The Penn's Grove record., 1884-08-23
-
SHOT IN THE HEART.

Formerly, when people asked me If
believed in ghosts, / answered mol"
emphatically. Now, when Intercepted
on the subject, L answer that L do not
know what l do believe.
You will infer from this that my
belief in apparitions has been shaken
Your inference will not be a wrong
one.
Let mt tell you my story, and you
can see what cause ! have to doubt the
correctness of my first belief on the
subject.
John Haynes and myself were friends
together at college. We used to be
called ''the inseparables," with some
justice, | admit, for we were always to-
gether, and our studies were the same
We had taken a great liking to each
other from the earliest moment of our
acquaintance. We were nearly of the
same age, and our tastes and habits
were very similar. 1t is not to be o
dered at, then, that we were staunch
friends.
We had no secrets from each other.
What / knew John knew; and l shared
his confidence in the same way. Some
times, when alone in Jul room, we used
to get into conversation on such strange
and mysterious subjects as mesmerism,
~clairyoyance and the like; and l knew
from Johns manner that these subtle,
weird, unexplalnable mysteries had a
strange fascination and charm for him.
He was not a believer in them, and yet
there was something about them that
haunted him strangely.
All of ushave experienced this feeling,
! presume, when thinking about some
thing whose mystery was past our com-
prehension.
1t would keep intruding itself upon
our thoughts, and yet battle us COM
pletely If we tried to solve its secrets.
1t was so with john.
One evening we were sitting together
alone. We had been talking on these
things, and from them we had got to
talking of ghosts.
1 declared my unbelief in strong and
positive terms,
''There are no ghosts" l said. No
person ever saw one except in magma
tion."
"Do you think so?n John said, look
ing into the fire t~houghtfully.
"Yes. honestly think that ghosts
are apparitions of the imagination.
Strong-minded people never see them, :"
l answered.
81 am not so sure of that" he re-
piled. "Truth to tell, Ned, do believe
there are ghosts, spirits, or whatever
you Please to call them"
What re your eason for this
beliefpn / asked.
II have o reason for my belief
he answered. "But that the spirits Of
the dead can visit the earth, l believe
IS much as l believe in my existence.
1 may be wrong, but ! think not"
'.I'Il tell you what" l said, laughing
at his serious face; eff l die before you
do, III appear to you, if such a thing
Is possible; and If you die first, why,
you do the same thing with me. What
do you say, joint"
81 will agree to your proposition, :" he
answered, seriously. L will come to you
when l die, wherever you may be,
should l chance to die first"
Our college life ended at length, after
we had begun to think it Was gong to
last forever. And then John and |
took different paths, and went out into
the world. He went to Canada, having
an uncle there, and l went to London
to enter myself at the Temple and study
for the bar.
The years went by. l heard from
him very often. He wrote that he was
doing well. AT first he had been junior
oarknar with hia unela who was a