The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-11-07

ing CLEANS, now shooting IN rapid
succession from one luminous centre
and anon spreading and rolling wave
after wave across the starry heavens
/ began to think Of the disastrous
omens of war, plague and famine,
which in olden times men drew from
such sights. Somewhat of the same
emotion I felt in my own mind, and
reason as I would Ifelt it impossible to
shake off the growing sense of uneas-
iness and gloom which had taken
possession of me. On entering
the telegraph station, the clerk whom
had come to relieve was ready to
depart.
"YOu won't have much to DO to-
night, sir,n said he. "The instru-
ments are quite unworkable; no sig.
mails have been received for the last
three hours. Good night"
When was left alone, found that
it was as he had said. The electric
currents, which are developed in the
atmosphere during most of the meteor
illogical changes, had rendered the
wires quite useless; and although the
needles swayed ceaselessly backward
and forward, they made no sign
which the wisdom of man could in
terpret. Seeing that my Office was
likely to be sinecurc,I / drew my chair
to the stove, and taking down a book
which 1 saw on a shelf, 1 tried to in
terest myself in the story. The vol
ume which I had discovered was
"Jane Eyre,n and although since that
time have read, with tears and with
laughter, it and other works which
. I h1 k-UU
pen, yet on that night the spell of her
who is so powerful to awaken our in
terest and enlist our sympathy-who
had given US Black Rochester, and
chronieled with no unkindly hand
the vagaFies Of the three eccentric
cUrates and won our hearts for Pro-
fessor Emmanuel Carl Paul-had no
power to quiet my wild wandering
thoughts. While l was turning list
lessly over the leaves, the stiffness
was startled by the sharp, quick clang-
ing of the electric bell, the usual sig
nal to prepare to read off a message.
With a shiver Of alarm / turned
quickly to the instrument, but soon
perceived that the bell had been rung
by no earthly power, for the vibrat-
ing needles made no Ineligible sign,
and knew that the sound had been
produced by q current of atmospheric
electricity acting upon the wires.
Smiling at the nervousness which
caused me to start at so ordinary an
occurrence, l turned from my desk
and sat down by the fire. But smile
as would, and reason as I might, I
felt that rs fast succumbing to vague
| foundationless fears. Thinking that
the atmosphere of the room, which l
felt close and hot, might have some
thing to do with my peculiar condi-
ton Of mind, l flung open the door
and stepped outside, in the hope that
the cool air might scare away the
phantOms of my brain. AS ! crossed
the threshold the midnight express
crashed past with a speed and force
MGEnF MhEGGhEn Fsh2Sf &6&f eFKgt eFK gtiP4e5E6 4e56ui ID EttbBss ttbs
disappeared in the tunnel at the end
of the steep gradient, on the summit
of which my station was placed.
When it was gone there was stiffness,
stiffness broken-if 1 can call it bro
ken-ouly by the peculiar signing OF
the air passing across the wires,
which is heard even in the calmest
nights. / stood and listened to the
strange, melancholy, Eolian harp
like sound, now so faint as to be al
most inaudible, and. then swelling in
to q wild, low wailing. L looked up
and saw Orion and the Plelade, and
thought how often on nights, not long
ago, when had watched for Maggie
in the wood, l had gazed up through
the tall, sombre pines and watched
their trembling fires. From that my
; mind reverted to the earnestnes'
with which my wife had asked me tC
remain at home that night, and the
unusual pensiveness of her manner
when she bade me good bye. What
could be the meaning of it all? AS 8
general rule, 1 had a most profound
disbelief in omens, presentiments, anC
: all sorts of superstition but in spite
of it I felt that I would have given {
: good deal, at that time, to be transport
ed just for one moment, to my hous,
+ to see whether all was well there.
might have called upon my assistant
Z who lodged in farm house not far dis
tant, and gone home; but as / coulG
4 give no reason for going away, l re
solved to stay where l was and ge
: through The night as best could. 81
this goes on much longer" said Il
myself, as I turned inside again, auC
r poked up the Goals with rather NOR
noise and vigOr than was absolutel,
= necessary-''If this goes on mucl
longer, l shall have to consult a doc
i tor, that's plain" For l knew tina
the causeless apprehenSiOnS which
T experienced were often only. tn
symptoms of an unsOund state o
1, G11ad rNfnn
1 Lit It. hat tiIn-7SSsSd lad lost us iran
/ I d1Iizing power. As the wreath
eurled slowly upward, I saw my wife
o face looking at me tearfully as whel
III left her. Again the bell rang sharp
!. ly; but, as before, no Ineligible sigl
was made by the needles. l leaneu
e nv elbows on the desk, and with N,
head between my hands, watched tn
, unending motions. An hour Nigh
have passed thus, when once more
was startled by the clang of the bell
This time it was louder and more III
gent, and it seemed to me, thoug
perhaps I may err here, with pecul
A lar and unearthly sound, such as
= had never heard before. am utterl
: unable to tell in what manner th
n impression was produced, but it seem
: ed as if there mingled with the ms
. tallic ring the tone of a human voiC
y and it was the voice Of one l knew
The needles, now observed, bega
- to make signs which l understood
|. and slowly, as if some novice wei
q working the instrument, the lettel
h "C-o.m-e" were signalized. No sooI
n er had I read of the final "e," than
my amazement and terror, distinc
/ Iy saw the handle Of my instrumen
. although 1 was not touching it at u
q time, as if grasped by some invisib
n hand, move rapidly and make the si
= r nal "UnderstoOd," }" which the receiv,
n of a message transmits at evel
+ word.
~ A cold thrill ran through me, and
felt as if every drop of blood we
e, leaving my heart. Could have bee
a the subject IF an optical delusiou
ar knew that such was not the case, f
le had plainly heard the quick click
the handle as it turned, and now
s. could perceive that another word W
er being slowly spelt ont, but so bewi
b. dered and terrified was that fail,
lie to catch the signs. Again my hand
le moved, and this time made the sign
1e "NOt understood" With an owe
%, whelming feeling of awe 1 watch
at the dials intently while the lette
b. were again signalled, and this tin
All read "H-O-m-e." Then there was
n cessation of all motion for a second
is two, and once more the needles !
I sumed thair incoherent vibrations.
be stood petrified with fear and amal
I ment, half believing that was in
nd dream, for reason refused to acce
on the evidence Of sense. Could there
all a message for me? If so, when
tie came it? What hand had sent
Could it be that some power higt
ok than that of nature thus warned me
at impending danger? Should l oh
IN the mysterious summons?
Ies While I thus deliberated, the b
EAR again sounded with a elangor 81
more loud, imperative and unearth
do and, after few uncertain mOvemel
he the magnets repeated the word
for "COme home-cOme home u-the hI
be dies moving as before. 1 could
m main at my post no longer. Co
what might, I felt that had no Otl
nd alternative but to obey. l ran to
ad. house where the clerk lived, and
CD, rousing the inmates and gaining {
so mission, I told him that he must ts