The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-03
conld not l.now was prescnt-morc partic'i-

cOrld not know was prescnt-morc ITrtic'i-
larly as he could not hear nne yet lie persisted
in his poor babble, which was behavior in
him that. moro than even the matter Of his
speech. persuaded me of his inbecility.
He made no reference to our situation,
and in solemn truth believe his memory
retained no more than few odds and ends
of the evil story of his lfe-lke bits Of tar
nished lace and a rusty button or two lying
in the bottom Of q dark chest that has long
been emptied Of the clothes it once held.
But my condition made such heavy de-
niands upon my thoughts that had very
much less attention to give to this surprising
phenomenon OF senility than its uncommon
merits deserved 1t has puzzled every mem
Der of the faculty that have mentioned it
TO, the superstition being that, given the case
Of suspended animation, there is no waste,
and the person would quit his stupor with
the same powers and aspect as he possessed
when be entered it, though il lasted thou
sand years. But granting there is no waste,
Time is always present, waiting to settle &C
counts when the sleeper lifts his head There
may bc an artificial interval, during which
the victim might show as my pirate debut
| the poised load Of years is severed on n sud
den by the scythe and becomes superincum-
bent and with the weight comes the trans
formation; and this theory, as the only eye
witness of tfle marvellous thing, / will hold
and maintain while ! have breath in my body
to support i'll
left him Cabling to himself-sometimes
grinning as If greatly diverted, sometimes
lifting a trembling hand to help his ghostly
recital by an equally ghostly dumb show
and went on deck, satisfied that he was too
weak 10 get 10 the fire and NEEDLE With it,
but sufficiently invigorated by his long
nights rest TO sit up without tumbling of
| the bench.
This time / carried with me an old per-
spectivc glass / had noticed in the chest in
my cabin-the chest in which were the nauti-
cal instruments, charts and papers-and
levoled it along the coast of the island; but
it was poor glass, and found | could man
age nearly as well with the naked eye,
There was no change of any kind, only
that there was n sensible diminution in the
blowing Of the wind, and corresponding
decrease in the height OF the seas. The ice
stretched in a considerable bed on either
hand the ship and ahead of her: the water
frothed freely over IL, and there was great
jangling and flashing Of broken pieces but
the hull was no longer heavily hit by them.
| got into the main chains 10 view the
body Of the vessel. and noticed with satsfac-
ton that the constant pouring Of the sea had
thinned down the frozen snow 10 the depth
of at least a foot. This encouraged me to
hope that the restless tides would sap 10 her
keel at least and put her into posture 20 lie
easily launched By the blow Of u surge upon
her bows-that is if fortune continued to
keep her bead on.
To determine the hour and our position,
fetched a quadrant from my cabin, and was
happily just in time TO catch the sun crossing
the meridian Ny watch was half an hour
fast, 50 had been out Of my reckoning 10
the extent Of thirty minutes over since had
been cast away. ! made our latitude TO be
O. degS. % Minis south, and the computation
was perhaps near enough
This business ended, | went 70 the cook
house to prepare dinner, and the first object
| saw was TaSsarl fiat upon his face near the
door that opened into the cabin. lie grOaned
when | picked him up--which | managed
without much exertion Of strength, for 50
much had be shrunk that dare say more
than half his weight lay in his cothes-and
set him upon his bench with his back to the
dresser. ! put my mouth 10 his ear and
roared, Are You hurtF' His head nodded
as if he understood me, but question if he
did He was the completcst picture Of old
age that you could imagine. | fetched a
couple of spears from the arms room, and,
cutting them 10 his height. put one in each
hand, that he might keep himself propped;
and while my own dinner was broiling
made him mess Of broth, with which fed
him, for now that he had the sticks he would
not let 20 Of them. But in any case / doubt
if his trembling hand could have lifted the
spoon TO his lips without capsizinS the con-
tents down his beard.
With some small idea OF rallying the old
villain, | mixed him very stir bumper OF
brandy, which he suppel down out Of my
hand with the utmost avidity. The draught
soon worked in him. and lie began 10 move
his head about, seeking Inc in his blind way, |
and then cried, in his broken notes, II have
lost the use of my legs, and cannot walk
Mother of God, what shall | do. Oh, holy |
st. Antonio, what is 10 become Of me-
| guessed from this that, impellcd 10y habit !
or some small spur of reason, he had risen TO
20 on deck, and had fallen. He went on va
porting pitifully, gazing with sufficient stead
fastneSs to let me understand that his vision |
received something of my outline, though he !
would fix his eyes either to the left or right
Of me. as though he was not able 10 see if he
looked straight; and this, and his mournful |
cackle, and his nodding head bowed form, |
propped hands and diminished face, made
him as distr,ssful and melancholy a picture
of Time as ever mortal man viewed. He
broke off in his rambling 10 ask for more
brandy, taking it for granted that / was still
in the cook room, for | never spoke; and
filed a can for him, and as before held il 10
his mouth which be opened wide-a piece Of
behavior which went To snow that some of
his wits still hung loose upon him. This !
was strong dose, and, cooperating with the
other, soon seized hold OF his head, and pres |
emily he began TO laugh to himself and talk,
and even broke into a stave or two-some |
French song, which he delivered in voice