Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-20

fCopyrtght, 1909, by Cyrus Townsend Brady)
Common s~ense-hsrd, practical common
sense-is q great and important factor in
this worlds concerns. I am not a COM
mon-sense person myself-though Geraldine
will tell you l am a man OF uncommon
pense-but II Is to common-sense people
that l address ~myself-people who ssy. II
they ever so far forget themselves as to
read "Rappaccini's Daughter for instance.
OF that other story by the gifted son Of
his gifted father, which hides its weird
fascination under the name OF Archibald
Matmaison, and you ask them II they like
the stories "oh, Of course not; l never
heard OF such improbable things. Why,
how is II possible for a man" etc.-it is
10 these people l write.
live in the enterprising western city
Of Kalamanti. Is my family and Geraldine's
family have lived there many years, we are
we'll known, and any Of my neighbors'
among whom are a Judge Of the district
court, retired major general Of the army,
a United States senator and other persons
of undoubted varacity, can afhrm the truth
of the strange incidents, OF which / am
the principal subject. Geraldine will say
that this Is not the only case In which l
am the principal subject-royslly ssumine
for the once-but l digress. Geraldine says
always take too much time in getting at
the point OF the story and, as Geraldine
Is the only critic Of whom l am afraid here
goes:
1, James Henry Rettew. commonly called
Harry, was about 26 years old In the year
of our Lord, 1901. I was a sleepy and Cpeo-
pie say) a dreamy. distracted young man.
Geraldine thinks / am handsome. She Ia
alone In her ~belief-unless ! agree with
her in this as in most things. l was pos
sessed OF a little fortune and was a we'll
informed young man of studious bent, hav-
ing read largely in a rather desultory way
My favorite study was the spiritual essence
or soul OF man, especially my own.
1t is a thing I believe. most people have
though Geraldine says you have to take II
on faith in the case Of a great many peo-
ple. What was It? Where was 1t? This
peryadinE vital force within me? How did
VT exist within my body? What. kept 1t
there? Was death the result Of a disas-
ISOLATION Of the two? Was no man capa-
bic Of ever separating the one from the
other? These are but a sample of the
speouIations in which 1 INDUCED. And 1
actually found myself in the way Of solving
some OF these problems at last. Rummag-
ing in the library Of a deceased philosopher,
I came across a treatise on this very sub
ject by a sage of ancient times, the learned
Egyptian Archidechus. No, Jou Will not
nnd his name in the encyclopedias. / have
purposely altered IT, lest anyone should
search for the pamphlet and finding 1t, be-
come as 1 was-but 1 anticipate, / seized
upon the old moth eaten parchment vol
ume with avidity.
This rare-I do not think there was an
Sther copy ia existence expect the 5as I
read-and wonderful book treated Of the
spirit or essence OF life as distinguished
g.. A.. .nnas ara xtath1a k0dvs the writer
held that 1t was possible to separate the
one from the other. In other words. accord
ing to Archldechus, the spirit might leave
the body and return to 1t at pleasure; in
fact, the writer knew of such a case and
cited Il; he also gave minute directions for
accomplishing this wonderful feat. l shall
not reveal them to you, nor to Geraldine,
though that is the only secret l do not
share with her, so beware how you contde
OF course the thing was ridiculous, no
such separation was possible, so / rea-
soned. There were the directions, how
ever-they fascinated me. ! was always
an imaginative fellow and a great fryer OF
all sorts OF strange experiments, why
should / not try this one? l confded my
intentions to no one. not even Geraldine.
/ locked myself up IN my room and de-
voured the old book. Great stress was
laid upon the faith necessary and the con-
dition OF the mind. 1t was stated that any
violent emotion might be OF great assistance
at the final moment of-shall l call 1t dis
solution?
Now I was at peace with all the world
except John Haverford. Haverford was
in love with Geraldine Holabird, but as
1 felt sure of her affection was not able
10 get up any violent jealousy on his &C
-..,t ~u.raldtna hoe eHpra told me- N shp
had known l felt so confident OF her af-
lection she would have supplied me with
several emotions on that score OF an ex-
ceedinEly violent nature. l don't believe 1t.
However, ! complied with the other di-
~rections and ! even contrived to assume a
reasonable amount of faith, but l could not
quite manage the separation. l could APP
rarently concentrate my vital force on one
spot, for instance, but exert myself as l
would I could not break the tie. The idea
possessed me, I could think OF nothing else.
Geraldine says l was the most intensely
unsatisfactory lover at this time that one
could imagine, and that she had serious
thoughts Of giving me up for John Hayer-
ford.
Our love. which was a secret anair-and
none the less sweet for that, by the way
was violently opposed by the heads OF both
Jour houses. there being some grudge be-
tween them. Although l was devoted to
her and she TO me-, as now know, though
I did not at the time, yet I had never dared
to take more OF a lovers privilege than a
respectful salute upon her hand. Geraldine
was a tall and extremely digni1ed girl,
and how she ever came to meet me clan
destinely and write me those little notes
I have them yeti don't know. She says
she doesn't either.
But 10 come back to my experiment
My want OF complete success preyed upon
me. | grew thin. lost my appetite, could
think Of nothing but that. This, l imagine
was one Of the reasons for my Anal sue
cess. Geraldine says / ought not to have
said that, as II will spoil the denoument
However. II Is too late now. One Afternoon
more than usually discouraged at my re.
peated failure. when I was about to con,
sign the volume to the fre as a false
prophet, my sister. who acted as our Mer.
curry. threw a note into my room from Ger,
aldine, l opened 1t, l must confess. rather
listlessly.
Good heavens! Her father had discovered
my last letter, he was f~uriously angry