Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-02-15

kevork with exasperating cain. What is that
you most want him to for@et?"
You cannot mean
Il can and [ do. He has forgotten Beatrice.
For . witch-well. you are q very remarkable
nne, Unorna- As a woman OF business
He shook his head.
'W hat do YOU mean this time? What did
you saw" Her questions came in a strained
tone and she seemed to have difficulty IN con-
centrating her attention. or in controlling her
emotions. or both.
You paid a large price for the information
observed Keyork.
What price? What are you speaking of? 1
do not understand
Your SOUL" he answered, with a laugh.
THAT was what you offered to any one who
would tell you that the Wanderer was safe. 1
Immediately closed with your offer, 1t was an
excellet one for me-"
Unorna tapped the table impatiently.
1T is odd that a man of your learning should
never be serious" she said.
Il supposed that you were serious" he an
swered. Besides a bargain is a bargain, ant
there were numerous witnesses to the transac-
tion." he added. looking round the room at his
dead specimens.
Unorna tried to laugh with him.
d you know ? / was so nervous that l
fancied all those creatures were groaning, and
shrieking and gibbering at me, when You came
ill.,"
Very likely they .were." said Eeyork Ara
hian, his small eyes twinkling.
And L imagined that the Malayan woman
opened her mouth to scream, and that the Pc
luvian savages turned their heads-it was verv
surange-lt first they groaned and then they
walled, and then they howled and shrlekcd at
me-"
Under the circumstances, that is not extr a
ordinary"
Unorna stared at him rathef anCrily. He was.
jestinG, OF course. and she had been dreaming.
or had been so overwrought by excitement as
To have been made the victim of 4 vivid hal
lucination. Nevertheless. there was something
disagreeabIe in the matter-of-fact gravity of
his Jest.
ii am tired of your kind of wit" she said.
The kin of wit which is called wisdom is
said to be fatIguing," he retorted.
Il wish you would give me an opportunity of
being wearied in that way"
Begin by opening your eyes to facts, then.
1t is you who are trying to jest. 1t is l who am
in earnest Did you, or did you not. offer your
soul for n certain piece of information Did
you. or did you not, hear those dead thugs
moan and cry? Did you, or did You not, see
them move ?'
How absurd % cried Unorna. You might
as well ask whether, when one. is gIddy. the
room is really going round. Is there any prac-
tIcal difference, so far as sensation goes, be-
tween a mummy and a block of wood ?'
THAT, my dear lady, is precisely what we do
not know, and what we most wish to know.
Death is not the change which takes place at i
moment which is generally clearly defined,
when the heart stops beating. and the eve turns
white and the face changes color. death comes
some time after that, and We do not know ex-
actly when. 1t varies very much in different
individuals. You can only define it-as The total
and final cessation of perception and appercep-
ton, both functions depending on the nerves.
In ordinary cases nature begins of herself to
destroy the nerves by a sure process. But how
do you know what happens when decay Is not
only arrested. but prevented before 1t has be-
gun? How can you foretell what NAV happen
when a skillful hand hasfrestnred the tissues of
the body to their original fexibility, or pre-
served them in the state in which they were
last sensitiye?"
Nothing can ever make me believe that a
mummy can suddenly hear and understand
safi Tnprn asranph lass thar / Z I'M nd
produce 4 sound. L know that the idea has
possessed you for many years, but nothing will
make me believe 1t possible"
Nothing"
Nothing short of seeing and hearing"
But you have seen and heard"
Il was dreaming"
when you offered your soul?"
mot then. perhaps. l was only mad then"
And on the ground of temporary Insanity
you would repudiate the bargain?'
Unorna shrugged her shoulders impatleutly
and did not answer. keyork relinquished his
fencing.
1T is of no Importance he said, changing
his tone. Your dream-or whatever 1t was
seems 10 have been the second of your two ex-
periences. You said there we've two, did you
not? What was the first?'
Unorna sat silent for some minutes, as though
collecting her thoughts. Keyork, who never
could have enough light, busted himself with
another lamp. The room was now brighter
than it generally was in the daytime.
She leaned one elbow on the table and shaded
her eyes from the brilliant light.
Il do not know why i should tell you.n she
said at last. You Will only laugh at me, and
then 1 shall be angry. and We shall quarrel as
usual"
~ may be of use" suggested the little man
grAvely. ''Besides L have made up my mind
never TO quarrel with YOU again. Unorna.n
You are wise. my dear friend. II does no
good. As for your being in use in this ease.
the most | can hope is hat YOU may find me
an explanation of something l cannot under
stand"
II am good at that. l am particularly good
at explanations-and generally at all post facto
wisdom"
"Keyork, do you believe that the souls of tn
dead can come back and be visible to us?',
keyork Arabian was silent for a few
seconds.
i know nothing about it. he answered.
but what do you tllink?;
"No,biug. Either it is possible or it is not.
and until the one proposition or the other is
proved suspect my judgment. Have you seen
a ghost?'
Il to not know. / have seen something.
-" She stopped, as though the recollec-
tlons were unpleasant.
Then said keyork. the probability is that
you saw a living person. Shall I sum up the
question of ghosts for your
Il wish you would, in some way that / can
understand"
I'VE are. then, in precisely the same position
occupy toward such questions as the abolition
of death. The argument in both cases is in
ductive, and all but conclusive. We do not
know of any case, in the 200 generations of
men, more or less. with whose history We are
in some degree acquainted. of any individ ual
who has escaped death. We conclude that al