Arizona republican., 1899-11-30
THE COMING OF AzRAEL

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 shadow but had hoped he might con-
 tinue on in the circle of his flight and
 not perch upon our roof tree. The
 bright days since the middle of OctO- Der had somewhat frightened the gloom. We were further buOyed up by the great cheerfulness of the girl who
 never doubted that she would
 meet her bridegroom early in De- cember, but she said November was so dark, she could not see
 her way through it. I told her it was a much sunnier month than the last. "Oh, yes" she replied, it is now but I am afraid it will be cloudy; but it will come out all right; it cannot be cloudy forever in Arizona where there is so much sunshine. But oh. I wish November was past, Thanksgiving day, for that was when my illness first overlook me. It isn't long though, only two weeks and then I'll be safe''
 It wasn't long, but too long. One morning a little after midnight we stood by her bedside, the doctor, a skilled nurse e weeping woman and whimpering little boy afraid of some thing he didn't know what. He wanted to escape and asked, May I kiss Ella?'' He kissed her forehead and without opening her eyes she stroked his hair and he went out crying to his bed.
 I asked the doctor if she could live twenty-four hours, foN her father was coming. He replied that he feared not. If he could hold her through the near approaching period when all nature is ebbing she might be borne back on the rising tide of another day, but after that she would certainly be carried out into the sea. He would do what he could. Then we waited The girl moved and tossed frequently con- scious and complaining of intense pain The nurse held her hand constantly. The weeping woman stroked her fore head and vainly called her by her name. The doctor stood impassive but watchful. When the girl grew susplc- iousIy quiet. the usual stimulants were administered but there was at length not the usual response. It would have been better to let the ebbing tide have her but I again adjured the doctor to hold her back, for her father must then be already in Arizona and would certainly come within twelve hours. It was a foolish sentiment which made us give the girl all this pain. What was it to her that her father should see her merely animate but forever sense- less? We had for twenty-fOur hours withheld payment of Q debt of nature and nature charges usurious interest in agony and pain on debts that are due and unpaid.
 The doctor could no longer find Q pulse. He brought out bot tie filled with a colorless liquid which I think he called artificial blood, designed to briefly carry on the work which the red blood has laid down in despair. It was applied and We waited, of all four the most ignorant of the signs which were to tell whether or not the experiment was a failure. l had curiously never seen the face Of one dying. I had seen death in many forms overtake men. by water, by fire by gunshot and knife wound. ] once picked out a human arm yet warm and dripping from the ruin of rail- way train and once saw man sud denly pass from life to death with fear fuI contortions but I did not see his face which was covered by a horrible black mask. So had never seen death painting his picture on the human countenance.
 .Is she going now?" l asked the doc tor. "She is still breathing" he re- piled. Then the jaws fell apart and the eyes turned in their sockets. turned to the face of the nurse for the sign of the last moment. She was still holding the hands of the girl but her face gave out nothing. At length she arose and leaning over looked at +1n iah 9 amid a multitude of bottles. That was the sign. It was ten minutes past three and the girl was dead. When I turned to the doctor he was putting on his hat. The weeping woman had gone out and was sitting on the porch, her cries mingling with the early twittering of the birds ana the bowling of a dog near by.
 She returned and assisted the nurse in closing the eyes of the girl, replac- ing the fallen jaw and composing the limbs.
 The doctor went away and half an hour later men came with a low, black covered wagon. They took long bier of basket-work from it and carrying it to the bedside, with the skill which comes of practice they quickly trans
 
 witE.-a white cloth whose outlines pre- sented a dreadfully grotesque resemb- lance to the human form. The men carried their burden out and drove away. I gathered up the clothing Of the bed and carried it out. Then l closed the door of the deserted room and sitting beside the weep | ing woman looked at the fire un- til the dawn came. meditating upon the darkness of November and the nearness of Thanksgiving. still just a week away. Later in the day I went to see what the men had done with the girl. Tn stern cold lines from head to feet Some strange thing lies beneath the
 sheet I knew it well a day ago: Now what it is I do not know. But yesterday all loveliness, From dimpled feet to silken tress: The beauty and the grace are there The life, soul. spirit, that is where?