The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-06

but he gave me no sign-only stood
and gazed toward the couch I had just
left I directed my gaze in the direc-
ton of his, and saw my own dead BODY
"I saw a number of persons sitting
and standing about the body, and par
ticularly noticed two women, apparent
ly kneeling by my left side, and I knew
that they were weeping. l have since
learned that they were my wife ana
my sister, but l had no conception of
individuality. Wife, sister and friend
were all as one to me. did not re-
member any conditions Of relationship:
at least did not think IF any. I could
distinguish sex, but nothing more. Not
one lifted her eyes from my body.
=" I turned and passed out at the open
door, inclining my head and watching
where I set my feet as 1 stepped down
onto the porch. I crossed the porch,
descended the steps, walked down the
path and into the street. There
stopped and looked about me. | never
saw that street more distinctly than l
saw it then. / took note of the redness
of the soil and of the washes the rain
had made. I took a rather pathetic
look about me, like one who is about
TO leave his home for a long time Then
I discovered that | had become larger
than l was in earth life, and congratu-
lated myself thereupon l was some
what smaller in the body than I just
=
thought am to be as I desired. My
clothes, I noticed, had accommodated
themselves to my increased stature, and
fell to wondering where they came
from and how they got on tosme so
quickly and without my knowledge. T
examined the fabric, and judged it 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 | thought.
only a few minutes ago I was horri-
bly, sick and distressed. Then came
| that change called death, which I have
so much dreaded. 1t Is past now, and
here am I, still a man, alive and think
| ing-yes, thinking as clearly as ever,
and how well I feel4'
80 In the exuberance of my joy at the
thought that I would never be sick
again l danced in high glee. then no.
| ticed that I could see the back of my
coat with the eyes of my old body,
while my spiritual eyes were looking
forward I discovered that a small
cord, like the thread of spiders web,
ran from my shoulders back to my
body and was attached to it at the
| base of the neck in front. Then l
passed through the air upheld by a
pair of hands which I could feel press
ing lightly on my sides. I travelled at
swift but pleasant rate of speed I'M
| til l arrived on a narrow but well built
roadway inclined upward at an angle of
% degrees. 1t was about as far above
the treetops as it was below the clouds.
The roadway seemed to have no sup
port, but was built of milky quartz and
white sand. Feeling very lonely I
looked for a companion, and as a man
dies every 20 seconds I thought | ought
not to have long to wait before some
/ one would travel my way. But 1 could
! see no one. At last, when | was be-
ginning to feel miserable, a face full
of ineffable love and tenderness APP
peared to me. Right in front of me ]
saw three prodigious rocks blocking the
road. A voice spoke to me from a thun-
der cloud, saying: This is the road tc
the eternal world once you pass them
you can no more return to the body
There were four entrances, one very
dark; the other three led into a cool
d quiet and beautiful country. I desired
to go in, but when l reached the exact
center of the rock / was suddenly
stopped. l became unconscious agar
and when / awoke. I was lying in my
bed. I awoke to consciousness and soor
recovered
! This narrative was written out BY