The Portland daily press., 1872-05-25
Sitting up with a Corpse.
A Real Ghost Story.


spirits OF the dead never walk this earth, to
be seen by mortal eyes, after they have taken
leave of their clayey tenements-I know bet
ter. Robert Dale Owen may write in favor
of dead men coming back to visit the scenes
of their mortal tolls, and a thousand Others
may write against it; it is all one to me. l
shall have my own opinion, until / try to
come back myself, and can't, and it is proved
to me, by the best authority of the spiritual
world, that no one else can. You will say,
make no doubt, as my friends have always
done, that my fears alarmed me, and that my
excited imagination caused me to fancy saw
the person of my old friend, DIR. Fenton At
wick, and heard his voice speaking to me,
when / knew he was crushed and mangled
corpse, or you will conclude that must have
been asleep. You will be equally mistaken
in either hypothesis. In the first place was
not timid man. / never had been afraid of
anything in earth, air or sea. had walked
through the lone burying- grounds, and by
old churches, hundreds of times, in the dead
of night, and no ''Tam O'Shanter'' visions
had ever yet caused me to quicken my pace.
l had been, all my life, sturdy, hard-work-
ing person; so no sick, pulling fances had
haunted me through long, weary days of idle
ness; working for twelve hours on the stretch
until you are wearied to death, and sleeping
like log for ten, is not conducive to romano
ing, nor did wish it to be. Ihad no thought
of writing novels, or even "ghost stories,' p in
those days. l was plodding chancery law
yer, never venturing to make speech, but
drudging, as | have said, for the clothes |
wore, and the food by which life was kept in
my body. DR.. Fenton Atwick had moved to
Darby-town ten years before. 1t was well he
had an annuity to fall back upon, for there
was no need of his diploma, or of any science
here. He had had a case of ''ague and fe-
ver;" and sometimes in the autumn a few
chills-nothing more. Strange that DIR. At
wick's should have been the first death! Alas,
poor physician, thou vast "unable to heal
thyselfF' Our salubrious climate and bracing
mountain air might battle every effort of mi
asm to find a victim amongst us. But acct
dent-the creature of fate-how unforeseen,
how impossible to guard against its treacher-
GUS dealings! The veriest invalid on earth
was safer from that than hale, hearty Fenton
Atwick.
don't know how got into sort of rev.
erie one evening-thinking of our lives, and
the popular idea that we have mission to
perform. L wasn't given to such things. /
should as soon have thought of joining an
opera troupe-having no more idea of music
than steam-engne-as turning metaphysi-
clan. But there l sat, looking out at my
window on the giant mountains, ablaze with
the golden aureola of the setting sun, with
my pen behind my ear, and ponderous vol
OOfAN
myself over and over again, of what avail
my life had been to myself or others, and
whittier it was tending, until the light died
too from the western sky, and the shadows of
night, or of death, crept, darker and darker.
into the room. "Pshawp' exclaimed, 81
am as visionary as child emerging from, or
an old man going into, the realms of the I'M
known. Very soon we too will be dust, as
our ancestors are-perhaps a part of that
which the young man, galloping madly by
but few moments ago, sent curling into my
window here, over my books and into nv
very nostrils. And then our children (not
mine, of course, as am bachelor, but other
people's) will look out of this very window, as
am doing now, and wonder what they are
made for, and whitherward they are tending
And they will find themselves-in the dark,
as 1 am" | struck myself sharp blow on
the forehead, as if by this means l should eff
fectually floor the goblin thoughts that were
bewitching me; and drawing parlor match
across the green serge that covered my table,
Lit my lamp and re-opened my book. But
strange to say, I could not collect my
thoughts.
81 am tempted muttered, 'sto 20 for
Atwick and Fleet and Jones, and have a rub
Der at whist, for it seems am determined to
be at cross purposes with time this EVENING"
sprang up out of my chair as | concluded,
for heavy ''thud,' like the falling of a hui
man body, struck distinctly on my ear
glanced hastily around the room, and as
nothing was disturbed, listened for a repeti-
ton OF the sound from without but the 81
lence was profound, and took up my book
again. A moment more, and 1 heard some
one walking rapidly down the street. SIT is
some visitor to me, l hope" But no: the
footsteps passed on. Then there came the
sound of running feet-one, two, three sep
arate persons going by. Then there was
nasty tread on my own steps, and some one
came up. turned quickly as the door was
pushed open.
"Ah, Fleet it is you! 1 am glad to see YOU.
Come in" He did come in; and then saw,
by the lamp that there was CHASTITY look up-
on him, frightful to behold.
Come, jerry" he said, while his teeth
chartered. Il have been sent to fetch YOU.
fearful accident has just happened. DR..
Atwick-'
''What?' 1 asked, while a shudder T
thought to be mortal ran through and Though
me.
us already dead, and as Ihave told you, by
an accident as horrible as it was unforeseen.
Jones was with him in his office, and they
had risen to come up here, when Atwick ex-
tinquished his lamp, and turning suddenly,
stepped out at the window, instead of the
door, and fell upon the rocks below. He was
dead man whenJones got down to him.
"My God, how horriblep'
was at the scene of the catastrophe in a
few moments. And there, laid out already
with the grim formalties of death, gazed
upon the dead body Of my friend Atwick,
whom l had beheld but few hours before
an the perfection of health-a mangled and
bloody corpse, lying still upon the pavement
with crowd of people gathered, like ghostly
statues, in the twilight about it, Some of
the men had already constructed litter. l
was requested, as / knew Mrs. Atwick, per-
haps, better than any one in the village, to
hasten on before, and break the hideous
truth to her as gently as could. l shrank
back appalled,. Dcmurring and fearful, l
should positively have declined this painful
duty of friendship, but for the temporary
absence of our rector, and the necessity Of
speedy action in some one. The statement
OF great writer that there is something not
altogether unpleasant to us in the mistortunes
OF our dearest friends, is a rank libel upon
even medium human nature. should not
nave been more distressed if Mary Atwick,
the woman to whom l was going en- such an |
errand, had been my own sister. And vet,
my acquaintance with her was very slight. |
Sne was anything but a popular woman; she |
ha 1 mingled but little with the people of the |
village, and had thus remained without |
rlenus, whlle Atwick himself had been a |
universal favorite. l had visited his house
on more social terms than any one cleo 7
DeHeVe, ana though L had never found her
varying from a cold and naughty reserve T |
had every reason to believe that Atwick was
devotedly attached to her and his children |
If, however, Ihad known it to be otherwise |
If they had been to each other objects of |
mutual indifference, or sometimes even of
aversion, should | not still have hesitated to
preak the quiet of household with tidings
Vi sucn death to one of its members? Yet |
l was SO strlcken with dumb sort of amaze
l nen.' enas mad realized. nothing of my po-
sl'ion, anu had not thought of what l was
W saynevel When found my hand upon the
gate OF the yard-enclosure. All at once. how
ever, sense OF what had come to do
struck terror to my soul, and the same sbuJo
der L had experienced in my Office thrilled
me from head to fost There were NO Inbts
ABOUT the house as 1 went up the gravel walk
hut thought some one had come on the
e oane Grand, as 1 saw the figure of man
gong up the steps before me. paused an
instant on the threshold of the nortico
waiting Tor the figure, with it's hack Itn,on3
me, to lift the knocker to STRIFE fa. 10, on
sion, when the door flew open u VII au,tiio-
sound, and the person entering ravaai;,s "
me-my God 1.-The blood-stained fe,tmrns W
Fenton Atwick himself! vi
"How, howp' 1 cried; ''have you recover
cd sufficiently to get here before me, and
1t moved towards the door of an inner
hull HUH, peckoned to me with its mutilated,
ip ,no~y nand. And voice that should have
= :, without the words, belonged to moth
shirt bafo,,a salu slowly: 81 am here, in the