Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-10-03

WITH MALICE TO
ST1N, MOWER COUN:
Emmanuel Carl Paul,-had no power to
quiet my wild, wandering thoughts.
While I was tarning gliasle.sly over the
leaves, the stillncss was startled by tho
sharp, quick changing Of the electric bell,
the usual signal to prepare to read of u
message. With u shiver of alarm. l
turned qAickIey tQssthe instrnq,ent, but
saon pereeked Il at tho he'll had Been rung
hy- no s4SsrtmE. poaassy fol sahss'vibrating
needles made no Ineligible sign, and l
knew that the sound had been produced
by q current of atmospheric electricity
acting upon the wires
Smiling at the nervousness which caused
me t., start ut g., ordinary an. occurrence,
turned from my deck and rat down by
:he fire. But smile a. would, and reason
as l might, felt that was fast euccunil-
bing to the vague, foundationless fears.
Thirkieg th1tthe t'nos sphee Il tie room,
whiehI felt close and hot. might have
son,ething to do with myspecslar condi /:
tion Of mind, flung open the door, and
stepped outside, in hope that the cool air
might scare away the phantoms Of my
+brai.. As ] 1aesosse4 tbes ssthseshold, the
midnightexpfess esai1ed pest With speed
and force wich shook every timber in the
building, and uttering loud shrek disap-
peared in the tunnel Ut the end of the steep
gradient, on the sumit Of which my station
was placed. When it was g,ne there was
stiffness, stiffness broken-if car call it.
broken--.oply by the pecptiar0 signing of
Tho air passing soross The wires Which is
heard eYen in the calmest night. l stood
and listened to the strange, melancholy
Eolians harp.like sound, nowA faint as to
be aluioat inaudible, saad alpn swelling
into q wild, low .waihSs.' Hooked up
and saw Orion and t6e P1eisdes, and
thought how often on nights, 1ot long ago,
when I had watched for Maggie in the
wood, l had gased up through the tall,
sombre pines and watched their trembling
fires. From, that my mind reverted TO tho
rearaestness, with which my wiea had asked
me to remain at home that night, and the
unusual pensiveness Of her manner when
she bade mo good bye. What could be
the meaning Of it all 2 As a general rule,
l had i most profound disbelief iu omeus.
presentiments, and al sorts OF euperstitions;
but, in spite of it, l felt that ! would have
given q good deal, ut that time, to be
transported just for one moment to my
home, to see wether all was there. l
might have called upon my assistant, who
logged in farm.ho1se not far dis>sat, and
gone homo But, as l could GSe 10 good
reason for going away, I resolved to stay
where was, and get through the night as
best I could. q Il, this goes ON much
longcr;" said 10 myself, as I turned ill.,
side again, and roked up The Goals with
rather more noise and vigor than was ab-
solutely necessary-"lt If this goes on much
longer, shall have to consult doctor,
that's plain" For l knew that the cause
less approximations which had exporien-
ced were often only the symptoms of an
unsound state Of bodily health.~ filed
my pipe ind lii it, but the weed had lost
its usual tranquilixing power. Az the
wreaths curled slowly upward, 1 taw my
wife's face looking at u'e tealfully as when
l had left her. Again the bell rang
sharply, but, a. before no intelligence was
made by the needlee. Ileaned my elbows
On the desk, ana, with my head between
my hands, watched their unending motions.
An h"ur might have passed thus, when
once more l was startled by the clnng of
the bell. This time it was louder and
more urgent, and it seemed to me, though
perhaps I may err here, with q peculiar
und unearthiy sound, such as l had never
heard before. I ana utterly unable to tell
in what manner tho impression was pro-
duced, but it seemed as if there mingled
with the metallic ring the tone of 4 human
voice-ard it was the voice of one l knew
The needles, ! now observed, began to
make signs which l understood; and slowly,
as if some novice were working the in
strumout, the letters .:'C.o-m-e,2 were
signaled. No sooner had l read off tho
final ~e," than to my amusement and ter.
ror, distinctly saw the handle Of my
instrument, although / was not touching
II at the tine, asif grasped by sou,e in.
visible hand, move rapidly and make the
signal = Understood" which the receiver
of = message transmits at the end of every
word. '''7'' 80 - =, j. -
A cold thrill ran through me, and felt
~ If every drOop Of blood were leaving
my heart. Could have been the subject
Of IN optical delusion I knew that such
was not the case, for l had plainly heard
the quick click of the handle as it turned,
and now could perceive that another
word was slowly being spelt out: but so
bewildercd and terrified was I, that fail-
ed to catch the signs. Again my handle
moved, and this time made tho signal = Not
underetood," J" with an overwhelming feel.
ing Of awe, l watched the dials intently,
when the letters were agsiu signaled, and
this time / read the word "H.o-m.e." !"
Then there was q cessation of all motion
for y second or two, and once more the
needles resumed their inchoherent vibra.
tons. stood petri6ed with fear aud
amazement, half believing that was in q
dream, for reason refused 70. accept the
evidence Of sense. Could that be =, mes
sage for me2 And if 90, whence came
t3 What hand had sent it2 Could it be
thas some power higher than that Of
nature thus warned me Of impending
danger? Should / obey tho mysterioas
summons? .~~
While tbcs deliberated, the bell again
sounded. with clangor still more loud,
imperative, and unearthly, ana. after few
uncertain movements, the magnets repeat
ed the words, Como home-come homer
the handles moving as before. l could
remain at my post no longer. Come
what might felt that I had no alterna-
tive but to obey. I ran to the house
where the clerk lived, and on rousing the
inmates and gaining admission, told him
that he must take my place immediately,
a. had been suddenly called away. The
man seemed somewhat surprised ut nv
excited and startled manner, but what he
said or did l cannot recollect. On enter:
ing the stable where my horse was stalled
perceived a saddle hanging on tho wall,
and knowing that l could get over the
ground more swiftly by riding than driv,
ing, threw it on his back, and In q minute
Or two was dashing along the road in the
direction Of home. shall never forget
that ride. Although I urged my horse
with whip and voice until he flew rattle,
than gallope.l, the pace was far too slow
for my excited mind. Woods, bridges
with the moonlit streamo whipping be-
meath them, farm-houses where the deep.
voiced dogs were awakened by the loud
beat of boots, shot by me like things in a