The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-08-14

were Will me, ana the same SHADOWS
me; for as slept i dreamed.
| appeared to be on the top of high
on the borders of a vast plain.
Upon this plain there appeared to be
large cities, towns, and villages, and af-
ter looking awhile and wondering where
l was, and WHY was there, saw what
had before escaped my notice, 30 very
indistinct was it at first-a large, broad
road. 1t was at first hardly discernible,
until pointed out to me by one whom /
now saw for the first time standing by
my side, and who announced himself as
my guide.
The more looked, the palmer and
the broader it appeared to grow. 1t was
very long, reaching out from the farther
extremity of the plain, and it had many
branches; and, as it grew upon my sight,
it gradually took the form ola vast river,
winding and twisting in among the cities,
towns and villages, that by reason of its
crookedness and its branches, every city,
town and hamlet was in connection with
it. And the more / looked and gazed
upon it, the palmer and the more dist
met it grew; and what at first was an
empty, barren road, was now q mighty
rushing river, shallow upon its edges,
as continued to look, following the
long finger of my guide, as he pointed
first one way and then the other, / saw
it to be filed with a Keeling, struggling
surging mass of humanity. / could not
at first guess their object or why they
were there, for the stream, especially in
the centre, was very dark, with black,
dirty, sticky and offensive mud.
AS / continued to follow with my eyes
the finger of my guide as it pointed here
and there, / finally looked towards the
end. And l saw there a great and
mighty precipice, over which the river
was rushing with tremendous power;
and from the deep abyss on to which II
flowed there arose cries and groanings
which grew in volume, and were so in.
tensified that could hardly hear the
voice of my guide as he told me of the
vision.
The main river appeared to be be.
meath the level of the plain, while the
smaller streams flowing into it where
apparently even with its surface; and
they appeared at first sight to be pure
clean and sweet. But l noticed thai
whenever any one stepped into one Of
the smaller streams, from the bubbles
that arose, that there was the same dirty
mud ut the bottom, of which the larger
stream was full and what appeared to
be very strange to me, all those in the
smaller streams and most of those in the
larger one did not know that there was
any river, and did not notice that they
were being carried along with almost
resistless force to a terrible end. ! saw
that those in the broad stream were
poorly dressed, while those in the
smaller ones were better clothed. In
deed their responsibility appeared tC
vary according to their distance from OF
nearness to the centre of the stream
those in the centre being covered with
dirt and rags, and were extremely loath.
some to look upon. And there were
some who appeared to have one foot in
the stream and one on the dry ground
and these, | saw. had more Of the filth
of the stream upon them than very
many who were in the stream, for by
the unevenness of their walk, by trying
to keep in and out of the stream at the
same time, they stirred up the mud OF
the stream more than those who were
directly in it. And they were the cause
of its frequent overflow, 80 that many
others were spattered by the dirty water
by their frequent slipping on its edge
And l also saw that any one once get.
ting any of the mud upon him was al.
most sure to be drawn into the centre oil
the stream, slowly at first and almost i'm.
perceptibly, but faster and faster, the
deeper the water grew, until he joined
the noisy, fighting central crowd, whose
end was sure destruction.
And as l looked and wondered, / saw
another class of persons, who were walk.
ing close to the stream, and some ap-
peared to be within it, but the waters
did not wet them or its mud soil them
Watching them closely saw they were
trying to prevail upon the infatuated
ones to leave the filthy waters, and,
washing themselves in stream clear az
crystal, which now saw was running
along near the borders of the muddy
one. And in very few cases they were
successful, for as l said before those in
the dirty waters did not appear to see
the mud, and so did not know they were
covered with its filth. And my guide
now pointed out to me O road which l
followed with my eye until it ended in
a beautiful garden, from which came
most delicious music, and where were
most beautiful flowers, and where many
were walking dressed in white clothing,
and who appeared to be very happy.
But saw the road leading to the garden
was rough, and that those who had left
the muddy stream to walk in it frequent
ly slipped, when they Immediately went
back into the dirty water, and 1 could
not solve this mystery. "Why," said /
to my guide, "cannot those who once
leave the stream, keep out of it? Why
do they slip in this road? see nothing
slippery there. And why does not the
King of the beautiful gardens keep
everything out of His road which would
make them Slip" for the guide had told
me there was King of the gardens to
whom the narrow road belonged, and
that the muddy stream belonged to the
king of the bottomless pit, into which
the stream was ever flowing with its
flood of suffering and woe.
He did not answer me in words, but
the longer looked, the palmer every
thing appeared TO me; and ] now saw
the cause of the stronghold which the
king of the pit had upon all those who
voluntarily became his subjects by walk
ing in the river, for they were drinking
of It's waters. | was fairly sickened at
first, as / saw them drinking the muddy,
filthy stuff; and my guide told me that
in the smaller streams the water, which
by my position showed to me its true
character, to them it appeared clear and
sweet, and the mud / saw was subtle
and powerful poison, invisible, as | said
before, to them; and that, having once
drank of 1t, they had thirst for more,
and the more they drank, the stronger
became their appetite, until at last the
mud became SO thick that even they
could see it. And yet their appetite had
become strong, through the effects of the
subtle poison, that though they could
see the mud and smell the noxious scent
arising from it, and though now in plain
sight of the awful gulf covered toward
which they were Fastening, they con-
tinued to drink, attempting, as they said
to drown their misery IN the waters.
And now | saw an innumerable crowd
of women and children on the borders
of the stream. They were hungry, dirty
and ragged, and they were reckoning,
calling, and entreating their husbands
and fathers to come out Ca tie stream
and get them clothes and food. The
men turned and saw them, but answer
ed with curses and blows, turning again
to their filthy drink and as | looked
I saw some whose faces were full of
agony, for they saw their danger, and
wanted to leave, and could not, and
turned to my guide and asked him why
they so often failed in their endeavors
to escape. His only reply was, "LookP'
and, following his finger as he pointed
up and down the whole length of the
broad road and stream, began to distin-
guish the faces of the persons there, and
many things which had escaped my no.
tice.
saw some of my boyhood friends,
with whom l had spent many happy