Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-11-16


"'Weke up he said, in troubled
whisper, something very strange has
been going on in this room for many
minutes past
"'What is it p asked, 4 thought
| heard some one speaking
"'You did, he replied. Il have dis-
tinctly heard voice close beside us, yet
there is no one in the room except oui-
selves and these two poor people,
"'Perhaps the woman has been talking
in her sleep suggested, or il may be
that the man is not dead after ALL
"'No, have looked to BOTH he re-
turned. 'One sleeps soundly, and the
other will never speak again in this world.
SO satisfy yoursslf'
IL srsse, and, trimming .he lamp,
proceeded arst to the couch where the
girl lie. She, at least, could not have
spoken, for all her senses were locked in
8 profound stupor. then examined the
corpse and found it as We had left it, sx-
cept that the features were more shrunk-
en- and sallow than before. No voice
could have come from those rigid lips
Concluding shat we had both dreamed or
had mistaken some nocturnal cry for a
human voice, l replaced the light, and
was about to resume my seat, when my
movements we're arrested by very sing
ular voice.
"'There it is again !! muttered the
doctor, very much agitated.
IA low, confused murmur, resembling
nothing that had ever heard before,
arose in the room, and then it seemed to
circulate again in the mir for an instant
and die away. Again it rose, coming
from point over our heads, and gradu-
ally descending until it appeared TO ema-
nate from scme invisible source imme-
diatoly beside us. l know of nething
with which 20 compare tho intonation,
except it may be the articulation Of the
telephone or that Of ventriloquist.
1.-The first words we caught were, 'Oh,
my poor wife =
at would be impossible TO describe the
effect that these words produced upon us.
1t was not SO much the tone, weird and
uncanny as it was, as the startling signif-
cance OF the words that amazed us.
"Who would have spoken them bu.
the husband OF the woman lying slupedsd
upon the couch ? Yet he had been dead
for many hours. Full of repugnance of
the horror of the idea, we started up and
again examined not only every nook and
Granny Of the hut itself, but even the
space outside for many yards around -.
There was no human being besides
ourselves in tho vicinity.
1--WE again scrutlhized the corpse. 1t
had neither changed its position nor its
appearance. The flesh had grown per-
fectly Geld, the muscles rigid there was
no trace Of vitality in il. Now" contin-
ued the professor, wiping his forehead
nervoGsly, 81 have arrived at what |
imagine will be the limit Of your credul-
ity. | do not expect you to credit what
| followed but swear to you, on the word
Of an honest man, that do not dsviate
from the truth rs much ASA syllable when
l say that while we bent above the body
we again heard the voice proceeding from
a distant part OF the room, saying
audibly
""n the name Of God, assist me baol
10 life =
"With hearts beating thick and fast
we stood gazing at each other absolutely
thuuderstruck. An experience so terrify.
ing, SO utterly without precedent, com
pletely unnerved us. While we remained
stupe6ed with horror, the voice was again
audible:
"'Oh, have pity = it said, aid me to
return to life.'
at was some minutes before either oi
us could recover from our amazement
sufficiently to make any reply"
"'Who is it that speaks to US p asked
the doctor, in low tone.
"'The soul Of the man who lies dead
before you = it replied.
els it possible that the dead can
speak 2 said the doctor.
"'No, for the intelligence mover dies,
replied the voice. My body is Indeed
dead, but that with which l lived, and
thought and loved is still in this room. ;
"'Whatis that you desire p asked the
doctor, carrying on the strange colloquy
with increasing wonder.
"'To be aided TO resume my former
existence" was the rejoindsr. I dare
not leave nay poor wife unprotected in this
wilderness. canot see her suffer. l love
her beyond all my hopes of future life,
and by the power Of my love l have re-
mained near her, and have been able to
communicate with you. must return to
her in my human shape
whether the doctor's courage deserted
him at this point or not cannot say, but
he spoke no more and US the voice was
no loagsr audible, We remained silent in
hthlo ot hilu thnt Ohihob hll usSSiiP
ton.
II am morally certain that both Of us
would have fed instantly frsm the place
had it not been for the poor creature
sleeping upon the bed. We could not
leave her to face alone a mystery that
shook even nerves as toughened as ours,
After hasty consultation as to what
course we ought to follow we resumed oui
former seats and waited in brsathless OK.
pectation for what was next to occur.
"Some hours had passed in this way,
and tho first dim traces Of dawn were
shining upon the eastern horizon, whom
with a simultaneous start we sprang to
= 4 Il.