Evening star., 1902-09-13


been mistaken-at any rate the sight of him
niied me with so much rage that / rushed
over to him, thfeaterhd him; did more, l
struck sa him, kicksa hip, nothing of which
ne was sensible. TT was too bad.
Geratd1ne did not come. l waited heart
broken for her. would-she come? The old
man surely would not keep her. He was a
pretty good felloE, after all-he is devoted
TO our youngest daughter now. I thought
ne. ne certainly AMY, might bring her. did not go
OUT; l could not bear fY leave my lonesome
looking body In the eolfin I had no heart
ior further adventures, anyway. I was in
tensely cramped from lying so long In one
postelen.when pos tesi Gle | am going to be ere
says, however, she win not hear of that.
deraidlne told me afterward that she
passed the day in longing for me to come
did not; besides being continually impressed
WIN premonition that something was
gong TO happen. Finally, toward night on
me second day of my anomalous situation,
Ihary-sooo and faithful Mary-bethough
herseif to go and tell Geraldine. On hear
ing the news that noble girl promptly
1alnted. She recovered herself, however,
anu .nrough Mary's aid, managed to get
out OF the house and come down to see me.
was looking at myself very dejectedly
IN the parlor, half dead from loss of sleep,
munger and thirst, and wholly crazy from
loss of love and my dreadful prospects,
surmised they would bury me tomorrow
Wnen heard the outside door open, IA
mliiar and yet nervous step sounded in the
nan, ana then the parlor door opened. !
hao recognized the step. 1t was Geraldine,
put now changed! l forgot myself and my
trouble, and as she threw herself down on
net knees and clasped me In her arms and
Kissed me | suffered for her agony thou
sand times worse than for mine. Great
heavens! Was ever man in such a predic-
ament? l bent over her in despair, and as
she turned her face up in prayer | kissed
her lips again She sprang to her feet ana
screamed.
oh, he is not dead, I am sure of it.
felt him kiss me! 1 cannot be mistaken!
Mary, send for papa, and tell him to bring
MS newest and most powerful storage bat
terry along. am sure Harry is not dead.
Hurry, hurry"
So it was from Geraldine herself that this
new Idea of torture emanated. Oh, why
could they not let a disembodied spirit alone
In Its peaceful misery An electric battery
could do no good, and it would be worse
than the burnt feather.
Old Mr.. HoIabird was an electrician and
an enthusiast. He would have sacrificed
his best friend to an experiment, and con-
sequently did not hesitate to come and try
upon me whom he had hated so bitterly
previous to the unfortunate dissolution OF
partnership between my body and spirit.
He was soon ia the parlor and the servant
following after him with the battery. He
was angry and astonished at seeing Geral-
dine, but his experiment was too engrossing
for much time to be wasted upon her.
Having obtained the consent of my poor
old father, he began taking off my shoes,
and then my socks-I blushed crimson
at least my spiritual entity did-my
physical body, l must confess, betrayed no
evidence of shame at the exposure, and be-
fore Geraldine. too, Mary and father and
the rest of the family looked on with anX-
iety and little apparent faith. Geraldine
stood beside me, resting one hand against
my breast and gazing at me as If not to
lose the faintest sign of life l might show.
Her father, all business and energy, at
tached the wires with reckless want of
ceremony, | thought in wretchedly bad
taste. must confess | hoped from the re-
suit of this experiment but family; now
ever, there might be something in 1t. so
stood with my arm around Geraldine ana
my head resting upon her shoulder-spfrit-
ually. of COurse--as the connection was
made.
l was quiet enough for just one millionth
of a second till I felt the power of the
current 1t was awful. worse than any
other experiments | groaned in anguish
while that fiendish old man made the cur
rent stronger and stronger. and that mlser-
able placid body Of mine lay there as calm
and as unfeelng as log, while l was in
torment | flew at the old man, clenched
my hands in his hair. grasped him around
the throat, did everything, and yet had to
bear a current strong enough to have Killed
a dozen men, added to which was the an
guish of feeling my last hope vanish. was
doomed.
The scientific fervor of old Holabird was
al last satisfied, and he allowed the current
to die down to one of much less intensity,
merely keeping as he said, a little on In
case of an emergency. A little! 1t felt like
ten tooth aches run into one, but was SO
much less than before that 1t seemed al
most like a caress in the first moment of
relief
While I was standing there heipiessly
wondering what they would do with me the
old man walked up to Geraldine, who stood
wringing her hands looking at me, with her
1ct pnp
Come, Geraldine, We must go; the man
is dead"
LIAR I shrieked, but no one heard me.
and there is no use staying here" he
continued. 81 tell you you must come! |
promised John Haverford that you would
see him tonight. He asked for your hand
and I consented today
Oh l could have begged him to turn on
the electricity again; each pang fate had In
store for me was worse than before. Ger
aldine answered gioriously:
But have not consented"
What difference? I say you shall marry
hlm"' he said. grasping her wrist
"And I say I will not. 1 will be faithful
to my dear, dead Harry here"
Nonsense; you shall marry Haverford;
you mustH'
At this moment a strange thing occurred.
Geraldine wrenched herself away from her
father threw herself upon the physical
half of me and whispered. "1h die with
him first"
Something passed over me a@ binding
lightning fash and behold! the body IN the
coffin struggled sat up, clasped trembling
arm about Geraldine and exclaimed:
IL am not dead. Geraldine, and you. you
internal old villain, get out Of my SIGHT!
Take off the battery and give me something
to eat and drink
The spirit had entered my body again.
My love for Geraldine and her love for me
had wrought the miracle, just as anxiety
for her and love for her had wrought the
first change. Aye, through love the world
IS made and destroyed.
There is nothing more to tell My story
was 50 circumstantial people generally be-
lieye it, in spite of the learned doctors, who
hold 1t to have been merely case of sus-
pended animation. In my mind and Geral-
dimes. however there IS no doubt about 1t.
Besides, does not the learned Archidechus
say-but never mind, If 1t We're not for this
affair Geraldine says she might have been
years finding out her heart, as she did when
she thought me dead, and her father never
would have consented to our marriage as
he did.
He is very kind to US now, and we are
very happy, and have only one anxiety,
lest my spirit should ever take to wander
ing off again. Geraldine says if 1t does she
Will marry John Haverford-who is still
fo. t,a,-hut 7 know bot iS op1v n