Mower County transcript., 1871-08-10

scene of the accident upon the Eric
road, and in moment WAS
there. The spectators of two days be-
fore had deserted the place, the overturned
engine had been rghtcd and placed on
truck, the fragments OF the dennli>h' d
cars had been removed from TIC sight OF
passing trairag the waiting room, my her
riblc prison, was open and unoccupid, and
Onlya bagga5e-mastcr and IA switch tender
were to be Seen in the ncighborh'od.
My thou phts turned to my rcd haired
companion aud fellow sufferer. While
thinking of him found myself in neat
inland village which had never before
visited A modest wooden house, painted
white and with green venetian blinds,
presented itself to uy view. Led by some
influence which cannot explain, found
myself inside a room which seemed to be
the larlor. There | saw Il neat coffin,
with the iii partially removed, bearing on
a silver plate the inscription, flames
b, aged IS. Died June 18th, is"
| In the cotfln was the body of the compan-
ion of my journey, of whom l had been
thinking. A depression, forming u line
around his forehead, caused by u partial
| separation Of the divided portions of the
skull, was all that told Of tho late work OF
the surgeon. felt guilty Of an intrusion,
and was glad to find myself again at home.
The hour for my funeral arrived.
Friends who had been respectfully i'll
vi,cd tr' he present began to appear. My
| kind pastor offered the remarks usual on
such occasions, and ascribcl to me virtues
which | fear l never possess. Il. The
whole rct,liug had the same matter Of
| fact air as manly others of similar nature
at which had been present without feel
ing the same degree of interest in them.
After my body had been removed from
the ice-box and placed in the coffin, and
! the Chill from the ice began, suppose, 10
| pass away, felt myself drawn nearer tn
| it, as If were once more pArtOfit it. Sud
denly all was again darkness. perceived
that | WAS again inhabitiDg my own body,
with limbs still immovab)c, and with only
the senses of hearing and feeling at com
mand. My ethereal wanderiDgs were
over, and was again dwelling in the flesh.
1t was a change like that which takes
place when, after wandering in bright
dreams through places near and distant,
We suddenly awake and find ourselves in
bed amid the darkness Of night.
The lid Of my coffin was screwed firmly
on, and was deposited in the iearse. |
heard the rlmbling of wheels as we passed
through the streets, the plash of the pad
dies as VIC crossed the Terry, the smooth
rolling as we left the pavements and en-.
tered the drives of Greenwood. was left
alone in the family vault The last words
heard from sniff were an order to his at
tendants to open the vault in the me- rning
and place the coffin in the crypt that had
been assigned to it.
l was alone for the night, again sur
rounded by dead bodies, and my last Op-
portunity for communication with m,rtals
was to come in the morning. How the
!! twelve or fifteen hours passed hardly
know. think may have been, part Of
the time, in p kind Of sleep, for often an
nour would pass, as indicated by the strik
ing Of clocks in the church towers oc the
city, and it would seem but few minutes
Hearing was the only one OF the senses
could exercise. and l listened eagerly to
every sound, to assure myself that was
still in the material world. / conitl hear
all the katydids ON the trees without, the
croaking of frogs in the ponds OF the cCnl.
etery, the music of tree -toads, and once a
whirpoorwill poured forth his note With
startling distinctness just at tho door Of
the vault
Near morning new phase in my con
dition occurred. / b~gan to feel in my
hands and feet \ sensation as it they were
ovcrrln 10y an army Of ants or spiders. At
first | thought these ins' CHS ha,l found
their way into my coffin. They seemed to be
crawling up my legs and arms and over my
body in countless mul,itu.'cs Then felt u
sharp tineling, as it each ant were pluug-
ing small needle IT, my tlesh-tbcn pain,
rs if each needle were a hook AZ VIII III !
the ants were vigorously tugging. Then
there WAS a quivering beneath the skin |
and u trenlor of tho muscles of the le.s |
and arms. Finally, with some for: bod
ings, made au effort To move my hand,
aud rs did 50 heard the rustliny OF the |
stitfencd trimming Of the coffin. The
sweetest note Of a Nilsson could not afford |
repeated efforts moved my extrcmitics
until they were entirely under th': control
Of my will. tried to arlisulatc, but could
only produce a sound which was a;nbi-
tiOus enough to call a groAn. Still,
hoped it might be heard without the COT
fin
think it was abou. seven o'clock in the
morning wh,n heard IL rattlinE ut he
grating which constituted the door of The
vault The hinges c'eakt d, and a mo-
ment aftcrward heard the sound Of foot
steps and voices near mo: " ihr upper
hole the place to put IN. Take holt OF
tother end, Pete. Little end ii,si," said
hoarse African voice.
l felt myself lifted some distance from
the grouud; the foot of the Ctltu was
rested ON the edge of the crypt, and the
head, l suppose, was supported on the
shoulders OF two men preparatory to its
being showed into its final resting place.
L thought my last moment for rescue
had arrived. If could not make .ny-c|f
heard nnw NV fatc would ~, fnulxt |
Cidcd. l concentrated all my energies
upon tue effort: Oh-oh-um III! OH
oh-um mi"
What's dat? who's dar? What did
you say, Pcte?"
Muffin. lguoss sushin' must be The
Again tried, more desperately than be-
fore: "Ah! oh-um um MI
IL heard suthin', I'm sure, Pete. Who's
dar? say"
Once -lore tried: "Oh-um-m!"
"Oh, Golly! Um's in de coffin. Clar
out, Pete! Dis niggcr's gwinc, shush?"
The very next instant | was sensible of
q conclusion as if all Rsmark's
Prussians had planted their bait, RIGS
i'll the head Of my coffin and fired them
oil simultaneously. Mctcors, shouting
stats and sky-roCkcts, intcrtwincd with
strcaks Of lightning ut all
sizes, shapes and c'lors, shot through and
before my eyes My coffin was standing
upon its hcad, with the foot resting against
the edge of the crypt, having been dropped
by the Ethlopians at the sound of my
third groan. The light of day was stream
ing through the broken lid, which had been
split by the force of the fall. Pure air
also was admitted through the aperture,
and, whether from this reason or because
l was reused by the violence of the con-
Cusslon, found that was once more
breathing freely. was also able to sec,
through the chink in the coffin lid, that
the negroes in their flight had Lett the
door Ot the vault widely Opc,. now felt
sure of my escape and final safety.
Sanding on ones head in ones coffin is
not comfortable position. By u u.Ci,lcd
swinging motion succeeded in ,iislndripg
the foot Of the coffin from it's resting
place, and III bringing it to the floor with
crash not quite equal to the first The
lii ot the coffin had been so shattered bv
the successive falls that l succe .dcu in
bursting itopen after severe struggle.
l was now free. The conclusion had
fairly aroused my vital powers, and, though
weak and trembling, l climbed tho steps
thal led from the vault. The first objects
that met my view were the two cO|oreIl in.
dividuals standing few rods off. and star
ing with dilatca eyes and nllsir"tchcd
hCcks toward the door of the vault. NV
head had just risen above the surt;,c when
with II yell they turned their backs, and
flying heels and vibrating elbows remained