Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-03-12

down On the nOor and passed my
hand over the inanimate shape. It
was still warm, but / saw atonce that
life was extinct. As the freight shot
up into. q blaze noticed that the face
wore a purplish tinge, which as / gaz-
Led, turned to dull ashen hue. The
limbs had lost their elasticity; the
eyes were open, yet ] knew they were
sightless.
! While I looked the feeling of horror
that at first possessed me changed to
one Of sorrow. xs
81 do not care for myself" said
mournfully; "but Mary, my poor
Mary"
Mary was young and beautiful
girl to whom I had shortly hoped to
be married. .4t .%% - III.
"When she hears of this,"I said
aloud, "and knows that it was oc-
casioned by my own wicked careless
ness, she will suffer frightfully. Oh!
miserable wretch that I am. Twas
happier in life than now; far, far hap
pier. Shall my spirit ever know resi-
again?' =. ..>>
buried my face in my hands and
wept. Some OF my tears dropped up
on my dead body and the sight Of
them on that lifeless clay maddened
me. Filled with wild despair, I jumped
up, seized my hat, and, rushing out OF
my room, soon found myself in the
! street.
The night I knew was extremely
cold, but did not feel it. The clocks
in the neighborhood had just struck
! nd r. til t~> Wv s.,
the streets to be deserted. On the
contrary, they were filled with merry
parties returning from theatres and
other places OF amusement. Many
carriages rolled by, and in time I
caught glimpses Of lovely ball toilets,
the flash of diamonds, and the vivid
hues OF great bouquets of dollhouse
! flowers.
"And I am dead!" I said bitterly.
"a cold, unfeeling image among all
this life, and warmth, and beauty"
AS | passed the groups On the side
walk, l looked at them narrowly
to see if they observed anything un-
natural in my appearance, but they
did not appear to do SO. Once, how
ever, went up to a. shop window
where a gentleman with lady on his
arm was standing lost in admiration
OF some jewels displayed from within.
l stood beside the couple, gazing nom
chalantly at the glittering array be-
fore me, when suddenly the lady chung
tighter to her companions arm.
'Let us 60 on,'' she said, glancing
nervously in my direction. did you
not feel a. peculiar chill Just now? It
swept through me from head to foot"
The gentleman, to my relief, merely
made some Laughing reply and they
walked away together Isaw the lady
shiver as she passed.
! 'No wonder!" I thought She little
thought she was standing beside the
spirit of a. dead man."
INe idea amused me, and I too,
laughed aloud. l wandered about the
streets all night long, preparing myself
| for several things that I felt were in
cumbent upon me to perform. For
Mary's sake I wished to withhold as
long as possible from the world the
knowledge of my death, and in order
to do this it was necessary to take
special measures to that effect. I
must be buried, ofcourse, and whenev-
er this thought required to me I grew
colder, it seemed, and all utter hope
| lessness overcame me. Instinctively
knew that the moment my remains
| were consigned to the earth my spir-
| it was doomed to vanish from human
sight, never more to return: Icannot
| tell how this conviction was forced up
on me. It is sufficient to say that it
was there, and that it thrilled me with
| a terrifying awe such as is felt by
mind haunted by disturbed and re-
| lentless fantasies. On Mary's ac-
| count, therefore, I wished to delay
the burial for at least three days.
PART II.
When the morning was somewhat
advanced | went to an undertaker's
| establishment and made all the neces-
sary arrangements for my funeral,
saying the dead man was brother of
mine, put that owing to q morbid
shrinking from publicity in all affairs
| either of life or death, he had extract
ed q promise from me that would
| neither publish the fact OF his decease
III the papers nor acquaint any one
else with it, except, of course, those
who were obliged to know it.
II suppose" I added as carelessly as
| possible, "that you will want certif-
icate OF death from the poor fellows
physician. Youcangetit by applying
to DIR. Hendricks, No. - Madison
avenue"
This appeared satisfactory to the
undertaken, who promised to adhere
faithfully to my directions. Then re-
turned to what had once been nv
home, and on entering theroom found
my lifeless body lying just where 1had
left it on the previous evening. and
presenting much the same appearance,
except that the daylight gave it an
additional ghastliness. The under
taker came in soon afterward and
laid the corpse upon the bed, remark
ing that death must have been sud-
den, and that the deceased was enough
like me to be my twin.
Imade no reply to his remarks, be-
ing oppressed by the weird strange
ness OF assisting in laying out my own
body. While we were SO occupied I
heard the doctor step on the stairs,
and hastily telling the undertaken that
did not feel equal to meeting any,
one just then, slipped into a closet.
leaving the door partly open that
might observe what passed.
The doctor came in apparently
much affected. There were tears in
his eyes. :&.: x So. -
| poor fellow!' heard him say, II
feared he would be imprudent. I wish
could have prevented this" Then
he added, turning to the undertaken,
"Who sent for you? You did not tell
me-" ~t.. r. NJ! ~. -
'"Thepoor gentlen1an's brother, sir?"
'.Brother! He had no brother"
*soh yes, he had, sir. Twin brother,