The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-04
BIZ KENNETT y. HARRIS.

IN the science OF Interpretation OF
dreams il is a thing generally accepted as
positive and incontrovertible that the
dreamer who reaches the termination OF
hssdlong aerial flight from the summit OF
dizzy precipice or a remote planet dies
on that instRnt-just as he would IL the
preciplee or planet was what the vulgar
call real, meaning material. There Is no
need Of inquiriug too euriously how this
mortuary conclusion was arrived at in the
first place. because the ordinary methods
6f reasoning fail when applied TO certain
Investigations. The fact is sometimes dis
covered by methods psychioal rather than
logical-anybody knows that.
Anybody knows. too, that one iavaria-
bly, wakes up mid flight alive and in q
cold perspiration. and. this being the case,
II Is not even illogical 10 suppose that IL
he hit the bottom. persplration and anima-
tiQn would alike cease and terminate ever
lastingly. Then there is the well authen-
ticated case OF Mr.. Edward La Motto.
which is an exception, and ought to prove
the general rule.
Mr.. La Motto hit the bottom. He hit ii
hard, according to the story that re told
his friends some time after. This may be
accounted for by the fact that he woke up
on the floor in a tangle of bed clothes al
the foot of the bed But IL does not have
TO be accounted for. He did not wake up
until after he lit, and he did not die on the
instant. How many stories that Babel
tower elevator took him he does not at
tempt to recall. He went up, up, up swift
as the rockets flight. until the haIf-naked
children of men toiling with their rotten
bricks and slime on Shinar's plain below
were shifting speeks in his straining eyes.
From inches In the massive circular ma
sonry weird faces showed themselves.
glaring at him with hopeless. terror-in-
spring eyes. Fingers, upon which blood
mixed horribly with eaking yellow ooze.
beckoned TO him or were shaken at him
furiously and threateningly.
You've passed my floor" said Mr.. La
Motto to the elevator man.
But the elevator man, probably under
standing nothing but archaic Hebre a.
only turned his pale, olive face toward
MIN and moved the lever to accelerate the
speed Of the flying prison. He was a ne
cuilarly taciturn sort of chan. this eJeva-
tor man, altogether as lean as famine 50
tail that Mr.. La Motto had to throw his
mead well back to see his face. and ,xi.b
awful, mysterious eyes. His uniform was
Waisteloth embroidered with green
snakes that writhed about the fabric. and
now and then escaped from it. falling "a
the hoor of the elevator and then vanish.
ing with a loud hiss.
wish you would stop" implored Mr..
ID Motle, N not feeling well. The soft
smell crabs ! ate for supper last night
must have disagreed with me-"
mat was an absurd thing to saw he
cause Mr.. La Motto knew perfectly well
IndI Ioar centuries had elapsed since he
walked into the rotunda OF the tower
BUT the elevator continued to shoot nm
ward and the grisly, spectral faces and
the waving arms and hands became thick-
er lhan ever until at last they cleared
ti tLe summit or the tower and scared
through the ceol night air toward the
stars.
AND now the genii OF the upper air. gi-
gantic and In terrible shapes, came rush