Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1889-06-13

formed under his eyes, his form
seemed to have lost all elasticity, his
hands trembled necessarily. The ex-
citement caused by this sight was in
tense. In moment he was sur
rounded by seven or eight of his
"chums," who labored under the i'm
preston that he suffered from sudden
attack OF illness.
What is tho rff..ttcr?" asked his
friends in chorus.
"A dream!' responded Erasmus,
with sad smile.
IA dream!" repeated the students,
incredulous and inclined to take the
matter as joke.
Eyes, a dream" reiterated johnson;
''a terrible dream which | can not
drive out of my head, although it is as
silly as it can be.
"What is it?' came from many lips.
Il dreamed that / would be killed
on my wedding day in a strange and
peculiar manner" explained johnson,
in hesitating way, which clearly in
dictated that he felt ashamed of him
self for having made the confession.
The reply called forth unbounded
merriment which lasted until the pro-
fessors entered the lecture hall.
Poor johnson was made the butt of
every body's ridicule, and even the
young lady to whom he was engaged
to be married ventured to poke fun at
her lovers dream.
Meanwhile the commencement ex-
ercises had taken place and Erasmus
johnson had been awarded the class
honors as well as gold medal for a
powerful and beautiful Latin poem.
He was lionized by his class, the fac
ulty and the townspeople; but never
did young man receive applause
with more reserve. Ambition and
hope seemed to have dwelling-place
in his heart no longer They had
been superseded by melancholy, by a
hideous specter born OF dream.
A few hours before his departure
from the scenes of his intellectual
triumphs he called on his most init
mate college friend, who did every
thing in his power to revive the ener-
gy of his unfortunate visitor; going
even so far as to suggest to johnson
the advisability of breaking his en-.
gagement. To this the young man
would not consent because, despite
his fears and misgivings, he could not
persuade himself that he had good
grounds for such an action, which
might, moreover, break the heart Of
the woman he loved.
"Whatever else | have lost" he
said to his friend, my honos remains
unsullied. and / would not wreck
Julia's happiness on account of an un,
certain something at which the world
and even you laugh. No, Jack. We
will be married on the 9Th of August
whatever may be the consequences. "
The following morning johnson was
with his parents 1t is superfuous tC
say that they left nothing undone tt
overcome their sons melancholy mood
He listened to them patiently ant
smiled sadly when he saw his good OLE
mother in tears. He even went so fa1
as to simulate q cheerfulness he die
not feel. He listlessly supervised thu
: preparations for his approaching
nuptials, and accompanied by mum
l Der of friends, left for the home of h..
affianced on the evening of the 4th o
4 August The party arrived at its DIES
Q tination the next morning.
4 johnson had passed a restless nigh
4 in the sleeper, and when he arrived a
: the house of his future parents-in-law
0 looked even more careworn and hag
Q gard than usual. His friend, Jack
d who also stopped at the house, wa
shocked, and upon inquiring for tn
l. cause of his friends CHASTITY appear
ance, learned that the hideous dream
Q which had wrecked his happiness ha
s again haunted him. BY dint of will
: power he managed to suppress his an
J, guish, however, and succeeded IN ar
pcaring before the woman he wa
o about to marry in seemingly happ
: frame of mind The couple chatte
n for awhile, discussed their prospects
y and dwelled at some length upon tn
c joys that seemed to be before them.
s The wedding ceremony was to b
l. performed at seven o'clock in the ever
d ing at the Presbyterian church of tn
h little city. Shortly before that hou
/ the bridal party arrived; half hou
l. later the newly welded couple receive
d the congratulation of their friends
d The groom, sad and detected until b
o another man. His old smile one
= more illuminated his face, his eye
@ flashed happiness, his form was ere'
!. as in the days of old. One after tn
e other ofthe assembly pressed his han
IS and was dismissed with q pleasal
is word. His friend Jack was one of ii
" last to offer his good wishes. As /
70 approached johnson, the latter viii
r pered;
S. Thank God, Jack, the danger
d over l am married and still alive. '
5, A few minutes before eight o'cloC
l. the bride and groom left the churcI
is johnson was gay and attentive, al
lie replied wittily to the bon mo
n hurled at him by the crowd. IL
" couple reached the sidewalk. II
bit bride was handed into the carriag
s. and the groom was about to folio
Id her. At that moment he heard
IN whistling noise above him, and, loo
Of ing up to explain the strange phenor
Ie enon, was struck on the forehead by
s, missile of extraordinary power. l
III fell heavily on the carpet-cover