Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-08-07


was soon lost IN the peculiar develop
ments my eye discovered each moments
when again was annoyed by a distinct
sound from TIE corner.
balancing in that direction, it must be
confessed, I was not little surprised 10
see one of the skulls moving slowly to-
ward me along the tagging of the floor
I rubbed my eyes and looked again
There it Was-the heshless sockets OF the
eyes gazing at me, the uneven, jagged
teeth giving a CHASTITY grin to the mouth.
"Its a little difficult for me to tell eX-
actly what We're my feelings. That they
were peculiar frankly admit L fell TO
studying about the cause of this motion
on the part of the skull, and examined
closely to see whether or not there was a
string attached and a student playing
one of his pranks.
"But no. In the night could plainly
discern that there was nothing attached
to this relic Of humanity. Then why
did it move?
"Stiu engrossed in my endeavors to
solve this mystery I did not take my
eyes off the skull.
Slowly, stealthily and steadily it came
on directly towards where L was sitting
on high stool. The motion produced
a dull, grating sound, as some sharp pro-
tuberances of bone scratched on the mar
BILE slab.
after it had advanced about three
feet it stopped.
81 laid down my pipe, still keeping
my eye on the unpleasant object, and
tried to laugh away the morbid senti-
ment that had now begun to rise within
me. I whispered to myself how much
1 would have rallied at any brother ply
stefan should he have told me of having
experienced the slightest feelings of ner-
vousness under similar circumstances.
Even the students would have retalled
the affair as an indication Of my ettem-
macy had they known it. Surely there
were mechanical causes to produce these
results. l knew that the unsubstantial
could not give motion to the substantial
My Natural Philosophy told me there
must be a force at work to impel that
grim fragment of human frame toward
me. Yet what force was it?
II determined not to leave my seat to
attempt a close inspection, fearing to be
reward ed by the laughter Of those who
were endeaVOring to astonish me.
"Ihe dreary monotone Of the rain and
the unearthly sObbing Ofthe wind turned
my reflections to a more sOmbre color,
and some things came back to me 1 had
read in Robert Dale Ovens Footprints
on the Boundaries Of Another World
curious Kings, authenticated by attida-
Wits and all the sOlemnity of Oaths Of re-
markable revisitants from the grave.
While dwelling on these subjects l re-
called the many conversations 1 had had
with my patient, now dead and buried
some three weeks, Sailor John, and his
persistent assertions of the POSSIBLE
ties of the intellectual spirit returning to
this world of the flesh.
"There! The skull moved again. On
it came, still sliding along in q direct line
toward me.
"Do what I would could not shake
off a feeling of uneasiness and disquiet.
1 did not like the situatiOn-that about
expresses it.
"'E-e-e-eke,' grated the skulls
bOny points on the floor, the sound ting
ling my nerves as when one scratches
the fnger-nan on brick or rough surface.
MY pulse grew more frequent. I ex-
perienced a chilly sensation down my
back, and a cold perspiratiOn dampened
my forehead.
'Around me the corpses lay, the gas
light making them saffron yellow.
"They at least did not move.
81 could stand this strain no longer.
1t was unbearable. I was becoming the
victim of weakness for which I would
have reprimanded a child. / felt pale,
if that is possible, for it seemed as if all
Ny blood had rushed to my heart.
With bound l sprang toward the
skull, and STOPPING, grasped it with my
two hands. lifted it from the floor.
"Out jumped large ratand ran scamp
ering away. cannot describe my feel
ings when 1 saw the cause Of all. my dis
cOmfture. At first I laughed, and then
became angry with myself for, even for q
moment, allowing such an incident to
disturb my equilibrium.
Examining the skull, I saw how it
had occurred. The rat had entered the
cavity in which the brain had been
through the fOramen magnum or aper-
ture through which the nerve matter Of
the spinal column communicates with
the brain. The skull turned over. i'm
prisoning the body of the creature, and
permitted the use of his feet only through
this fOramen. He could move the skull,
but while 1t was on the floor he could
not get his body out.
Pasted across the whitened brow was
piece Of paper, and on it a students
name-'HenTy J. Stubbs'-and below:
Skull of Sailor John, King of one of
the POlynesian Islands, died May u,
1869. Charity Hospital
I'm ava instant 1 remembered the day
of the4hOnth. twas June 80, the night
Of Johns birthday. His promise came
back to me. He had said that he would
make himself known to me on that
night.
Il regretted the intervention of the
rat. Had that animal never been discov-
cred by me there would have been an
excellent foundation for ghost story, on
which I could have made my affidavit,
and thus swelled the number of anthem
ticated cases of remarkable spiritual
manifestations. But the rat spoiled it
all.
Gwen with the full explanation of the
skulls movements the nervous feeling
did not pass of for some time, and even
now when June so comes around I think
of Sailor John and his promise, which,
however, he has never fulfilled"