Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-09

| TO its earthly tenement suddenly
he stretched out his long thin arms as
one awaking from sleep, and, rub
bing his eyes, stood up from his
chair and gazed about him as though he
hardly realized where he was. "Tau-
send Teufelslr he exclaimed, rapping
out a tremendous South German oath,
TO the great establishment Of his audi
ence and 10 the disgust Of the Sweden
borgian. "Where the Henker am j,
then, and what in thunder has occurreds
Oh, yes, / remember now. One Of
these nonsenSical mesmeric experiments.
There is no result this time, for i
remember nothing at all since be-
] came unconscious so you have had all
your long journeys for nothing, my
learned friends, and very good joke,
too 1; at which the Regius professor OF
physiology burst into roar Of laugh
ter and slapped his thigh in highly in
decorous fashion. The audience were
50 engaged at this unseemly behavior on
| the part Of their host that there might
have been a considerable disturbance
had ii not been for the iudicious inter-
ference Of young Fritz ven Hart
mann. who had now recovered from
his lethargy. Stepping to the front
Of the platform the young man apollo
gized for the conduct Of his companion.
- am sorry to say" he said, that
he is a harum-scarum sort Of fellow,
although he appeared so grave at the
commencement Of this experiment. He
is still suffering from mesmeric re-
action, and is hardly accountable for
his words. As to the experiment
itself, do not consider it to be fail
ure. 1t is very possible that our
spirits may have been commu-
ming in space during this hour
but, unfortunately, our gross bodily
memory is distinct from our spirit,
and we cannot recall what has oc-
CURED. My energies shall now be
devoted to deyising some means by
which spirits may be able to recollect
what occurs to them in their free state,
and trust that when have worked
this out | may have the pleasure Of
meeting you all once again in this hall,
and demonstrating to you the result"
This address, coming from so
young student, caused conside-
rable establishment among the
audience, and some were inclined to be
offended, thinking that he assumed
rather too much importance. The ma
jority, however, looked upon him as a
young man Of great promise. and many
comparisons were made as they left the
ball between his dignifed conduct and
the leyity of his professor, who, during
the above remarks, was laughing hearth
ly in the corner, by no means abashed
at the failure Of the experiment.
Now, although all these learned men
were fling out of the lecture-room un-
der the impression that they had seen
nothing of note. as a matter Of fact
one Of the most wonderful things in
the whole history Of the world
had just occurred before their
very eyes. Professor Won Baum
garten had been so far correct in his
theory that both his spirit and that
of his pupil had been for a time
absent from his body. But here a
strange and unforeseen complication had
occurred. In their return the spirit of
Fritz yon Hartmann had entered into
the body Of Alexis Won Baumgarten,
and that Of Alexis Won Baumgarten
had taken up its abode in the frame Of
Fritz Won Hartmann. Hence the slang
and scurrility which issued from the
lips Of the serious Professor. and hence
also the weighty words and grave state
ments which fell from the careless stu
dent. 1t was an unprecedented event,
yet no one knew Of it, least Of all those
whom ii concerned.
The body Of the Professor, feeling
COZ scious suddenly Of a great dryness
al. at the back OF the throat. sailed
OF into the street, still chuckling to
hi. self over the result OF the expert
m,at, for the soul Of Fritz within was
re, lless at the thought Of the bride
whom he had won so easily. His first
impulse was to 90 up to the house and
see her, but on second thoughts he came
TO the conclusion it would be best to
stay away until Madame Baumgarten
should be informed by her husband Of
the agreement which had been made.
lie therefore made his way down to the
Grun9r Mann, which was one Of the
iavorite trysting places Of the wilder
students, and ran boisterously. waving
his cane in the air, into the little par
lor where sat Spiegler and Muller and
a half dozen other boon companions.
:" Ha, ha my boys" he shouted.
81 knew l should find you here. Drink
up, every one of you, and call for what
you like, for I'm going to stand treat
to-day"
Had the green man who is depicted
upon the sign-post Of that well-known
inn suddenly marched into the room
and called for a bottle Of wine the stu
dents could not have been more amazed
than they were by this unexpected
entry of their revered professor. They
were so astonish0d that for a minute or
two they glared at him in utter Devil
dernent without being able to make
any reply to his hearty invitation.
bonner and bitten " shouted the
Professor angrily. "What the deuce
is the matter with you then: You sit
there like set Of stuck pigs staring at
me. What is it, then: "
1T is the unexpected honor" STAN
mered Spiegel, who was in the chair.
A" Honor-rubbish :" said the Pro-
fessor testify. "Do you think that
just because | happen to have been eI-
hibiting mesmerism 20 parcel Of old
fossils am therefore too proud to asso-
ciate with dear old friends like you?
Come out Of that chair, Spiegel, my
boy, for | shall preside now. Beer,
or wine, or schnapps, my .ds-call for
what you like and put it all down to
me-"
Never was there such an afternoon
in the Gruner Mann. The foaming
fagons Of lager and the green-necked
bottles Of Rhenish circulated merrily.
BY degrees the students lost their shy
ness in the presence Of their professor.