The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1878-03-16

ing impression upon my mind. While
perfectly satisfied with my body, which
is sound, healthy, and reasonably beau
tiful, | had long been Disconnected with
my soul, and constant companion of its
| weakness, its grossness, its inadequacy,
had intensified discontentment to dis
gust. Could /, indeed, escape myself
could ! tear this paste Diamond from its
fine casket and replace il with genuine
jewel, what sacrifices would | not con-
sent to, ard how fervently would | bless
| Calcarius and the hour that took me to
| Bonnl aHf rsJH Ifl
1t was to try this untried experiment
that j shut myself up in the Schloss
! Schwinkenschwank 10 1'' 'I- sii
Excepting little Hans, the innkeeper's
son, who climbed the mountain three
times week from the village to bring
me bread and cheese and white wine,
and afterward Hans's sister, my only
visitor during the period of my retire
ment was Professor Calcarius He came
over from Bonn twice to cheer and en-
courage me. t..,..f
On the occasion of the first visit night
fell while we were still talking of Pytha-
goras and metempsychosis. The pro-
found metaphysician was corpulent
man and very short-sighted.
can never get down the hill alive"
he cried, wringing his hands anxiously.
81 should stumble, and, Colt in. Him
mel, precipitate myself peradventure
upon some jagged rock" i,.f..
You must stay all night, professor"
said I, "and sleep with me in my wire
cage. l should like you to meet my
roommate, the monk" VI -
Subjective entirely, my dear young
friend" he said. "Your apparition is
a creature of the optic nerve, and l shall
contemplate it without alarm, as be-
comes philosopher" ra
put my herr professor to bed in the
wire cage, and with extreme difficulty
crowded myself in by his side. At his
especial request left the lantern burn
ing. "Not that l have any apprehen-
sion of your subjective specters," he ex-
planned. Mere Pigments of the brain
they are. But in the dark ! might roll
over and crush you" 5r a-..t
How progresses the self-suppres-
sion % he asked at length" the sub
ordination of the individual soul? Eth !!
what was that?" -.raf.
"a rat, trying to get in at U.S. re-
piled. be calm; you are in no peril.
My experiment proceeds satisfactorily.
| have quite eliminated all interest in
the outside world. Love, gratitude,
friendship, care for my own welfare, and
the welfare of my friends, have nearly
disappeared. Soon, / hope, memory will
also fade away, and with memory my
individual past" tt,treH
You are doing splendidly,' he ex
claimed with enthusiasm, and render
ing to psychologist science an inestimable
service. Soon your psychic nature will
be blank, vacuum, ready to receive
Colt preserve me! What was that"
"Only the screech of an owl, said |,
reassuringly, as the great gray bird with
which | had become familiar futtered
noiselessly down through an aperture in
the roof and lit upon the top of our wire
cage.
Calcarius regarded the owl with in
terest, and the owl blinked gravely at
Calcarius.
"Who knows" said the herr pro-
fessor, F." but what that owl is animated
by the soul of some great philosopher?
Perhaps Pythagoras perhaps Plotinus,
perhaps the spirit of Socrates himself,
abides temporarily beneath those feath-
ers." fr IH. -
confessed that some such idea had
already occurred to me. 7.i .-rr s-.
"And in that case, continued the
professor, "you have only to negative
your own nature, to nullify your own
individuality in order to receive into
your body this great soul, which, as my
munitions tell me, is that of Socrates,
and is lowering around your physical
organization, hoping to effect an en-
trance. Persist, my worthy young
student, in your most laudable expert
ment. and metaphysical science-merci-
full heaven is that the devilf'
1t was the huge gray rat, my nightly
visitor. This hideous creature had
grown in this life, perhaps of a century,
to the size of small terrier. His
whiskers were perfectly white and very
thick. His immense tushes had become
J so long that they curved over till the
points almost impaled his skull. His
eyes were big and blood red. The corn
ers of his upper lip were SO shriveled and
drawn up that his countenance wore an
expression of diabolical malignity, rarely
seen except in some human faces. He
was too old and knowing to gnaw at the
wires; but he satoutside on his launches
and gazed in at us with an indescribable
look of hatred. My companion shiv-
cred. After awhile the rat turned away,
| ratified his callous tale across the wire
netting, and disappeared in the dark
ness. Professor Calcarius breathed a
deep sigh of relief, and was soon snor-
ing SO profoundly that neither owls,
rats, nor specters ventured near us till
morning. ~
| had so far succeeded in merging nv
Intellectual and moral qualities in the
routine of mere animal existence that,
when it was time for Calcarius to come
again, as he had promised, / felt little
interest in his approaching visit. Han
sci, who constituted my commissariat,
had been taken sick of the measles, and
was dependent for my food and wine
upon the coming of his pretty sister,
Emma, a faxen-haired maiden of eigh-
teen, who climbed the steep path with
the grace and agility of gazelle. She
was an artless little thing, and told me
of her own accord the story of her simple
love. Fritz was a soldier in the Emperor
Wilhelm's army. He was now in gar
rison at Cologne. They hoped that he
would soon get lieutenancy, for he was
brave and faithful, and then he would
come home and marry her. She had
saved up her dairy money till it
amounted to quite little purse, which
| oh H. = l. L IL 4