The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1897-12-16
VENGEFUL IN DEATH.

CISCO l had known him but slightly,
the acquaintance having come about
through his interest in some stories
which had published, and which he
had a way Of calling psychological
studies" He was dreamy, romantic,
fine grained lad, proud as tiger lily
and sensitive as bluebelL What mad
caprice led him to join the army never
knew, but did know that there he was
wretchedly out of place, and foresaw
that his rude and repellent environ
ment would make of him in time de-
serter or "a suicide or murderer The
letter at first seemed wild outpouring
of despair, for it informed me that be-
fore it should reach me it's author would
be dead by his own hand But when l
had read further understood it's spirit
and realized how coolly formed a
scheme it disclosed and how terrible its
| purport was intended to be. The worst
of the contents was the information
that certain officer (whom he namely
had driven him to the deed, and that he
was committing suicide for the sole
purpose of gaining thereby the power
to revenge himself upon his enemy. l
learned afterward that the officer had
received similar letter
| This was so puzzling that sat down
! to reflect upon the young mans pecul-
! iarities. He had always seemed some
what uncanny and had l proved more
| sympathetic he doubtless would have
! gone further and told me Of certain
problems which he professed to have
solved concerning the life beyond this.
| One thing that he had said came back
vividly, "If l could only overcome that
purely gross and animal love of life that
makes US all shun death, would kill
myself, for I know how far more pow
erful could be in spirit than in flesh. !"
The manner of the suicide was star
Ting, and that was what might have
been expected from this odd character.
Evidently scorning the fummery of fu-
nerals, he had gone into little canyon
near the military reservation and blown
himself into million fragments with
dynamite, so that all of him that was
found was some minute PARTICLES of
flesh and bone.
l kept the letter secret, for de-
sired to observe the officer without rous-
ing his suspicion of my purpose. 1t
would be an admirable test of dead
mans power and deliberate intention to
haunt the living, for so interpreted
| the letter The officer thus to be pun
| ished was an oldish man, short, apo
| plectic, overbearing and irascjhle. Gen
| orally he was kind to most of the men
+ in a way, but he was gross and mean,
and that explained sufficiently his harsh
treatment of young Gratmar, whom he
could not understand, and his efforts to
break that Tightly young mans spirit.
Not very long after the suicide GER
| tain notifications in the officers con-
| duct became apparent to my watchful
| oversight. His choler, though none the
| less sporadic, developed a quality which
! had some of the characteristics of senil-
ity, and yet he was still in his prime
| and passed for sound man. He was a
| bachelor and had lived always alone,
but presently he began to shirk solitude
at night and court it in daylight His
brother officers chaifed him, and there
| upon he would laugh in rather forced
and silly fashion quite different from
| the ordinary way with him, and would
sometimes, on these occasions, blush SO
! violently that his face would become
almost purple. His soldierly alertness
and sternness relaxed surprisingly at
times and at others were exaggerat-
ed into unnecessary acerbity, his con-
duct in this regard suggesting that of a
drunken man who knows that he is
drunk and who now and then makes a
brave effort to appear sober All these
things and mora, indicating some mental
strain or some dreadful apprehension,
or perhaps something worse than either,
were observed partly by me and partly
by an intelligent officer whose watch
upon the man had been secured by me-
To be more particular, the afflicted
man was observed often to start sudden
| ly and in alarm, lock quickly round and
make some unintelligent monosyllabic
answer, seemingly to an inaudible ques-
ton that no visible person had asked.
+; He acquired the reputation, too, of hav-
ing taken lately to Nightmares, for in
the MIDDLE Of the night he would Shrek
in the most dreadful fashion, alarming
his roommates prodigiously. After these
attacks he would sit up in bed, his rud-
/ dy face devoid of coloc, his eyes CLASSY
and shining, his breathing broken with
gasps and his body wet with cold per-
spiration.
/ knowledge Of these developments and
transformations spread throughout the
! garrison, but the few tmostly wonen)
who dared to express sympathy or sug-
! gest tonic encountered SO violent re,
!, bluffs that they blessed heaven for escap.
ing alive from his word voiieys Even
! the garrison surgeon, who had kindly
manned. and the commanding general,
who was constructed OH dignified and
impressive lines, received little thanks
for their solicitude. Clearly the doughty
| old officer. who had fought like bull
dog IN two wars and q hundred BATTLES