The Forrest City times., 1891-04-24
"packp, screamed the .lmo,t fron.

tlc Vile; you shall not touch him. Back, and do no murder here, or the curse of heaven will hght upon youp'
 The two men whispered together q few moments; and then the spokes- man rejoined, "We'll leave him be a half-hour. till we come again; but if we were to leave him to eternity, you d find no life there''
 With this, they slowly withdrew; and as that self-sacrificing wife heard their heavy, descending steps, she threw herself upon her knees, thanked heaven for the brief respite, and pray ed for strength and power to deliver her companion from the already yawn- ing grave.
 Strange prayer was this to follow the other, in which she had askedthe for strength and resignation to bear the earthly parting! Wherefore the change2 Why did she believe him living, who reason told her was dead? There he lay ghastly and cold, with out motion, without breath, without life. One half-hour-on brief half-hour -and they whose duty it was to 1 quickly consign the dead to dust, that the awful contagion might not spread through mortal decay, would again be there to claim that beloved | form.
 | There was not a moment to be lost. And with an invocation to heaven for assistance, that trembling wife began the seemingly hopeless task of restor- | ing her dear partner to life. She chaf- ed his temple, his body his limbs, rolled l htn, a nd fro fh, hal o,,l lad | upon him in the most endearing | terms.
 She was thus engaged, using almost superhuman exertions, when again she heard, with chill of despair, the distant rumble of the vehicle of the grave, and the appalling cry of Bring out your deadl"
 | Nearer and nearer 1t comes-louder and louder sound those awful tones- still more actively and painfully she labors, and yet no signs of life-the same cold, ghastly, inanimate form Hark! there are steps along the hall l -there Is the same measured, heavy | tread npon the stairs-the door once more slowly opens, and with n sup 1 pressed shriek of agony the almost frantic wife once more turns and be- holds those same grim, unsympathiz- ing visages before her
 We've come again for your deadl" l said one, as both advanced towards the bed.
 "Backp shrieked the wife; "there is no dead for you, herel"
 The man still advanced, aad came up to the corpse.
 This here's perfect folly!' said the spokesman; s our duty to take away dead bodies wherever we find em; it's the only chance there is to keep down this horrible disease; and so stand aside, good woman, and let us take the body quietly. Don't take on so; it's got to be done; you can't keep it with you, and the longer it re- mains here the less chance you'll have of escaping the same fate yourself"
 But my husband is not dead" cried the wife, wringing her hands, and keeping her place between the body and those who had come for it,
 '.We can see, good woman, and our eyes tell us better" Twas the somewhat gruff reply Come, stand aside and yield to what you can't avoidl"
 "Oh, no, nol never. He is not dead, l tell you-and you shall not touch himp'
 Good woman, we've got to do our duty" pursued the man, more posi- lively, attempting to put her aside.
 For heavens sake, spare usl" she shrieked, dropping down on her knees, clasping her hands and looking up implorinsly. Spare us, I beseech youl See, am kneeling to you-I am praying to youl For the love of heaven, spare Us a little longerl He will soon revive! He only sleepsl"
 The men, preeeiving that the only chance of getting at the corpse would be by q forcible removal of it's guar dian angel, again conferred together, and again agreed to give her another half-hour.
 As soon as the friendless wife again heard the welcome sound of the de- parting gfootsteps of her dreadful visit ors, she again renewed her efforts to resuscitate that which to reason ap- peared hopelessly dead. She took new course. She raised his head-al- most sat him up in bed, heated fan nels and rolled them around his limbs, placed hot onions upon his feet; and thus worked with the will and strength of love and hope united with despair.
 But in vain were all her efforts. No life-no signs of llfel Yet the time was swiftly rolling on; and what seemed to that nearly distracted wom- an but few brief moments, again brought around the terrible half hour, and with 1t those whom she now re- garded as her most terrible foes.
 This time, those men, in the perfor- nance of their painful duty, would listen to no prayers, no entreat- ies, no remonstrances. They told her plainly that she was as unreasonable as q lunatic: that though they pitied her, their duty must be done; the body must be removed, and the apartments fumigated; there was no alternative; and what could not be done peaceably would have to be done forcibly
 Accordingly, they put her aside, ap- preached the body, and laid hold of 1t. But she burst frantically in be- tween them, threw herself upon the corpse, and clung to 1t with spasmod- ic, convulsive tenacity; at the same time shrieking forth, in the most heart rending tones, "As God Almighty liv- eth, you shall not separateusl ltyou bury him you bury me with him."
 Good woman," said the spokes- man, 'why will you go on this way We don't want to use force; but we'll have to, if you don't let us do our du- ty wit hout The mansa deod. and I