New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-07-18

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= PEELED to carry on . cruel deception. Th'
5 thought set me on fire with ecstasy.
laughed and cried and sang in wild delight
9 Suddenly, in the midst of this happiness
came the recollection of Mr.. and thu
tOrturing cane. Instantly my whole body
turned ICY cold. knew be was near. ye
}. dared not look at him. If he should bt
I browning felt it would kill me. The
, thought fascinated me with horror, and
turned my eyes toward him as one nigh
turn to look at ghost. He was smiling
kindly at me; that instant passed intt
heaven. There million smiling faces or
: all sides, and strains of music filed the air
Above the sofa on which was lying hung a
chandelier of curious design and exceedingly
ugly pattern, being covered with heads OF
witches anything but pleasant to the eye
Now, however, these figures took the form
of angels. The long red tongues projecting
from each mouth, which had always been
my deteststion, became now typical OF
music. l thought | saw sound. It was no
longer the mere effect OF melody upon the
ear that delighted me; notes become sub
stance. l gazed entranced at the singing
mouths, and watched with delight the
movements of their songs through the air.
Each appeared to be singing different
melody, yet the harmony was perfect.
: wondered at this, and strained my eyes to
see how the blending of different keys was
Il
that the streams of music which distinctly
saw floating through the air were colOrless
and invisible. This is q paradox am una
BILE to explain. can only relate the facts
rs they occurred, and it is Q fact that
seemed to see that which on inspection
found to be devoid of color.
l wondered if music would not relieve
his despair and began song At the first
note l experienced an effect which can
best describe as the removal Of cloud
from before my consciousness. 1t was mo-
mentary, yet it constantly, during this
| stage OF the experience, reOccurred. During
these flashes Of sanity knowing myself to
be perfectly sane, and being aware of their
short dnration,) tried hard to convey to
l could utter half Q dozen words l would
| feel myself lifted from the sofa and whirled
| Oft at = rate of speed beyond conception,
| through distances which can not be numer-
ically expressed. This description is in
| perfect accord with the movements exhib-
| tied have since been told. At intervals,
sometimes divided only by an instant,
| l appeared to be in q normal condition
| and anxious to explain the scenes through
which l was passing under the effects of the
drug. But the intervals were never long
enough for me to finish sentence. This |
is q very peculiar experience am having,
Mr.. -" would commence, in perfectly |
udtuIbl tOu0 VI VOICE, '6uO WISH you
would-good bye, good bye" and, waving
q farewell, nay head would fall back upon
the sofa, eyes remaining wide open, with 1
largely distended pupils, while expressions
of perfect delight chased one another over
my features On these journeys, which ap
pesred to be billions Of miles in length,
l was always accompanied by
host of jolly, jovial, queer looking
little fellows, with rosy cheeks, creased in
every direction from constant and CON
tinued laughing. Our journeys were mainly
among grand mountain scenery. / saw
mountains towering thousands Of miles in
the air, and while wondering how we could
possibly get over them, they became little
specs leagues below as. Always these
cessive and wonderfully brilliant ridicule |
from my companions that dreaded, yet at
the same time longed, to encounter them.
These journeys were always brought to an
abrupt end when at an immense height, |
and falling to earth with frightful rapidly, I
l would find myself gasping for breath on {
he sofa with Mr.. - sitting BY nv side.
In vain / tried to tell him how far had g
been since saw him last; no sooner would 8
begin than one of these drOll fellows, sud.
jenly appearing, would whisper something t
u my ear 60 intensely, SO irresistibly, so d
absolutely funny. that il convulsion of t
aughter everything was forgotten, and l | q
" oS dEdAu WuITunk tuTOuR0 inc ar.
At last the horrible truth dawned upoa d
ne that ] vas laughing myself to death, II
md unless could rid myself of these com. n
'anions must die of laughter. MY suffer. p
ngs became intense. 1 begged Mr.. - to e
odd me; / shrieked in fear: still thew ii
aughed, and often was flying with them
brough space. l shall never forget the
Misery of that moment. How breathlessly
watched their faces, praying that they
'ouid spare me! l tried to drive him III
way; my bands went through his body, he CT
My laughed. put my fingers in my ears, W
ut could not shut out the eound. He put 70
is arm about my neck, his lips close to nv ca
IT. He was nearly choking with m
lighter. l could not understand what "a
3 said he laughed go loud, but / nr
II the muscles Of my. face tight CD
cling. 1t was useless, my whole frame b1
'came convulsed. Ny sides expanded to tu
enormous width, and came together OF
lth blow. seemed to grow alternately Ia,
mile long and q mile wide; electric cells eit
peared to enter the soles of my feet and by
urse through my body, going out 1T the wi
p of my head, and causing the keenest va
rture. In the midst of my sgony it be- 40,
me dark; my companions we're nowhere cal
be seen. Presently in the blackness ap- exl
AIRED yellow wheel revolving at an in- oh
edible rate of speed, and at every revolu- VIII
n growing in diameter. l wondered if it emf
uld grow in size and devour me. At q VIII
tance the outer edge, which was up,
.ged, appeared to be set with teeth, it,
the teeth of q saw, but as it's VIII
9 increased and drew nearer saw nec
n dsmay that the teeth were yellow Tim
mes, while the centre was nothing but q req
IS of red heat. l tried to run, but found Wit,
ad no legs. tried to scream; had no Wit
nth, Nearer it came; the edge whizzed if t
hin foot of mean inch-a hairs the
adth. At that instant l saw picture. qua
. dimly-lighted room sat an old man be- hin
tn chandelier covered with witches wat
de-, which appeared to be lighted, vet find
9 only the faintest ray of light, and on wild
ia IN this darkened room lay young the
q diving l have never seen q person wat
yet this scene appeared to be familiar. l slc
ned to know exactly the different changes cha
Oh precede death. knew that his feet | this
Q turning cold; I saw the lump begin to of =
" in his throat; heard the beat Of his ratu
TT growing fainter and fainter. A SILVER men
through bis frame. At that instant waf
'cognized in the dying man myself. insi,
W yellow I'm growing" l thought. hold
III be 90 much afraid of myself when q eou,
'se as l have always been of dead to ~
'le'" As spoke the fiery wheel passed s AZ i
me. The vision of the death bed dis. of :
cared and nothing existed but this re- the
ing mass of heat. / was no longer self man
cious. The heat became conscious of conn
I. This fact is given to me now by mad
lory, and these different conscious iin;n
es are as vivid as the room in which | fact,
write. Around and around went the aOai,
yellow circle. l was part of it. conn
ed to be the wheel itself Then came a thev
ent OF self-cOnsciOusnees, and remem- nails.
Z my death. l wondered how it was d;tf;c
/ rot Il