Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-09-24


He lifted the rein, opened his lips, oue
only said
my name is Luther Luther, the
undertaken. They all know me ne'e.
MY old style carriage stops lor some Of
them nearly every month in the year.
| ring the bell"
"a common name in this country
am told
There was white waxy look in lis
face as of one who had gone partner
with Death,
We came TO the still shadows Of
wood. The sun seemed TO go out OF 1t
as ii were, leaving a golden rain on
the lightly famed leaves. Wild grapes
hung on the oaks and jumpers; Indian
pipe had sprung up by the dry brook,
and the witch hazels that bloom in tae
fall, here and there outspread their
tents Of green.
1T is proper still here" said Luther,
the undertaken Il like still woods
when the year is beginning to chanEe,
don't you? But you are young; we feel
EIdUEE1
grow older. Doctor, | want to ask
one questionable Is a good place o
ask IT, all around is SO stu now. Does
the soul contain the body, or the BODY
this soul? Come low, that ought TO
be an easy one for a doctor like you?
ASK me that question some other
day later My view is that the soll
contains the body-what we call the
body is merely living machine; col
lection Of organs that serve the pur-
poses OF the soul So it seems to me.
yes, and | reckon 1t g sensible
one in the main. | think that W.!
too. But doctor, want to ask you e n
other one. Can the soul ever act out
side Of the organs Of the body. Can 1t
ever see without eyes, or hear without
ears. and know hings that are lar
away, of It's own self Could it ever
90 away from the body and come be. k
again. doctor? Go away and knock on
door? | don't mean what they call
spiritual rappings and such"
"No-neYer!" spoke firmly. / vas
: btSIlilHS W l'Ni a. eVl dbSO lhtcl'7S -
this white faced man.
Are you quite sure, doctor?'
Quite sure. Why do you ask cheese
strange questions? What have you
heard to suggest them?"
Something curious happened on he
might when Placde died When |
went over to the Ark TO take the
measure for the Coifin, the widow, she
that is Plaelde's mother, she told ne
about il. but she made me promise not
\ to tell what she told me. never saw
thinner body than Placide's was
I when we laid him out on the family
/ board where | had laid OF. his father
/ before him. The old families keep
and their own grave clothes, too, for
that matter, winding sheets and things
and all Curtis (cIrious), amt it? b L,
/ doctor, let the st,ange thing that hap
i pened on the night that Placide died
/ pass now; | want to ask you one more
\ question in these still woods see. the
/ sunlight is opening ahead. If the soul
could see without eyes and near win
out ears, and leave the body and come
back again, Il has life Of its own,
hasn't II now. doctor? Then the nYing
might haunt the living as we'll as the
dead the living"
Your conclusion is logical | can
see the drift Of your mind But you
have awakened my curiosity as to what
leads you to ask these questions What
strange thing was it that happened On
the night when Plaeide died?"
Il cannot tell you now you VIII
know sometime, perhaps. Maybe Inc
widow herself viii tell YOU all about
it, See those straw hives over in that
peach orchard they used to go and
tell the bees when poop died tney
have some queer customs in these
parts But here We are in the open
road again You didn't open to me
much light in the still wood what
are your books for?'
| had thought OF these things before,
X seemed strange, however that sucn
queries should be haunting the IRAN
of this waxy faced man. An unsteady
/ light at times came into his eyes. A
mystery II some kind was haunting
him, and | gathered from his sugges-
tions that It concerned the appearance
IF living man to living man it dis
lance perhaps, but certainly the flesh.
Such objects had long Interested me,
Luther the undertaken, was he a real
man. With whom was | riding2 Hls
hands that he told mic had Studded
many coffin, looked like the haais
of the dead He would look up to me
suddenly and then drop his eyes tie
once said And he went out, AMI II
was night He repeated these words
slowly with an absent tone can
hear them now.
We passed the Nayatt woods, and
the village or tewn Of harrington.
when d lovely expanse Of meadow and
water burst upon our view, and est
Of it rose a dark tower and white spire.