The record-union., 1894-12-29

| miniature carvings of marvelously
wrought monkeys, serpents and birds.
The stopper was also of wood and still
more strlklngly carved than the phial it
sell. ltwaS finally returned with exclama-
tlons of curiosity and surprise. Its very ex-
lstence among us seemed to have intensi-
| hed our super-sensitive alertness to the
lnnuence OF ghostlineSs and dread.
Some years since," he began while
| holding the phial fascinatingly before u.s.
| between the thumb and middle finger
| with the air of conjurer, ~ was aim
lessly wandering in the British Indian
districts of Chittagong, across the Bay of
| Bengal from Calcutta.
In the little city of Islambad rescued,
| through the influence of personal friend
ship with British officials, fakir of great
age and sanctity, from the. to him, in
effaceable degradation of Imprisonment
for some of his forbidden practices. He
| departed from the city to his hut in the
mountains abOve-after promising to re-
turn and requlte me and securing my
pledge that l would remain in Islambad
| until the evening of the fifth day-by his
| peculiar and outiandish method of loco
| motion, that of rolling in q round coil
| like hoop-snake, end over end; and at
! once dismissed the incident from my
mind as an interesting phase of Oriental
| lie, never expecting to see the hideous
and repulsive wretch again.
But he kept his promise. On the even
ing of the fifth day, having been sum
| moned to the courtyard of my inn,
| found the venerable takir awaiting me-
more emaciated and wretched in appear
| ance than before; the outcome he assert
| ed, OF self-imposed suffering and torture
coupled with fasting, incantations and
other horrible practices, which had pro-
duced the contents of this curious little
| phial which you now see. This, he said
was to be my priceless reward"
Here he paused for a moment The
wind sighed lugubriously. The footballs
| above us seemed penetrating our apart
ment, and ghostly hands, some of us
tancled, were fluttering from the dark
| panels behind.
II have forgotten" resumed the Aim
| less Traveller nonchalantly, 1.-THE many
marvellous potents attributed by my In
| dian friend to what still remains within
this phlal, for 1t has never been opened,
! but recall one ascribed power with es-
pecial clearness tonight, from the pecul-
lar and may say startling phenomena
which have similarly affected every one
| of US here.
sit is this: When this powder is cast
upon the fire, SO long as its flames shall
continue. every object near US will be
clearly dlscernable. Every soul within
this inn will be subject to our instant
inspection. 1t will chain spectral spirits
to our bidding. 1t will even, so its maker
asserted, reveal the secrets of the dead.
one condition only must eXist-that we
who invoke this spell must be one of
| mind and heart, and these solely bent on
! good intent. Travellers all, shall this
Eastern spell be wrought"
We had lnvoluntarily huddled together
and whispered. half-shuddering assent
was family given.
| The Aimless Traveller stepped quickly
/ fnrnaH of
softly to the fireplace and tossed the con-
tents of the phlal among the brightest
| embers.
| For brief period of time a sickening
odor filled the room. This was followed
by dense darkness, in which were sti-
he'd exclamatlons and quick graspings of
| each others hands and arms. Suddenly
| fierce tongues OF flame leaped roaringly
up the chimney. succeeded again by i'm
| penetrable darkness and gloom; and in a
moment more supernatural light fl
| tered through and through every divi-
sion wall and every floor and ceiling of
| the ancient inn.
| Every guest in every apartment. every
scene of anxiety, placidity or festlvity
was as clearly revealed as though we
were participants in each. Every beam.
every rafter, every bent and gnarled piece
of studding, every lath, every brick and
every dauD OF mortar, while retaining it's
| AO1 liz " as SblII VI dusluC6UC anu
clear as pane of polished glass.
The most astounding feature of this
condltlon was that our own bodies were
as pellucent as all other material things.
! 1t even seemed that the action of each
others vital organs, the wondrous Jour
neys OF blood. the depositing of molecu-
lar particles and the displacement and
| renewal of tissues, and even that hitherto
lmpenetrable mystery, the very action
and thought formulation of the brain.
were momentarily subject to most minute
analyzation by our still ordinarily con-
scious minds.
Whether this miracle of oriental diabol-
ism continued for moments or minutes
at last, as If with one impulse of mental
concentration, the material sight and the
spiritual mind of our company were
turned toward the source of the still i'm
perative footballs above us.
one glance, glance quickly and sue
cesslvely transformed from intense and
curious interest to surprise pitv and in
dignant protest, sutficed to disclose the
material personality and environment of
the wralths who had so insstively and
recurrently dlspossessed us of nearly
every happy spirit of the night
In an almost wlndowless garret, corre-
spending precisely with the dimensions
OF our own apartment, were an old, old
man of peculiarly commanding head and
shoulders and body dwindling to almost
nothingness in its downward course.
like shriveled beet, and a little old
woman companion. tramp, tramp, tramp
ing, in some remorseless vigil that must
be done.
The room was furnitureless and fire.
less. One deal table, a bed on which Law
scant but cleanly rags, few volumes of
lldleSs books and stacks upon stacks of
dusty, dog-eared manuscript, with few
valueless belongings and keepsakes of
better days, were all the bitterly cheer
less place contained.
The old mans face was already set and
vacuous, as though the irrevocabilitv of
hopeleSsneSS was almost fixed behind If
The wlfe's pinched and bloodless face
was stamped with the lines and shapings
of that heroism which only death can
dim or end: and slight and fragile as She
was. she seemed to quite sustain her
companion upon his feeble and reluctant
feet.
With fierce and hopeful energy she
pressed him on and on, now and then
chating his trembling hands while cheer
lily urging:
Have courage, father dear! The Goals
are gone, but it is brave way we have of
keeping nice and warm! Faith, now,
this Is the way, sixty years ago, we
tramped the nils behind old Youghal by
the sear'
"Yes, yes, Kate, love!-but will thew
never 2" he moaned while YEARLY
hanging back as if to listen and to rest.
Come, Is it? Can't you see the face OF
ST. PauPs dial there? 1t lacks nigh an
hour of twelve Holy Mother of God
Look down in mercy here" This with
averted head. ou wouldn't ask them
to come before the year was done; now
would you, father dear ?''