The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1882-1884, 1882-08-31

the idea of death, but did not feel
the cold, except in the region of m y
spine. My supposed dead body was
covered with sheet and placed in
the middle of the bed. My brother
then locked up the house and went
out. Now. what happened almost
immediately afterward is so verv
strange and incredible that [ must
ask you to believe it simply on my
word alone, because I would not in
suit your intelligence by such a
stupendous statement unless it were
true. 1 lay there thinking of the
awful agony [ would endure should
they bury me alive. I seemed to
live lifetime, and the mental tor.
ture was the most terrible you can
imagine. My brother had been
gone about ten minutes, 1 should
Judge, when suddenly 1 felt new
sensation. My back seemed as
though it was being pricked by
hundreds Of needles, and l felt a
warmth creeping down my backbone.
This warmth exte nbed gradually
to other parts of the body, and in
voluntarily gave great sigh. That
simple action brought the suspended
functions of life, and the next in
slant [ had thrown the sheet off and
was ON my feet. l was still weak,
and sat down in a chair to think.
Then l knelt down and offered up
prayer Of thankfulness. These feel
lngs were now succeeded by the
jolliest humor imaginable. felt so
good that l could scarcely restrain
myself from opening the window and
shouting for joy. but I restrained
myself, and sat still. Then it oc.
Cured to me that it would be
harmless joke to surprise my BROTH
er, the doctor, and the world in gen.
eral by suddenly rising out of the
coffin. if | could maintain my equan-
unity long enough for them to put
me in it. The more thought of the
scheme the more l liked it, and
actually laughed aloud as imagined
the horror-stricken countenances at
seeing dead man rise up and speak.
My brother might return at any mo.
ment, so to carry out the plan sue.
cesscully, lay down again and had
the sheet ready to draw over my
face the moment I heard him come
in. | suppose 1 remained in that
position for twenty minutes or more,
when the front door opened and shut
and l heard footsteps ascending the
stairs. l waited until he had nearly
reached the top and then attempted
to draw up the sheet, which covered
me to the waist. Great heavens! /
could not move a finger. Like flash
that same old chilly feeling came
upon me, and I was, to all intents
and purposes, a dead man again.
My gasthly joke nearly resulted in a
horrible fate. My brother. the mo.
ment he entered the room, went to
a closet and took out Bible.
When he sees the. dissarranged
Sheet I thought, she will suspect
something, and take means to
awaken me- but he didn't seem to
notice anything, but covered my
face again, and then, sitting down,
began to read. If the agony before
my revival was horrible, this was
superlative. My brain seemed on
fire from the intensity Of thinking.
At o'clock in the afternoon the
door-beA rang, and my brother ans
wered it. My horror was complete
when 7 heard my brother say: 4
want tie funeral to take place in the
morning, so it will not be necessary
to put him in ice, although the
!. weather is warm. Just be kind enough
to have everything arranged tonight
Then he went down stairs, and the uni-
: dertaker brought up plain walnut
coffin. was washed, dressed and pla.
ced in the coffin without being able
to even twitch an eyebrow in pro.
test. shall never forget that night.
}, 1t was an eternity. heard the state
house clock strike the midnight hour
and all the weird stories about ghost
and the dead chased through my al
most frantic brain. It would fill a
volume to tell how l suffered. On the
following morning at O'Clock my
brother and few friends were assem-
bled in the front down stairs ROOM
was in the coffin up stairs, when
: again did that feeling come over
me as on the day before. Again
1 sighed and come back again to
life, just as my brother entered the
room. He seemed to take in the
situation at glance, and closing
the door after him, locked it. OF
course he embraced me, and then,'
in his eccentric way, went out and
told nv half dozen shoemaker friends
that there would be no funeral, that
I was not dead, and that he had sum-
moned them to test their friendship.
Knowing his oddities the men be-
lieved him and went away. The un-
dertaker was sent for and the doctor.
While they were not pledged to Sc,
crecy. it was generally Understood
that nothing was to be said for my
brothers sake. who detests publicity
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