Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-12-25


died and had been stretched out upon
board for the purposes of an autopsy.
The hardness of the bed upon which |
had thus been laid disturb my slum-
bers- 1 awoke. rubbed my eyes and sat
up. / did not at first realize where l
was. or the extraordinary things which
had happened to me- l looked around.
! t was the same room in which l had
gone tC sleep. The paper on the wall
was the same, to the very pattern. But
the room had been stripped of furniture,
even to the carpet, and the floor had
been whitewashcd. How long had l
been asleep? / stood up and walked to
the window. I had left the top of it
open for ventilation. My study, as you
know, is very lofty room. Whoever
had Invested it of furniture had also
closed the window at the top. To COM
pensate for this he had opened it at the
bottom. / leaned over the sill and
looked out. The stars were shining far
away below me; yet the noises of the
street, which are never absent in Paris,
no matter how late the hour, fell dis
tinctly upon my ear. Again l glanced
| below, completely mystified- There,
shining in the azure depths. were the
silver, twinklinG stars, the familiar
companions of my vigils. The earth
seemed to have melted beneath my feet
a dreadful feeling now took posses
sion of me. Trem bling violently, | fell
upon my knees upon the hard, white
washed floor and prayed fervently. l
shut my eyes 10 keep out the horrid
visions which oppressed me- Was go
ing mad? By degrees l became calmer.
l opened my eyes and cast them heaven
wards, and the next moment had sprung
to my feet again, staggering back, open
mouthed. wild-eyed, appalled,. Above
me, not forty feet away, was the pave
ment of the street ii which l resided.
Upon its stony surface men and women
walked, head downward, in the air, and
vehicles of all kinds passed by me in a
singular procession, the quadrupeds en-
gagged in drawing them appearing like
flies on an exaggerated ceiling.
Still | did not comprehend. While
my mental faculties remained unim-
paired, my brain was slow to appreciate
the marvellous change which had taken
place in my physical constitution 1t
was not until | withdrew my head from
the window and glanced upward that
began, family at first. but soon with all
the intensity of my being, to realize the
prodigious thing which had happened to
me.
On the ceiling of the room, all the
furniture OF the apartment was arrayed
precisely as | had left it two hours be-
fore when l had fallen asleep. There
was the desk with the inkstand into
which l lad dipped my pen. There was
my heavy armchair, my stove, ponder
Gus weight, which l wondered did not
fall and crush me; my bookcase filled
with books. Amazed, l looked at all
these things. Even the cat slumb ered
on the hearth rug. How did she do it,
seemingly holding on to nothing, in
chamber which had been literally
turned upside down.
Then suddenly an awful thought
| flashed across me. Instinctively l
pulled out my watch, holding it open
in my hand. To my amazemcnt it
slipped from me and like a balloon rose
10 the level of my chin. l caught it and
pulled it down. 1t was just at the strike
of midnight.
1t was the fateful hour. Perigo was
in perihelion.
btOtA- hAutA us mn u
ence, the pitiful attraction of the earth
had been easily overcome. What my
father had dreaded and dimly foreseen
had come to pass. Henceforth was re-
leased from the influence of the earth.
The gravity of Perigo, in my single in
stance, was all powerful. Like a flash
the real state of the case darted through
my mind. l, not the earth, nor the
house upon the earth, nor the room
within that house, but /, Jules Ber-
fraud, was walking upside down.
My soul was seized with a sudden
panic. Rapidly l walked up and down
the ceiling. As l moved, coins, keys
and various articles fell rafting from my
pockets. A five franc silver piece struck
against the lamp. If it had broken it
could not have descended to extinguish
the flames Heat aScends. II was
sitting where | was, notwi tbs standing
the open window, near which, indeed,
now realizing the awful influence of the
star. did not dare to venture, fearing
that false step might precipitate me
into those tremendous depths that like
afathomiess ocean cleaned beneath me.
l took off my coat and laid it upon
the whitewashed floor. The moment |
took my hands from it it arose rapidly
and struck against the carpeted ceiling.
The cat woke up and ran and nested in
it. cried: ''Shush, Shush." 1t looked
up or down-whichever is right, and
ran under the desk, fearful lest l might
fall and crush it. l, on my part, stood
staring stupidity and wondering why it
did not fall into my outstre tclRd arms.
l experienced no unpleasant conse-
quences, physically, from my novel
situation. My body. however. seemed
to have grown much lighter. 1t seemed
as if l could not weigh more than fifty
pounds. My blood flowed naturally in
its channels. | was feverish, but that
was from the heat of the chamber.
leaned out of the window and felt the
cool breeze upon my fevered cheek. l
gazed again into the eternal depths
below There midway between the
Bear and the Pleiades was my natal
star. l had but to leap from the window
to be carried at once toward it OF
what interest l might be to science if l
could reach it. But l should never re-
turn, or if did it would be when Perigo
having passed its perihelion | should
be hurled back to earth shapeless, in
distinguishable mass.
l became seized with a sudden desire !
to leave my study. | walked over to
the door, but it was far above my head. !
The transom, however. was open; by a I