Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-02-08

the Sickness broug MT on by anxiety about
my condition, the frances seemed to dis
appear. When slept was refreshed,
and awoke at once to full vigor, and
not, as formerly, by slow degrees. to
wretched helplessness and immobility.
l think should have escaped the brain
fever had it not been for the doctor He
told me that the epilepsy was only mus
tering its forces for an attack more
vigorous than any had yet expert
| enced-as a storm sometimes lulls be-
fore it sweeps everything before it. He
frightened me terribly, and my brain
gave way.
"The brain fever was conquered, but
l was very weak-so weak that l did
not rally. The doctor, always cheerful,
said L never would. 1 lay for days
neither asleep nor awake, but not in a
trance, for I could move and speak
feebly. 'She may 60 out like the snuff
of a candle at any minute,' said the
doctor in my hearing, aud nearly veri-
fed his prediction by going out at once.
"One day-it was June 2, 1851
felt that l was really improving. Life
seemed to be coming back to me. The
doctor had not noticed it, but knew by
| the unwonted distinctness with which
| the rumble of the Greenpoint wagons
struck upon my ear that I was gather
ing new strength. AT last grew tired,
and, for the first time in several weeks,
slept soundly and healthily.
'tI awoke slowly, and with the rigor
of limb that l knew so well. An unut-
terable horror took possession of me as
felt that was in a trance and remem-
bered the good doctors capacity for
laundering. My fears were well
founded, for half an hour later, when
the nurse came to look at me, | heard
her utter quick exclamation of alarm,
and hurrying away, she called my
mother and sisters. The doctor was
summoned, and arrived when all my
relatives in the house were around my
bed. He felt my pulse, put his hand
upon my forehead, forced open one of
my eyes, and examined the pupil, little
thinking that saw him as plainly as he
saw me, and sorrowfully remarked:
81 feared it. She is going fast!'
"Oh, the misery of that day and the
night following! On the morning of
June 8 my body was cold and stiff,
and, while my mind was as active as
ever, knew that looked like a corpse.
My friends thought me dead, and when
the doctor came they stood aside, silent
and weeping, and made way for him to
approach the bed. He looked at me
steadily for few seconds, and then said
reverentially:
"'Yes, poor creature, she is gone,'
and he covered my face with the sheet.
"And this was the man who had first
told me that an epileptic fit might be so
prolonged as to be mistaken for death.
k1o4 -
lutely overpowered my fear. Other
the spot.
{" For more than two days I lay mo-
tionless on the bed. Tuberoses were
strewn over me. Friends came to see
me, and reminded each other of good
qualities in me that neither by myself or
others had ever before been suspected.
cept as a corpse; none noticed what
am sure must have been apparent, that
my face had not lost the color of life,
and on the night of June l lay beside
nv open collin! On the morning of the
9TH 1 was put into it, for was to be
buried that day.
81 had heard the inscription on the
plate read aloud, over and over again:
sClara Munce. Aged sixteen years.
Poor girl. So Young to be called away.
But she was always delicate!' Oh, why
could not speak? / could not even try
to speak or move. All volition seemed
to have died in me, and could only
pray silently that l might die, too, be-
fore the last rites were performed, but I
felt that there was little chance of that,
because was full of life.
1.-The undertaker's men were in the
room, waiting to fasten down the coffin
lid. Kisses 'innumerable had been
pressed upon my face, and 1 had given
up all hope of life, when an old lady,
worth all the rest of the visitors put to-
gether, elbowed the others out of the
way, and stood beside the coffin She
was nv Aunt Jane, and she had come
from Albany to see her favorite niece
for the last time. Her presence seemed
to calm me, for we loved each other so
well that could not think it possible
that she would allow me to be buried
alive. She was STOPPING to kiss me
when she suddenly started back with
the very simple and homely remark,
"sWhy, her nose is bleeding!'
'sIt was perfectly true, though up to
that time nobody had noticed it. My
mental agony had made nay nose bleed.
Snow, the doctor knew quite enough
about his business to be very much |
startled at seeing fresh blood flowing
from body that had been dead two |
DAYS. He examined my face and said |
hastily, as he for the first time noticed |
the color. take her back to bed
'sThe suddenness and immensely of
the relief restored all my faculties, and
as the men took me up l said, with |
hardly an effort, and in perfect natural
tones:
"'Thank you, doctor. How are you,
81 think L have told you nearly the
whole story. recovered very quickly,
and have never had a trance since. The |
doctor still practices medicine in Green.
point, and is considered one of its best
authorities on diseases of children, and
whenever he sees me he tells me conf
that from the first he had a
'latent suspicion that the vital spark
fingered somewhere but 1 do him the
Justice to discredit the statement N.