Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-12-18

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oItn his eyes and gaze at her with q truu
Died expression, and she noticed that Tn g
eyes were very beautiful. black, and soft as
velvet. In her ministrations she got to un-
deTktand the language of those poor eyes
ano found out when he was pleased or dis
apI ointed at what she was doing. One day
S noek e9o1 b up n ms Goat and feeling Ia the
and the eyes said, " Read IT." 1t gave her
the Key TO the situation, and she derived the
lea tnat ne could hear and understand
her II she talked to him, so she would sit and
talk and ask questions, and he would an.
swer with his eyes. She got at the idea that
ne was young English diplomat, who had
tect some one; that he had been received
into the Prussian army as favor to facili-
tate mis- work; that he was engaged in this
WORE when he was struck down. She had
much to do, this Mercy Merrick with her red
cross, but she found time every few hours to
come back TO her patient and to tell him the
story OF Saarbruck, of StrasbOurg of Sedan,
and to find from the shifting luster in his
eyes II he were pleased or saddened One
DAY, she TOOK up his watch and chain and
examined his seal. The eyes grew painfully
bright and anxious; the idea struck her that
sne would take the impression i'm wax She
ola so, and found the motto and crest of a
Well-known English family. Then she sat
Gown and wrote a letter home, for she too
was English. wv
The patient fingered and listened, but
lever spoke. he grew better, however, and
could smile; a singular smile brilliant
eioquent, and fascinating. 1t went TO the
heart of the red-cross nurse Perhaps she
had suffered, and loved, aud waited, and
noped, and had known the anguish of hope
deferred The poor paralyzed hand gained
nnally little power, and. one evening as
sne LOOK II In her warm. energetic, generous
palm. IL gave feeble pressure Sympathy
is famous physician. He has cured many
otherwise MORALLY wounded
But, aIas! he was not TO cure the young
EDsllsh diplomat. One night, as the red
cross nurse lay down toh her well earned sleep,
the male attendant who had care OF the par,
door.
''He is dying" said he, "and his eyes are
very Wild"
She dressed herself and went to him. The
unspoken language between these two had
become spiritual communication She
read his thoughts. Did he wish to have a
lock OF his hair cut. Yes, for her, his watch
and chain, ard a certain ring on it, were To
be returned, when she could ind the owner
and his charge-the work which he had to do
when ne was stricken down-she must find
out II II were done, and If he was known TO
do ii all.
And he gave her one wonderful look, a
look Wh1ch was caress; one smile, like
sunlight; his bright eyes said more gratitude
In one glance than lips could say in month !:
then came him over them and they went
The next day, as the red cross nurse stood
clan arrived.
81 am looking for young Estcourt," said
he, "fhe man Of whom you have written To
seal"
.'There he is" said she quietly.
'POOr fellow, poor fellow; a hard case"
said the physician. "Did you know his sto-
ny? Sent over to protect two eminent ladies
one princess. who got caught In a country
compiled tfons and all that sort of thing He
behaved singularly well, showed enormous
tact, courage, and chivalry, too, for one of
them fell desperately In love with him He
them yrIoa
wished To go, when he was struck down by q
french ball; party of straggers surrounded
them, set on probably by cousin of his
who has always been his foe"
'Dld the women escspe?" said the red cross
nurse. -'9'
Eyes; and are full of anxiety to hear of
their preserver and FRIEND" said the doctor.
The nurse laid her hand on the dead mans
forehead. 81 wish he could have lived to
hear it," said she. W.
AMI as she said that, the dead man smiled
that smile which she knew so well-and,
strong he arted woman though she was, she
tainted and fell on the floor.
holding some hartshorn to her nOstrils
1T was not Imagination! said she
NO, said he, shaking his head, "it was a
The annals of cholera years of the plague.
of other epidemic diseases, are full of curious
stories of the supposed dead, and we seem as
yet to have fearfully little Of that line of de-
narration which marks the dead from the
living. Those surgeons who 60 on battle
nelds have many curious stories to tell of the
Phenomena OF dead faces, and to those who
nave only the ordinary sad experience Of
sorrow there is much that is wonderful about
H. The sudden growth of resemblances as
that OF child TO one parent or another,
sometimes an entire change OF face as If the
personality had been changed; all these
things have struck the observer often.
ina mask of death called catalepsy pro-
duces that change also. One young girl sub
ject to this mysterious disease would become
so like an intimate friend that all her family
were struck by it. They were totally unlike
would Immediately begin talking of this
friend. IT seemed as If her own spirit had
vacated her body and that OF her friend had
taken Its place.
A young German countess who had beauti-
iul hair, died OF a lingering disease, and was
buried at her own request with the golden
ha1r lying loosely about her like a vail. A
few years afterward, her remains were ex-
amfned, and the long hair was found to have
been carefully braided as German girls braid
their hair, and, what was still more mex
satin ribbon, which her sister remem bered
had been attached to some garlands which
lay on the coffin. The German, Leutz, had
either seen this braided hair or had heard of
it In the town where it occurred, and had
been deeply impressed by II. The only con.
lecture had been, of course, that the poor girl
was buried alive, but that was hardly pos
slble, for the features were in q singular state
OF preservation and very composed, the
hands folded on the breast, and the shrOud
IN perfect OrGer. NOR would a woman braid
her hair ian act calling for great composure)
II she found herself buried alive. Being Ger
man hair, 1t probably braided itself.
AnOther phenomenon, more easily ex-
planned by physical reasons, is the fact that
dead faces blush. 1t is not common, but
probably has happened within the experience
of most physicians, that color comes back 20
lip and cheek for a few hours, even after
the pallor ofdeath had asserted itself 1t is
said to have occurred in the case OF Philip
lie Bel, who poor crazy Joanna carried about
SO long, and adOred SO hopelessly; perhaps it
was one reason why she could not believe
him dead. OF course, this has found its way
into poetry, and there is an old story of
Provence in the dialect, dating back as far
as Ciemence Isaure and the golden violet, of
a young girls corpse blushing when her
lover entered the room.
But the saddest of all the phenomena is the
most common one-the marble rigidity, the
mask of death. Nothing can SO stun the
senses or chill the heart as that; but the SUBJ
ject demands attention as one of those, UNI
usually repellent 1t is true, but like the phil
osOphy OF dreams, not sufficiently under
stood. Though Intimately connected with
our imperfectly developed possibilities, both
as intellectual and physical machines, whose
springs are hidden, whose abnormal devel-
opements-as in the strength which fever
gives, or the sharpened power of ear or eye
under the influence of strong nervous excite
ment, the power of going without food when