Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-11-13

other will never speak again in this
world. So satisfy YOURSELF
" / arose, and trimming the lamp,
proceeded first to the couch where the
girl lay She at least could not have
spoken, for all her senses were locked
in profound stupor. | then exam
Lined the corpse and found it as we had
left it, except that the features were
more shrunk en- and sallow than before.
No voice could have come from those
rigid lips. Concluding that we had both
dreamed or had mistaken some noe
turnal cry for the human voice. [ re-
placed the light and was about to re-
sumo my seat, when my movements
were arrested by a very singular voice.
"'There it is again" muttered the
doctor agitatedly.
GA low, confused murmur, resemb-
ling nothing that had ever heard be-
fore, arose in the room, and seemed to
circulate in the air for an instant, and
died away Again it arose; coming
from point over our heads, land gradu-
ally descending until it appeared to eme-
nate from some invisible source imme-
diately beside us. / know of nothing
with which to compare the information,
except it may be the articulation of the
telephone. or that of a ventriloquist.
"The first words we caught were ooh,
my poor wife =
p" 1t would be impossible to describe
the effect that those words produced
upon us. 1t was not so much the tone,
weird and uncanny as it was, as the
startling significance of toe words that
amazed us.
"Who could have spoken them but
the husband Of the woman lying stupe-
fed upon the couch? Yet he had been
dead for many hours. Full Of repug-
nance at 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 besiucs ourselves III the
vicinity.
eve again scrutinized the corpse. 1t
had neither changed its position nor its
appearance The flesh had grown per-
fectly cold and the muscles rigid; there
was no trace of vitality in it. Now,
continued the Professor, wip.ng his head
nervously, Il have arrived at what |
imagine will be the limit of your ere
dulty. do not expect you to credit
what followed; but | swear to you, on
the word of an honest man, that | do
not deviate from the truth as much as
a syllable when I say while we bent
over the body we again heard the voice
proceeding from the distant part Of tn e
room, saying audibly:
"In the name of God, assist me back
to life"
with hearts beating thick and fast,
we stood gazing at each other absolute
ly thunderstruck. An experience so
terrifying, so utterly without precedent.
completely unnerved us. While we
remaiued stupefied with horror, the
voice was again audible:
"Oh, have pity" it said; aid me to
return to life"
1T was some minutes before either
of us could recover from our
amazement, sufficiently to make any
reply.
"Who is it that speaks to us?'' asked
the Doctor, in low tone.
before you?" it replied.
IL Is possible l11db the Qodu Call
speak," answered the Doctor.
"No, for the intelligence never dies, D
replied the voice. "My body is indeed
dead, but that with which | lived and
thought and loved is still i'll this
roOm."
"What is that you desire ?" asked the
Doctor, carrying on this strange colo
qqy with increasing wonder.
To be aided to resume my former
existence" was the rejoinder. " [ dare
not leave my poor wife unprotected in
this wilderness. [ cannot see her suf-
fer; love her beyond all my hopes of
a future life, and by the power of my
love [ have remained near her, and
you. [ must return to her in my hui
man shape"
Whether the Doctors courage de-
serted him at this point or not cannot
say; but he spoke no more; and, as the
voice was not longer audible, we re-
manned silent in a state Of mind that
battles all description.
I am morally certain that both ofus
would have fled instantly fromIthe place
had it not been for the poor creature
sleeping upon the bed. We could not
leave her to face alone mystery that
shook even nerves as toughened as
ours. After hasty consultation as to
what course we ought to follow, we re-
sumed our former seats, and waited
in breathless expectation for what was
next to occur.
"Some hours had passed in this way,
and the first dim traces of dawn were
shining upon the eastern horizon when
with simultaneous start we sprang to
our feet. The voice had again spoken.
This time it had proceeded, not from
fsome indefinite point in the atmosphere,
but from beneath the sheet enveIoping
the corpse"
"Help!" it cried, in faint, but dis
tinct accents; for Christ's sake,
help!" "
"For al instant we hesitated-and
who would not ?-then fastened to the
body and removed the covering.