Richland beacon., 1880-08-07

tHo"Su certainty NeI! pccuilu, TOOK III
all at first as part of the programme,
and troubled myself no more about it
than SO far as to hastily unlock the door,
thinking, "There is no telling how long
shall sleep, and if 1 don't open the
door III the morning they will be fright
ened to DEATH"
By this timethe crawling feeling had
mounted to the back of my neck. /
could trace it as it moved; my limbs
were beginning to refuse to serve me; 1
was obliged to totter to the bed without
putting out my light, for, though not
tie least sleepy, 1 should have fallen
had not helped myself by chairs and
table. There 1 lay, eyes wide open,
senses all alive, quite out of pain,
but no idea Of going to sleep. When
the crawling thing, whatever it was,
reached the back Of my head, it seemed
to give slight blow to that part, and
Immediately l lost all power over my
limbs. Still l retained perfect con
seriousness. heard the movements go
lug on in different parts of the house
] SAW the moon rise and peel in at one
of the windows, and l remembered a
slight feeling of annoyance that, about
midnight, the light would come in
through another window, the curtain of
which had neglected to pull down. ii
| | had seen burglars breaking into thu
room, could not have moved orspoken.
| was not troubled about this, however
nor much about anything else on earth
| watched my symptoms with care and
interest, and felt certain was gong to
sleep, though what was coming next |
could not even guess. The only feel
ing of concern about anything that |
remember was thought that rose III
my mind like this
"What horrible fuss Ellie will make
when she finds me in this state"
Even this did not trouble me much.
for it really did not seem to be any bus
mess of mine. BY degrees, but SO slow
ly as to be hardly noticeable, lost all
consciousness of my extremities. At
first, though could not control them,
l was quite aware that had hands and
feet now l seemed to lose them, to 90
from them, as from sensible contact
with a foreign body, more into myself
This peculiar loss of consciousness ex-
tended very gradually up my limbs
Still l had my senses; my eyes WEI,
open, I could see everything around
me, L could hear as well as ever, and my
mind was clear and perfectly tranquil.
l was neither frightened, nor agitated,
nor anxious, nor, / must confess, WAS
impressed with any peculiar solemnity
attaching to the occasion. Perhaps this
Was owing to my hab.tual matter-of-fact
disposition. / seemed to myself inst as
complete without my arms and legs as
when l had them.
Little by little I lost my body. and
with equal indifference. Whether nv
heart ceased to beat and my lungs TIC
breathe at this time l cannot tell Won.
tor had no means of knowing; but, if
they did, 1 did not seem to miss them.
Soon was gone up to my neck. Then.
and not till then, my senses began to
grow dim. First, my sight, not as by
the closing of my eyes, but objects dis
appeared, leaving only the impression of
light upon the eye; then that, too,
faded, and finally no consciousness of
the organ remained. My hearing was
still with me, or 1 with it, whichever
You prefer to say. Soon it, too, left me.
Head, face, body, senses, all seemed
gone-everything except feeling of
weight in my tongue and round spot
IN the back of my head, where 1 had
previously felt the blow. Then nv
tongue went, and the round spot was all
that was left; yet this seemed Just as
absolutely and completely me as ever my
body had been.
This state continued apparently long
while, during which I remember won
dering what DIR. s. would say when he
saw me, hoping he would not meet with
any annoyance about his share of the
As to anxiety about world
ly or other affairs, fear for the future,
memory instantaneously flashing before
me the events of my whole life down to
the minutest particulars-as we are told
1t sometimes does-I had no such expert. !
ence, and admit cannot now contem-
plate the state was in with anything I
IKE the composure felt at the time,
though distinctly thought to myself
% This is certainly the last :" vet il WAS