The times., 1898-11-27

where ! set my feet as / stepped down
onto the porch. / crossed the porch, de-
scended the steps, walked down the path
and into the street There i stopped and
looked about me- never saw that street
more distinctly than l saw it then. 1
took note of the redness of the soil and of
the washes the rain had made. l took a
rather pathetic look about me, like one
who Is about to leave his home for long
time. Then / discovered that / had be-
come larger than was in earth life and
congratulated myself thereupon. 1 was
somewhat smaller in the body than l
Just liked to be, but in the next life. l
thought, ] am to be as / desired. My
clothes, l noticed had accommodated
themselves to my increased stature, and
fell to wondering where they came from
and how they got on to me so quickly
and without my knowledge. l examined
the fabric, and judged 1t to be of some
kind of Scotch material-a good suit,
thought but not handsome; still, neat
and good enough. The coat fits loosely,
too and that IS we'll for summer. How
well feel 1 thought. only few min
utes ago was horribly sick and Distress
ed. Then came that change called death.
which have so much dreaded. 1t is past
now. and here am I. still a man, alive
and thinking--yes. thinking as clearly as
ever, ana now well feeli'
In the exuberance OF my Joy at the
thought that l would never be sick again,
l danced in high gleec~ 1 then noticed
that could see the back of my coat with
the eyes of my old body. while my spir-
itual eyes were looking forward. / dis
covered that small cord. like the thread
of a spiders web. ran from my shoulders
back to my body and was attached to 1t
at the base of the neck in front. Then
passed through the air upheld by a pair
of hands which l could feel pressing
lightly on my sides. travelled at a swift
but pleasant rate OF speed until l ar
rived on a narrow but well-built roadway
inclined upward at an angle of Is de-
grees. 1t was about as far above the
treetops as it was below the clouds. The
roadway seemed TO have no support, but
was built of milky quartz and white sand.
Feeling very lonely. / looked for a COM
panlon, and as a man dies every twenty
seconds l thought I ought not to have
long to wait before some one would
travel my way. But I could see no one.
AT last. when / was beginning to feel
miserable. a face full of ineffable love
and tenderness appeared to me. Right
in front Of me I saw three prodigious
rocks blocking the road. voice spoke
to me from a thunder cloud. saying:
This is the road to the eternal world:
once you pass them you can no more re-
turn to the body" There were four en-
frances, one very dark; the other three
led into a cool. quiet and beautiful coun-
try. l desired to go in. but when l reach
ed the exact center Of the rock ! was
suddenly stopped. / became unconscious
again and when | awoke l was lying in
my bed. l awoke to consciousness and
soon recovered
This narrative was written out b. the
doctor eight weeks after the thing S,cur-
red. but he told the story to those at the
bedside as soon as he revived. The doctor
who attended him said that the breath
was absolutely extinct so far as could be-
observed. and every symptom marking
the patient as dead was present.