San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-01-02

| ~ - III.
ISSSsN4~ <ASA
NM first glance at the sheet .coatght the
pdragTdph which had caused her drief.
of course expect anything better, but
was panied by seeing among them and
emulating their heartlesspess some
astralized visitors from the material
plane whose unbecoming glee was not
restrained by the consideration that
their own bodies might also have been
lost to them at that very moment for
aught they knew to the contrary. Ihave
not deemed it necessary in the course Ct
this narration to make any particular
mention of the dwellers on the astral
plane, or of the temporarily astralized
persons like myself whom encountered
there, as my experiences were simply
those every one has, with the exception
of this incident and one other to which
/ shall have occasion to revert farther
on. But l cannot let pass without rep
rehension the behavior of the astralized
persons who clustered around me on
the train that morning and declared
they found my unhappy situation
/ funny"
With vague idea that l might find
my body among the unclaimed baggage
or in the waiting room at the Harrisburg
depot, i eluded my tormentors and
fitted back there-only to suffer another
disappointment. 1t was nowhere to b.
seen. The last passenger train for the
night had gone by, the depot was dark
and the only person on the platform was
a Waterman. | hoped some one would
come and open conversation with him,
in the course of which | might casually
find clue to what had.been done with
l>.>5u fo~ of "nrrsn hn vy0nld ha varv
likely to know. But the only persons
who came were brakemen on the top of
moving freight trains, who simply
shouted "Hey! Jimr' or playfully SHE'D
chunks of coal at him, social advances
to which he responded by such ejacula-
tons, profane or otherwise, as the occa-
sions seemed specifically to demand.
An inexplicable fascination tempted
me to follow and haunt the car in which
had last seen my body, which sought
to excuse to myself by hope the porter
might when he walked say something in
my presence about it. So he did. In
the Jersey City depot, while the passen-
gers were leaving the train and he was
gathering up the soiled linen, he sud
denly stopped, threw open a window
and beckoned to him a dingy platform
sweeper.
"'Lijah," he exclaimed. hurriedly,
with an air of suppressed excitement
and mystery, go n play the death gig,
Play it for all you's wuf."
"Man or woman"
"Man. Died on the train dis mawnin. f"
"'M'm."
That was all. They resumed their
duties. My supposed demise was to
them simply an inspiration for policy"
play. l don't know when any little
thing ever depressed me more. So;
was deemed dead. Strange that some
one had not sense enough to discover
the fact of my having simply strolled
away in my astral form! would have
imagined that so common and natural
thing could not have failed to be at least
suspected by almost anybody.
Pondering upon the unpleasant con-
sequences to me which might ensue if
there We're not timely correction of
that misunderstanding, l strolled alb
sentmindedly with the passengers
through the depot and aboard the ferry
boat. Moving in this way sometimes
temporarily forget that l am not in my
body until some incident recalls me to
recognition of the fact 1t is perhaps
hardly worth speaking of, being such
common experience in our astral inter-
ludes, but always find it vexatious and
irritating to have persons walk through
me. And it happens so often. OF course
it is easy enough to dodge those you
meet, and if you sail along over their
heads you have no trouble, but moving
in crowd on its level you are almost
certain to find some one installing you
for empty space come plunging through
you from behind or lurching into you
sidewise in your unguarded moments.
Both those things occurred to me that
unlucky morning. a fat German wom-
an, with huge market basket on her
arm, almost wrecked me, and / had
scarcely got my disarranged parts col
lected and in place again when, in going
off the boat, a pretty, delicate looking
young girl was jammed right into the