The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-03-05

dom seeking rehet from insomnia. Yet
at the same time | was conscious that
my whole life was passing in review be-
fore me, as they say it does when one is
drowning or being hanged. l remem-
bered that s9ying, too, and without any
cessation Of the review / wondered in
my doubled consciousness if | were
undergoing the sensations Of a drowning
man, or'of one being hanged, and wished
l could put them down on paper for tho
benefit of the rest Of mankind.
What struck me rs singular was that
the clocks kept on striking twelve. The
second time they did this thought must
have lost consciousness for an entire day,
and that this was the second midnight.
But when the third stroke Of twelve
came from half dozen clocks, knew
it could not be two days since / had
fallen
thought first that l had become de-
mented; and then it occurred to me that
if were l could not 5ason about it in
that fashion, so the clocks themselves
must be crazy. This theory satisfied me
until the striking began again, when
went off in another fantastic speculation.
My friends had discovered that l was
missing, and were having the bells rung
to keep my spirits up.
Oh, the long, long, weary hours l
spent in waiting for a glimpse Of day
light | had no hope that daylight
would bring me any relief, but the pros
pect Of staying where it was endless mid
night seemed uncomfortable. | groaned
and wept and dug my nails into the
palms Of my hands until it seemed as if
the blood would come; but / did not
even feel any sense of pain.
1t must have been after the clocks had
struck midnight a dozen times or more
i kept no exact account-that saw
in the distance at what seemed to be the
farther end Of the cathedral roof two
fart glimmers Of light. Presently there
were two more and then two more,
until there was a regular procession OF
them. | tried to shout, but had become
so weak with cold and suffering that ]
could not raise my voice above a whis.
per.
The lights nevertheless approached,
growing gradually stronger, until
could see that they were borne by sever.
al black-robed figures who were march.
ing beside a coffin. As the procession
moved slowly toward me | began to
wonder what it meant, and whether
funerals took place at midnight on the
roof Of Milan cathedral. Then / specu.
lated a moment ON tho propriety Of dis.
turbing the ob5equies even in my ex.
treme need. Suddenly it dawned upon
me that this was my own funeral, and ]
knew that l was either dead or had gone
mad. In the supreme anguish of this
discovery all memory Of past suffering
was blotted out, and entered on a new
period Of the most exquisite torture.
Fortunately, it was Of brief duration.
AS the foremost of the moving figures
reached me felt grasp on my arm
and a voice called in my ear:
"Wake up, father; it's time to bC
going down. l guess you must have had
your yoke turned"
1t was my daughter, and beside hei
were the rest of the party, flushed with
their ramble on the roof. / Strengthened
out my cramped limbs, which must have
gone to sleep about the time did, and
pulled out my watch, | had been there
just fifteen minutes.
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 it and
what there is has been tolerably gray fol
some years. Put do mean to say that
| am no longer incredulous as to the
possibility of such a capillary change as
the story books tell about am quite
sure that if any man or woman really
had just such an experience as thought
had, his or her hair would turn gray
provided of course he or she had any
hair that was not gray already.-TruC
Flag.