The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-08-04
FRANKLIN La, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1900
fact Of his presence by the same louc

fact OF his presence by the same lou
rap of his tail
The old man remained in this rosi
tion for some time lie was thinkin
OF the years that had passed since hi
wife had been taken from him, an
now he believed the time short unit
he should meet her. Save for thos
who mInistered to his comfort, an
were paid for their services, he hat
lived alone, with only the companion
ship of dog. Amzie was the thir.
mastiff that had enjoyed the privileg
of lying at his feet
'The time is short" he though
aloud, and Amzie Immediately bounded
to his side
"lou are in the habit Of going Will
me for walk at this hour, sir. Com,
I along. | have strange errand to d,
tonight"
Without further conversation will
his dumb companion Philemon walked
! slowly up the street until he reaches
the village furniture and undertaking q
establishment Here he paused as
though somewhat undecided whe:he,
to enter. A dim light burned in the
rear of the store, though the front re
manned in darkness. Finally Phile
mon entered the dimly lighted build
ing in hesitating manner. The pro-
prletor came out of the back room, and
upon recognizing his visitor cordially
welcomed him.
When he had selected a coffin and
given directions as to how he wishe |
it trimmed, lie left the astonished un-
dertaker and walked toward the home
of fellow psychist.
After seriously considering the mat
ter, Philemon had decided to visit
this man and explain the state of hi.
feelings regarding the spiritual phe-
nomena, as he was pleased to consider
the occurrence in the doctors Office
that morning. His friend listened at
tentively until he had finished; then
he laughed.
'If you neither saw nor heard any.
thing unusual yourself, my opinion is
that those physicians were playing g
joke on you, was the unsatisfactory
reply. And the matter seemed to have
little less serious an aspect to Phile-
mon, though he had gone to- far, and
arranged his earthly affairs prepare.
tory to entering the next world with
too much genuine anxiety, to cast i,
offat the first laugh from his friend.
"Should this matter p:ove to be as
I think will
over my remains, will you not?" he
inquired, half hoping that his time on
earth would end abruptly, if only to
convince the man that he was right.
81 will" was tie grave reply, and
Philemon departed.
His words had not produced the ef
feet upon his friend that he had hoped,
though he still felt convinced of the
genuineness of the warning; and with
the faithful Amzie walked homeward.
repeating few comforting verses OF
Scripture, believing it the proper
thing for man to do who expected
ere long to take that journey from
whence no man returns.
He reached the corner of the street
near his home without speaking to the
dog. 1t had been his custom 10 con
verse with him in confidential man
ner, quite ignoring the fact that he
received no reply; but tonight the
dog seemed to understand his masters
mood and trotted on ahead. Sudden
ly man emerged from Philemon's
gate, ahd Anzie gave bark of recog-
milton. 1t was DR.. EIwell.
Good evening, Mr.. HarventhaI. 1
have been searching for you for an
hour. | thought you seemed some
what disturbed over our hearing
music this morning, and 1 wanted to
tell you that after you left we discoy-
cred that your back had rested against
the thin pipe of the speaking tube
which communicates with my house,
and my daughter was playing the
piano. If you were not so hard of
hearing you probably would have
heard it yourself.
Philemon mumbled something. he !
scarcely knew what, and the doctor
hurried on. But load seemed to
hay Q been suddenly lifted from him.
He now realized that he had eaten
nothing since morning, and understood
hat the faint feeling he had expert.
snced was caused by hunger; though
before he sought food he exclaimed,
Never mind, Amzie; you are pro-
'ided for! [ needed a shock. -
Woman's Home Companion.
A Barbarian's Eedstead.