The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-09-17

lad so unwisely thrown In his way? us
turned about half maddened.
Grill" he cried, II must see the old mani
Where is he"
HE couldn't see him, she whined. He
was asleep up there on tho table. At l
o'clock he had said he would wake up.
He pushed passed her, mounted to the
. long room, pressed open the unfastened
door, and entered.
The old man and the corpse of his former
self lay together under tho light of lamp
that swung from the beam overhead An
insulated carbon point was directed to each
white, still breast. From the old mans
hand cord to a key beyond, arranged
to make or break connection at a touch. By
it stood a clock, with simple mechanism
attached, that bore upon a key like the first,
evidently planned to press upon it when the
hands should mark given hour The child
had said that he would wake at !, and it
was now past midnight.
Ronald Wyde compre hendei it all now.
The willy old mans feeble life had been
withdrawn into the greater magnet, AID
mixed therein with what remained OF his
OWL In less than an hour the key would
fall and the double stream would flow into
and animate his young body, which would
then wake to renewed life; while the cast
off-shell beside it, worn to utter IL elessness
by toilsome century, would be left to
molder as a mOthed garment.
Surely no time was to be lost; his life de-
pended upon instant action. AMI yet COM
pretending this, he went to work slowly,
and II somnambuli5 st might, acting almost
by instinct, and well knowing that blum
der now meant ire vocable death.
Carefully Iii -engaging the cord from the
old mans yet warm grasp. and setting the
| carbon point aside, he littsl the shriveled
| corpse and bore it away, to cast it on the
| white rubbish-heap i'll one corner. Return
| ing to his work, h3 stripped himself and lay
| down in the oil | mans place. As he did 50
| the distant minister belis rang the three
| quarters.
Was there yet times
| He braced his shoulders firmly against
the brass plate under him, and moved
the carbon point steadily back to its
place, with its tip resting ON his breast
the sill, wrapped wire that dangeI between
it and the magnet quivering as he did So,
as with conscious life. Drawing a long
breath, he frightened the cord, and heard "a
faint click tine key snapped down.
The Same sharp sting as before instantly
| pricked his breast tingling thrills pulsed
| over him. beats of light and shadow swept
| before his eyes, and he lost all CONSCIOUSNESS IS.
| For how long he knew not At last he felt,
| rather than saw, the lamp-rays fiickering
| above him, and opened his eyes though
waking from a tirel sleep Sitting up, he
| ing what he might see. The drunkarfs
| body lay stretched and motionless beside
| him, and the clock marked = He was
| saved!
| Slipping down from his perilous bed, he
resumed his old familiar garments that be
| lonced to him as Ronald Wyde,
shudiering with emotion he
did so. Only pausing to give
one look at the pale heap in the shadOwy
| corner, and at the other sleeper under the
| now d ing lamp, he quilted the room, and
| locked its hoavy door upon the two silent
| guardians of its Gfe.secrets. When he
reached tho street, he found the rain had
ceased to drop, and that tho cold stars
| blinked over the slumberOuS town.
| Before noon he had taken leave of Frau
| Spritzkrapfen turned buxom LOttchen scar
let by hearty, sudden, terewell kiss, and
was on his way from Frelberg, with its red
| vined balcony and its dark laboratory,
never again to visit it or them. And the
| busy engine toiied AMI shreked, and with
| each beat of its mighty steann-heart carried
| him farther away, his thoughts flew back
| and clustered around the witiesS. brown
eyed birding. Poor child, he never learned
her fate.
|
l heard this strange story from its
| hero sunny summer morning as
| we swept over the meadowy reaches OF
| Iue Erie railway or hung along ltlt cIlu-
side by the wooded winnings OF the Su>que-
hanna. When he had on lei it lie smiled
| languidly, aud, showing me his still mu-
tlated hand, said that 'ne cd doctor job
had been n sad bunglo after all Ia fact,
| the only physical proof that r9Hla.,trI to
| verify his story "a vel II "a spot
| where the ingOing current of IN ,yuet
| had carried particles from the carte point
| and lodged them beneath the SKIN isy-
| chologically, he sadly niXs! Up he
| said; for since that time h, had tel that
| four lives wero joined i'll him-his own, the
| remnant of Herr Lebonsfunke'5 n:-erable
| hoard merged i'll that of poor Giril,ng's
} mother and last of al Hans kraut
| He left the soon afterwarI ut Bing-
| hamton, watchfuily followed By stout,
| shabby man with Il three day. growth
of beard Stumbling ais chin, who had occu-
| pied the seat in front Of a. and had turned
| now and then to listen for a moment TO
| Ronald's rapid narration.
| y week later, and | heard that he was
| dead-having committed suicide ill n lit
| OF delirium soon after his admission to
| the Binghampton Inebrate asylum. The
attendant who made him ready for burial
noticed a singular blue mark his left
breast, that looked, he said. little like a
| horseshoe magnet