Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-12-08

around the cemetery and read the num-
bers on the slabs that marked the rows
Of pauper graves. firing Of this, / laid
in nv coffin and listened again 10
the rustling sound which, Lad bcen
told, was the crawling of the worms. l
wondered If they would reach me soon
and begin to feast upon my flesh. Each
moment seemed an hour of time. ! began
To wonder again as TO what would BE- the
end of it all. Would | come t. my senses
and be suffocated for want Of air to
breathe, or would | lay there forever?
Might it not really be death? Might not
the earth be flied with millions of ON
scous corpses awaiting the resurrection
morn? Such thoughts controlled me un-
til night came. 1t must have been nearly
midnight when my spirit was aware OF
two men taking the earth from my grave.
The coffin when uncovered was rudely
opened and | was lifted out and put In a
wagon.
Hes a splendid specimen" one of the
men remarked.
y es, replied the other, as he threw
the glare of a dark lantern on my lace.
Il noticed that when | saw him at the
morgue, and | made up my mind to nave
hin. He hasn't begun to change yet
TIE D~IsSECTING ROOM.
So they conversed while they arranged
the grave. Their identity was plain.
They were medical students, and were
taking me to the dissecting o Having
arrived there | was laid on a table and
again inspected by several students. "A
profuse amount of complimentary talk
about NY anatomy followed. One fellow
wanted my brain, another my right leg,
and SO on until | was farmed cut. The
old fit of horrors came back to me. AT
last | was let alone, the students saying
that | would be sliced up at 8 o'clock in
the morning.
Shortly afterward one of them return
ed in a stealthy manner; he had his dis.
sectipg knife with him. | heard him
mutter something about my BRAIN and
arm, and that the other fellow wasn't go
ing to get them if he knew il. The
sApreme moment Of my horrible trance
had arrived. The student jerked my arm
out, and with a rapid thrust plunged his
knife into my shoulder. The hot blood
gushed out and then, like n flash, l felt
my powers of life return. With a yell, l
sprang up, and, with the blood dripping
ia a shower from me, made "A rush for
the door with a wild yet instructive pur-
pose to fly from the place. But the
frightened student was ahead of me, and
his yells were louder than mine. The
house aroused, of course, and | was
caught just as I was going u Of the front
door in my naked condition. | fought
like a mailman, and half crazy as ! was.
| would not listen to the students saying
that they would not lnjure me. l was
overcome and taken good care Of. The
wound Ia my shoulder was dressed.
There is little more to add. The students
took a deep interest in my case, saying it
was one of about four similar cases
known in medical history. They begged
me not to inform the authorities that
they were grave robbers, and as the two
men who had dug me up were the in
struments whereby | was rescued, |
dropped the matter. | cared for no pub
licily, and as it did not seem reasonable
that my Australian friend who had
robbed me would linger in the city, |
could gain nothing toward getting my
money back by seeking the police author
tiles. | found that | had been in my
trance for six days. Many times since
then have | awakened at night and i'm
agined that | was in that cold, silent
grave, and again have | heard the strange,
weird crawling of the earth worms. San
Francisco Call.