The Dickinson press., 1896-10-31

q bit upset. 1t has made me feel horrib-
" tired. I'll 90 and lie down In the boat
for a while and let you fellows finish
your smoke. I've got a bit OF a head
"sAlackay, you're crying exclaimed
Wilson, and the sweat Is simply
pouring down your face. You're pretty
badly hurt
"tCrying! shouted Phil. Wilson,
that dagger Is poisonedk'
"'P0isoned? You don't mean
eyes, I. do. It's "wourali." copious
secretion of sweat and tears, headache,
feeling of extreme lassitude- these are
the exact symptoms. on with that
bandage, Mac
I" Good heavens! he done for said
Wilson.
.Done for. Not a bit Of it. or with
that bandage; I'm yoing to suck the
wound!
II had just got energy enough left to
protest against his doing this, hut he In
sisted, and I was too feeble to- prevent
him.
Nonsense, man, he said; I'm safe
enough. The stuff isn't q poison taken
internally, even IL I do manage to swal-
low some
HE put his lips to the wound and
then l closed my eyes and everything
became blank.
ut must have been hours afterwards
that I began slowly to regain. I can't
ssy consciousness, but an indefinite
sensation of existence and horrible
WEAKNESS. 1t seemed to me that l was
swimming on and on somewhere In q
vague, p~urposcless way, and I was very
tired. / call it swimming, but that isn't
nm nv0nf dissertation Ro11v6 fool INV
arms moving back and fore with q
steady, rhythmical motion, but the rest
of my body was absolutely still. I was
almost suffocating for want Of air, but
didn't seem to have strength to gasp.
How long that sensation lasted I can't
say, but It must have been a very long
time. I wouldn't voluntarily go through
another hour of such llnutterable and
helpless misery for anything you could
offer me. 1 tell you it has given me my
theory of what future punishment may
be like.
CAS- consciousness gradually returned
the feeling Of infinite weakness became
more and more unbearable. My arms
were still swinging backward and for
ward like a couple Of animated pump
handles, and I was quite unable either
to stop them or to move any other part
of my body. Try and imagine the SEN
sation; it was simply awful.
'Phil told me afterward that the Pc
culiarity of 'wourali' poisoning is that
IL the dose is not very large only the
nerves Of motion are paralyzed, while
those of sensation become abnormally
sensitive. I knew everything that was
going on around me, and 1 could hear
every word they said, but I couldn't
even wink to let them know I was
alive.
"They had stuck a knife handle be-
tween my teeth to keep my mouth open
and the WEAKNESS in my arms was
caused by the fact that for nearly a
day and q night Phil and Wilson had
been taking it in turns to practice ar
tificial respiration on ME.
"tEdgerton,' I heard Wilson say. do
you think it's any good going on longer:
He has not breathed now for twenty
hours. I believe he Is dead
"'W will go on as long as we can
stand it! said Phil, and l blessed him
for 1t. If we can only keep the arti-
fetal. respiration going till the poison
Is eliminated he will recover. For Gods
sake. keep it up as long as you can,
Wilson,
eff you think there is the slightest
chance Of saving him I'll go on; but
don't think l can last out much longer
".He is still warm, Wilson, and ]
won't give up hope as long as that Is
so.'
THAT was a nice, cheerful converse.
ton to overhear, wasn't it? Listeners
never hear good of themselves, it is
said, but I doubt whether the most per
sistent e%avesdropper ever had the
pleasure Of hearing a man pronounce
him dead without being able to contra
dict the statement. If. 1 hadn't begul
to breathe spontaneously pretty soor
after that I should never have had thu
opportunity Of contradicting it. Phi
and Wilson couldn't have gone or
much longer. How they kept up fol
the length of time they did l have
never been able to understand The
power of friendship is very much un
derrated.
at must have been about two hour.
after Wilson had declared that I was
dead that Phil saw my eyelids begil
to twitch.
".At last, Wilson, he cried. Go ant
get some water from the river
"They dashed the cold water owe
me, and it caused me to gasp slightly
It was enough. I had begun t
breathe again. They carried me to tn,
boat and as soon as they saw the dan
ger was over they sat down on the bot
tom boards and fell fast asleep. In
very few minutes after them I wa,
asleep, too.
"Nearly fifteen hours after that
awoke, feeling rather weak and faint
but otherwise as right as a trivet. TIL,
other two were still asleep and I di,
not wake them.
"This is the story, and I don't thinl
I was guilty Of an exaggeration whel
I told you that for a day and a night
had known what death was. A ma
who remains for twenty-four hour
without once drawing q breath ma,
fairly claim to be dead, I Think
Chambers Journal.
----. $4,000