Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-07-08
sTAuNToN, VIRGINIA, JULY s, 1892.

made two or three turns up and down
the room, hesitating, perpleXed, not know
ing what to think or do, and, acknowledge
Eit, frightened and worried beyond express
tsion.
AT last, worn out with fatigue and ex-
kcltement, laid down on the bed trying to
concentrate my thoughts, trying to I'M
/ ravel this strange event of which | was the
/ victim, asking myself if or the other one
had the right to sleep in the opposite house.
All was so confused, SO bewildering | lost
consciousness and ended by falling into a
heavy, dreamless sleep, which lasted until
morning
1t was full day when l was aroused by
tVolces and ordinations in the adjoining
room, all talking at once, as if something
very extraordinary had taken place. Half
asleep, and 10 longer remembering what
thad occurred, listened and recognized
the voices Of Carl and Hans.
| But you do not understand" said nv
servant, in tones of the deepest distress.
l"ltell you the ceiling has fallen 1t is a
tfrlghtful accident, and my poor master is
under it all, crushed into g Thousand pieces.
lIAh, the unfortunate young man."
q Here the groans and sobs increased, and
AidHo, eFlueHtiy uCG UNDERSTANDING, lnpa-
tiently replied, '.What is the matter with
you, Carl; have you lost your senses?"
mo, have not lost my senses,' sobbed
Carl; "but what will tell his poor mother,
the dear madam who sent me to watch
over him, for the ceiling has fallen and all
the furniture from the room above has
crushed down upon the bed, and the dear,
good master was in it. The room as high
Jno II fr1JI of,,, III .,I = IL.
boy is under it all. Oh, if you would only
come and see; pray you to come!o
"But he is here, my good Carl; your
probably thought my servant had gone
mad ''He slept here last night, and is
asleep here this morning, alive and well as
you or l."
"Ah, you are making fun of me-" indig-
nantly cried Carl; "and do you think am
in the humor for your stupid .iokes?''
More amazed than ever, leaped out of
bed and ran into the room where they were
talking. Hans, on seeing me, uttered cry
of triumph, but my old Carl turned white
as a sheet, and staggering back would
have fallen if Hans had not caught him, so
great was his transition from grief and
horror to joyful surprise.
I At last all was explained, or rather moth
ing was explained. l was told l had re-
turned home and passed the night in my
own bed, yet knew had slept in the bed
of Count Bremen; was told / had been
killed, crushed under the falling furniture,
yet here | was alive and we'll AS all this
seemed very improbable, hastily dressed
myself and rushed over to my house.
w no obo IL
and yet had not slept, was filled with rub
bish and broken furniture as high as the
top of the door.
1t appeared that the apartment above
mine had been occupied by an old Jew, a
dealer in second hand goods, and in the
room directly over my chamber he had
heaped up a lot of old furniture, old iron,
a mass of goods and tatters he had been
collecting for many years in the garrets
and byways of Leipsic.
The house was old, the beams worm eat
en-, the planks of the floor rotten, and all
this weight resting on the floor had crushed
through the ceiling Of my room and fallen
directly upon my bed, an old fashioned af-
fair, with draperies and canopy as wide
as the armament, but now mashed as fiat
as a pancake under these fragments of
ldptotIy3 ttuCl0uu anu
bric-a-brac from the storehouse of the old
second hand dealer The room was half
filed with ruins. Above all this cloud
of dust was floating, for the windows were
still closed and swarms of enormous rats
were running in every direction.
It seemed to me, as l looked upon this
destruction, that l must be lying under
all this chaos, crushed and dead; yet here
I oil I,o, ~
such beautiful escape,
I sent for some workmen and ordered
them to carry off the debris. Every piece
was taken out under my eyes and carefully
examined before it was carried away
When we arrived at the bed we carefully
and shudderingly raised the demolished
canopy Carl, with trembling anxiety,
parted the mass of draperies. Never will
1 forget the stupor and amazement de-
picted on his face; the bed had been occu-
Pied the clothes turned down; there was
the impression of the sleeper, but now it
was empty; no one was there.
Thus you see, have met my double. /
not only saw him, but my servant talked
with him, touched him-this singular
person who, according to all appearances,
had lost his life in my place. Where was
liz HUI LIZ DCCA AlllCu! 4ICIC w DIS III cHl-
dence of it, not the slightest trace; then
what had become of him?
With all this mystery, these conflicting
facts, Carl and Hans came very near losing
their selses I was equally bewildered-
perfectly sure of what had seen, yet ut
terly unable to explain or understand it,
Translated from the French Of CASTOR Dq-
iarri by NJ. E. B. for Washington Post.