The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-10-26
tones, the cry came once again. This time in
words we understood:

fire, we made our way hastily toward pitc (
rocks few hundred yards distant, whence tn
sound seemed to have proceeded. Scrambin
up the height we came suddenly upon strang
and mournful scene. Before us stood II small
notwithstanding hut evidently constructc
by hands unused to such labor, unglazed, an
fwihout "A chimney. There was dim ligh
within, and through the open door we SAW tn
body of "A man apparently liielcss, lying prom
upon the carthen floor. Beside him, Will
arms flying wildly over her head, knclt tn
figure of Il woman, evidently the one who's
cries had alarmed Us. 1t needed but glance
to assure US that some strange tragedy had ia
keL place, and without Il moments hesitation
We entered the hut.
THE woman raised her eyes as we approach
ed, but gave no further heed to us. Apparent
ly her great sorrow had driven her distracted
She was a young creature, hardly twenty,
should judge, and despite the signs OF hard
ship and sorrow visible upon her features, very
beautiful. Her form was light and even attcnu
lated, but in its shabby dress preserved traces
of former refinement
Her companion, a young man OF about her
own age, attired in a coarse woOdmans suit,
had evidently succumbed to hardship or dis
ease and was either insensible or dead. His
Ipinched and CHASTITY Countenance must have
been once very handsome, but now il looked
old and worn as that of q man Of GO. He had
apparently fallen in his present position, and
the girl had been unable to raise him.
MY friend, the doctor" continued the wor.
thy professor, "surley uncouth and cynical, rs
he commonly appears, has as kind heart as
ever beat in a mans brcast-nO tlattery my
| dear fellow, for 1t must be confessed that you
have faults that more than countcrbalance your
one good trait Well, gentlemen, he bent over
| h1 ntttrI and ina tDi.. rnvtl
n woman's cndeavored to rouse The girl from
her lethcrgy
"'Who are you o said he, and what has hap
pened?'
"'lle is dead-deadr she muttcred hosrseiy
"'Pcrhaps it is not as bad as that he re-
joined, Tell us oil about it. We are friends
my dear, and medical men, and may be able
to assist you
"'lle died tins morning, before my very eyes
she moancd, died, oh, my God Of starvation.
And ! never knew that he Was depriving him
self for my sake. Oh, my husband; why did
you not let me die with YOU And she threw
herself across the body, sobbing as if her poor
heart would break. There were tears in the
doctors eyes as he looked at me-" added the
professor, with trcmor in his voice, "and the
rascal has always sworn that my own were
not dry. That however, is aside from the
subject
"Though we knew nothing Of these two poor
children-tor they were but little more-we
felt that we had CHANGED upon u strange sad
story of love, pride and suffering, such ~ is
rarely told, even IN this unhappy world.
"Thc doctor stopped down and felt at the
heart Of the PROSTATE man
"'lIc Is dead he whispered, motoning me
to initiate his example.
eyes, dead, | replied after examining the
corpse.
How we made the truth known to the poor
wife, do not remember 1t would seem that
she had preserved some faint remnant Of hope
until our assurance destroyed It utterly. With
Il low groan she fell suddenly at our feet in
sensible Although at II loss rs to what course
to pursue, we felt ii no more than our duty to
remain III the hut for the night and on the
morning To make the best arrangements for the |
poor girls comfort that were possible.
fortunately the doctor had his medical
case with him. Administering IA powerful
sleeping potion to her, he placed her in happy
Inconsistencies of the events that were to fol-
low. We then proceeded to Il more careful
examination of the man.
without vanity ! can say that both the doctor
and myself have received some few tcstimOnl-
ais rs 10 our scientific ability from the world |
You will probably believe that we are capa.
DE of deciding upon very simple case OF
death by Starvation" He paused and looked
gravcly around "Very good, remember, then
that | assert upon my professional reputation
that the man was stone dead"
Yes" added the doctor who had hitherto
silent, the life must have been OK
linct more than five hours when we found
him."
"Wcll," continued the professor, with in
creasing gravity, having satisfied ourselves
upon this point we covered the corpse decent
" and sat down to wait for morning. Though
in no mood for conversation, the startling eX-
pcricnccs Of the evening kept us both awake
Tor several hours But ut length, completely
overcome with WEAKNESS and excitement, |
fell into light slumber.
Almost Immediately, it seemed, | was
awakened with II shock. The doctor was
bending over me with an expression OF won
der and alarm upon his face.
awake up he said, IN n troubled whisper,
very strange has been going on in
tins room for many minutes past
"'What is it| | asked, i thought | heard
some one speaking"
You did he replied i have distinctly
heard IL voice close beside Us, vet there is no
one in the room except ourselves and these
two poor people,
"'Pcrhaps the woman has been talking in
htr Sleep l suggested, or IL may DC mat the
man is not dead after all"
"No, have looked to BOTH he returned
One sleeps soundly, and the other will never
speak again in this world. 50 satisfy your
self
81 arose, and, trimming the lamp, proceed
ed first to the couch where the girl lay. She
AT least could not have spoken, for all her
senses were locked in profound stupor. | l.
then examined the corpse and found it rs we
had left it, except that the features were more
shrunkcn and sallow than before. No voice
could have come from those rigid lips Con.
GLIDING that We both had dreamed or had mis-.
taken some nocturnal cry for human voice,
replaced the light and was about to resume
my seat when my movements were arrested
by "A very singular voice.
"'rhcrc it Is again" muttcrcd the doctor,
agitaedy.
"A low, confused murmur, resembling moth
ing that had ever heard before arose in the |
room, and seemed To circulate in the air for AN |
in. io Mt and lip A,spi IN