Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-01-20

where | knew it lay, and my distorted
imagination saw that ifeless hand ever
and anon clutching the air. Once
thought heard n groan, and then |
fancied the body had moved little.
After awhile the room seemed filed
with dark figures, that fitted back and
forth between me and the body
Hours must have passed, when |
noticed the room growing lighter and
lighter, and finally a moonbeam cast Il
bright shadow through one of the
front windows. For moment | was
encouraged, until l saw the light creep
ing toward the CHASTITY corpse. krew
what the full light would unfold to me,
and | watched the crawling moon
beams with the intensest agony.
suddenly, after half an hour of
waiting, flood of light filled the room
1t must have been five inmates before
| could look in the direction of the
corpse. There ii lay, with its bare
arms folded solcmnlv across its breast,
It's lage, hollow eyes staring directly
upon me, its teeth firm set in the
agonies Of death, and its boodless
hands grasping eael other tightly.
The moon fell full upon the CHASTITY
face and piteously reflected every
mark Of death. The shadows seemed
returning to my room, but now they
were ministers of light They were
hollow skeletons, wrapped in a flap
ping shroud, and they danced in hide
Gus glee about me. | had taken the
precaution to place my chair firmly
against the wall, and knew that
these grining skulls could take no adj
vantage of me from behind, but their
very presence was enough TO stop the
blood from flowing in my veins and to
throw out upon my body a cold, clammy
perspiration. The very atmosphere
breathed was an eXhalation from the
grave.
'How slowly the hours passed ON. !
lived twenty yeas in that one short
night. Finally, it grow darker, and
then the first faint Streaks CT day-dawn
came into the room. With the reali-
ties of daylight my courage returned
and crossed the room, and hestowing
a vigorous kick upon the innocent
corpse, clambered into bed, where |
covered my head and ears and drop
ped instantly to sleep from sheer ex-
hausuOu."
When awoke the sun was high in
the heavens. and my room filled with
students.
" Hello, Dardenne,' said one; i call
this the greatest instance of personal
bravery on record. The young man
who will voluntarily stay all night with
a corpse
Voluntarily ! said, with astonsh-
ment. That door was certainly lock-
ed.
"'Yes, he replied, but it was simply
bolted on the inside, and you could
have unattached it,
"Then, said |, 4 am the greatest
coward on record, for | was too badly
frightened to remember the latch
"'No, said another student, i still
think it an example of bravery for a
young man to lift n corpse from his
own bed and place it on the floor beside
him, and then lie down to pleasant
dreams without murmur.
"What, | cried; that corpse was
never in my bed. ] found it under
the bed,
"The students looked ut each other
with deepening astonlshment Then
they told their story. They had placed
the corpse in my bed intending mere
ly to frighten me from the room. They
had securely fastened the door, so that
only my night-key could open it, and
no one carried its duplicate.
"And from that day to this it has
been a mystery how the corpse seized
my hand and held it. But tie great
mystery was and is. how that corpse
first got out and then under the bed.
1t is still the mystery of the charity
hospital,