The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-04-15
HOW / DIED.

l was very sick. / had laid for days
that seemed years upon the rack of sueh
pain as only strongmen, suddenly broken
upon the wheel, may know. Every bone
in my body. every nerve. every minute
gland of corporal tissues Had been like
electric wires and cells surcharged with
ethereal agony. At last there had come
q benumbed feeling that thrilled like the
vibration of harp strings suddenly stilled.
L could hear the hmm of voices like the
far off drone of bees, and the sound
seemed soothing me into q strange peace.
| vas aware that somebody passed a
light before my eyes, and after repeating
the action several times replaced the
night lamp o. the stand without the
shade. knew also that somebody stepped
to the window and threw it wide open,
while a voice, seemingly borne beyond
the confines Of space and gathering force
as it approached the boundaries of auric-
ular demonstration until it doomed like
the deep bass of the sea. uttered these
words:
THE poor fellow is going fast. Give
his spirit a chance to free itself"
DO you believe in that old woman
rotY' asked another, and from the re-
gion of enchanted drowsiness where !
seemed to linger | caught myself listen
ing for the third voice. which / seemed
to know would speak next. And ! didn't
listen In vain, for even while | struggled
with the unseen forces that were hurry
ing me away a woman's voice, clear and
strong and sweet as the notes of a bell
that was forever ringing in my ear, said:
we believe in Gods mercy, and we
believe that this poor pain racked body Is
about to throw open the door by which
the spirit goes free: if a closed window
hinder its going, we will throw every
window in the old hospital as wide as
the sky"
And give the rest of the poor devils
in the ward a chance to catch q mortal
chill. responded the second voice. "Yon
are as consistent as the rest OF your SEX.
Miss Brady"
While yet the echo of the head doctors
voice beat the air in circles of receding
sound, | suddenly ceased to think. to
hear. to feel. & o be. And yet I vas. l
knew by some newly developed sense
that | lay mute and white upon the cot
which had supported my body SO long.
and that the fragrance of a prayer fioatec
through the awful stiffness of the room.
1t had no form nor sound, and yet some
thing within me perceived 1t, as the lam
guild senses perceive the fragrance of
newly mown hay upon q serene June
morning.
A continuous pageant of the most Sc
raphic vision unfurled in endless progress
sion before me. | saw the green hills of
my childhood's home lift themselves like
emerald bubbles in a haze OF enchanted
air. | saw the sapphire of the sea set in
q rim Of violet dawns and dafodil moons.
4 saw the stretch of desert sands like
drifts Of snow within the compass OF a
lonely land. And in the midst OF their
bewildering vision | suddenly saw a
cleaning slab within a windowless room,
where something long and white and
still was lying. Drops of ice were form
ing on the edges of the slab. and a death
cold stream was purling across its shin
ing surface. Something that was not a
voice. AMI which made itself manifest to
me through other channels than the ear,
spoke lightly of the grave wherein !
soon should lie.
We viii bury him tonight" it seemed
10 say, there will be no friends to in
~terfere. and there are too many dying
these few days past to keep ..stiffs' over
q half day..
But the law grants even a stiff its
rights. responded the womanly voice |
had learned TO know, I'VE have no
right to bury him with such indecent
haste.
Right or no right, law or no law,
he'll have to get out of this tonight" re-
piled the first voice.
The contention had no effect upon the
something within my ice bound frame
which still held its mysterious connec
ton with sentient life. That, filament,
fine as the gossamer shred by which the
spider binds together the ether and the
rose. seemed AN electric wire charged
with messages from an unseen world.
could hear the rise and fall OF angelic
choruses. like the dip Of songfnl seas,
and clear and sweet and distinct, above
them all. | heard the woman's voice
learned from out the cold embrace OF
death to note.
He shall not be buried tonight, MOI
Jet tomorrow. If that flush continues on
his face.
What flush are you talking abouty'
responded the doctor. bringing the 1igh'
be carried nearer the face that lay upor
the marble slab. where the ice drops
were forming. crystal by crystal, like th,
beads one tareads upon a growing strand
Why. the flush we both have notices
since we stood here. | knew by the in
tent gaze you bestowed upon what gen
sr3lly demands but . passing glance tina
ron discovered It when 1 did, and / de
mand that the body be removed to Til
w1Fd until we investigate the case"
THAT flush ii only the reflection q
y0ur red dress, laughed the doctor.
sYon are wasting time said th
nurse. - shall call a stretcher % a
fhf6 Hiring man ont 81 the mofgue. Al
urHard ~ may resume orr converts
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