Telegram-herald., 1891-11-14

boA IA ny aaSuan is11ekcS siooa
ent ~as duly eoasciooa all the tirss
that seeedy could hear ne Visitors
and cussodisns alike nust hare do
parted hours before; 3nd even Il my
cries were heard from the streets be-
low nobody would attribute them TO
their real source
To the feeling Of acute anguish sne-
creded one of blank despair NO
longer specaizted on the possibility OF
beiag discovered dead or alive There
was dull ieaden feeling ~ r,y chest
and found myself repeating raechsa-
ically old rhymes aad jinalos and say
ins the alphabet backward. as ] once
learned to do in seeking relief from in
somnia- Yet at the same time ! was
conscious that my whole life WAS pass
ing in review before me as they say Il
does whes one 10 drowning or being
hanged remembered that saying,
to0 and without any ce1stion OF the
review wondered in NY double con-
sciousness IL ! were undergoing the
sensations Of . drowning man or OF
one being hanged. and ] wished
could put them down on paper for tho
benef fit Of the rest of maukikd What
struck me as singular was that tho
clocks kept on striking twelve The
second time they did this ! thought l
must have lost consciousness for an en-
tire day and that this WAS the second
midnight But when the third stroke
Of twelve caas from half = dozen
clocks ! knew it could not be two days
since had fallen. Thought arst that
had become demented; aud then it
occurred to me that Il were could
not reason about it in that fashion 90
the clocks themselves must Be- crazy.
This theory satisfied me until the
striking bsSan sxain. when went Oh
In another fantastic speculation. My
friends had discovered that was miss
Ing and wero having the bells ruug to
keep my spirits up
Ohl the long, long. weary hours I
spent In waiting for glimpse OF day
light had no hope that daylight
would bring me any relief, but tho
prospect Of staying where it was end
lessly midnight seemed unendurable
J groaned and wept and dug my nails
into tho palms OF my hands until IL
seemed as II the blood would come;
but did not even feel any sense OF
pain.
Il must have been after tho clocks
had struck midnight dozen times or
more--I kept no exact account--that I
saw In the distance st what seemed TO
DO the farther end of the cathedral
roof two faint glimmers OF light Pres
emily there were two moro, and then
two more, until there was a regular
procession of them. I tried to shout,
but had become SO weak with cold and
suffering that could not raise my
voice above . whisper. The lights
nevertheless approached, growing
gradually stronger until could sec
that they were borne by several black
robed figures who were marching bo-
side coffin. AS tho procession moved
slowly towards me began to wonder
what 1t meant and whether funerals
took place at midnight on the roof Of
Milan cathedral Then spcculated q
moment on the propriety Of disturbing
the obsequics even In ny extreme
need Suddenly it dawned on me that
this was my own funeral. and knew
that was either dead on had gone mad
In the supreme anguishpf this discovery
all memory Of past suffering was
blotted out and I entered on a new
period of the most exquisite torture.
Fortunately It was of brief duration
As the foremost Of the moving figures
reached mo | felt . grasp on my arm
snd q voice called in my ear:
''Wakc up. father; it's time to be go
ing down. ! guess you must have had
your yoke turned"
It was my daughter. and beside her
were the rest of the party. flushed with
their ramble on the roof. I straight
encd out my cramped limbs, which
must have gone to sleep about the time
did. and pulled out my watch. l had
been there Just fifteen rlinutca
don't mean to be understood that
my hair really did turn gray in that
night Of horror on Milan cathedral
In the first place there Is not much Of
il and what thcro Is has been tolcrably
gray for some years Eut I do mean
to say that am no longer incrcdulous
rs to tho possibility Of such capillary
change as the story books tell about
am quite sure that If any man or
woman really had just such Tn cxpe-
rience as thought had his or her
hair would turn gray provided. of
course. he or she had any hair that was
not gray already.-Detroit Free Press