Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1883-03-08
Written for the Herald
THE VOICE.
BY EDWARD F. CROSBY.

am on my death bed; will relate truth
fully, without Withholding single detail, how
it happened.
1t was the face that was the cause Of it all
That gibbering, leering face, forever at my side
close to my own. Now whispering, "Strike
Hit home! None will be the wiser" And
now reproaching me for my cowardice, wher
at the last moment my hand and courage failec
me.
The doctor tells me cannot live through the
night. Thank God for that boon! Perhaps
however, the face will pursue me after death
Perhaps, oh, horror, that will be my condem
nation to live an eternal life, an eternal agony
with the face ever near mine-ever to heal
those hateful whisperings!
But while have yet strength, must tell the
story.
When was young boy none had bette,
prospects than myself. An indulgent father;
plenty of money; good looks. Vanity will not
be attributed to me noa0, with the grave already
yawning for me- l was fond of reading, and
also of sports of every description. So my life
went on. In my vacations 1 would ramble
through the woods with dog and gun, or take
long and solitary rides. I was familiar with
the country for miles and miles around my
fathers place. By familiar with it, do not
mean that I had merely ridden or driven
through it, but that l kaze70 it-knew every foot
of it-every tree and bush.
Neighbors we had none. A few Of the coun-
try families lived within FIVE or six miles of US,
but l rather Stunned than sought them. Day
by day, and year by year my abstraction grew
upon me. 1t rather pleased than disturbed my
father But l must describe him. A tall,
spare man; his figure slightly bent from over
study and constant application in his laboratory;
gray hair and a pair of keen, piercing blue
eyes. Such was my father in appearance. In
character he was relic of the past-he was a
bit of the fourteenth century brought intact into
the nineteenth. When quite young he had
imbibed taste for chemistry. In time this be-
came passion.
By chemistry l would seem to mean the mod
ern science. Alas! my fathers chemistry was
but "alchemy" He had become seized with
the desire to find the Philosophers Stone, the
Elixir of Life, and others of those tabled
possibilities that have ruined SO many in mind,
body and purse in the past. The growth of
the disease, for such it was, was gradual.
AT first did not notice it. Absent at school,
| but remarked on my return for the holidays
that my fathers figure was sparer and more
bent than it had been. That he shut himself
up in his laboratory more than was his wont
formerly.
When was sixteen years old, and had fin
ished my course at school, my father called me
into his room, and shutting the door said he
had something of great importance to commu-
nicate to me. He then told me that he wished
me to Join with him in his endeavors-to assist
him in his laboratory. Without mentioning the
nature of his experiments, he spoke vaguely of
the great results he expected to attain, and
shortly. He dwelt on the glory and honor that
his stopped form became erect; he seemed as
one inspired.
Little wonder was it that l, "a young boy,
hitherto looking upon my father as one far
above me, as one to be held in awe, and re-
garded from a distance-little wonder was it
that was fattered at being a co-worker with
him in his researches, and dazzled at the pros
pect of being sharer in the alluring prospect
of glory and wealth that he held out to me.
His first step on receiving my unqualified
promise of devotion to his interest and this
work, was to gradually prepare my mind. He
prescribed a course of reading for me, which I
eagerly undertook Paracelsus, Albertus, Mag
nus and other books that described in glowing
terms the mysteries and wonders of alchemy,
were given to me in turn as my father consid-
cred my mind prepared to receive them.
Gradually became imbued with their spirit.
Taking up the study through the allurements
held out, and the magnetic influence of my
father, pursued it for its own sake. My horse
and gun were allowed to remain untouched.
My days were spent in poring over musty tolios,
written in grabbed Greek and Latin characters,
and my nights in the laboratory. Now meas
uring out an infntisimal portion of some curl
GUS acid, evolved with difficulty from others,
and unknown to the present century; now max
ing the room glow with sulPhurious light, as l
heated the furnace hotter than the fiery furnace
of Scripture. 1e.aa -e-
Little wonder was it that the country people
around began to avoid the house; that they
whispered with bated breath that father and !
had made compact with the Evil One.
My eye lost its lustre. Like my fathers my
figure became stopped; bodily pains became
more frequent. But what Of thema Were I'VE
not nearing the end of our laborse Had we
not faithfully followed out the various plansiand
recipes laid down in the books Nay, more,
had we not filed in the many blank spaces,