
crept softly out to let him have a
quiet morning nap. He heard q
cow.bell tinkle, heard boys shout.
ing, heard sounds about the house,
and thought how curious it all
was, as he believed it was not yet
light, owing to the cloth over his
face, which shut out the light, but
its presence and dampness had not
yet been realized. As he lay
there, just struggling out Of his
stupor, Hart heard slow and heavy
steps approaching; they came
through the dining room, into the
parlor, close up to him, there was
an exclamation and fall, and the
dead man sat up on his board! 1t
was the accidental fall of his coffin
which started him up!
The surprise, alarm, ioy-all
could be depicted, but there is no
need. The man was confined to
his bed until about the lst of July,
when he was pronounced able to
travel, and Saturday the three
were at the depot to continue theil
journey, having remained in the
city over night. Bently was with
} them for the purpose ofaiding the
invalid when necessary.