The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-29

man of nervous, imaginative tenn
permanent, VINO lives in Charles
iSEaAj town. and who casually told me
one of his midnight adventures
one evening recently.
i've never given the matter much
thought" said he. 'but suppose L
am a somnambulist. My sleep-walking has
never given me any permanent inconven'
fence. and have always regarded it's ludi-
crous side rather than it's psychical BEAR
ing. Perhaps after l tell you my story
some learned scientist may come along and
say / am no somnambulist; where will you
be then?"
well. we'll call you somnambulist until
somebody can prove you are not. Let's
hear about your sleeping feats. When did
you first become aware that you were
sleep-walker?'
81 remember the circumstances with
great vividness, although it was twenty
years ago, when was a mere boy. 1 was
in a strange house. / arose from my bed,
walked the length of a long corridor and
successfully evaded the stairs. l fumbled
around the latch of a room occupied by
gentleman boarding at the house, causing
him to shout but not to deter me. 1 en-
tered his room and carried on an animated
conversation with him before l came to my
senses 1t was fortunate that he recognized
me in the moonlight, as he would otner-
wise, probably, have rewarded my per-
sistency with a shot or two from re-
volver which lay on a chair by his bed
side He told me after awoke that 1 said
1 was trying to find my folks and knew
In
tions 1 experienced were novel, 1 assure
you. and far from agreeable. 1t was with
a feeling Of relief that L returned to my
blankets after / gained consciousness. Con-
seriousness came to me suddenly, and l felt
so crestfallen at my discovery OF my
actions that 1 didn't stay to make many
inquiries.
These phenomena did not happen very
frequently. 1t was fully a year after this
that 1 next displayed my somnambulistic
tendency. My father caught me by the hair
one night and 1 suddenly realized the dis
comforts of somnambulsm. / had wan
dered down stairs, simply put my hat and
overcoat over my chamber regalia Git being
the winter season., had placed my books
under my and was going over the
threshold of the front door when he reached
| me and restrained me. 1t was not until
returned to my normal state that 1 felt
| cold although 1 was in my bare feet. AT
| the instant of returning to consciousness,
| however, the sensations were severe, and 1t
| is a wonder that illness did not result.
Another time my family was aroused
| in the night by a racket down in the sit
| ting room. The sound was if a saw
mill had been started somewhere in the
| vicinity. They thought of me though, the
| first thing, and downstairs they rushed.
| They didn't arrive any too soon. 1t is a
hard story to believe, but I had actually
| found my way to the woodshed, got the
saw, and was busily engaged in saving
the legs from the sitting room furniture.
ruined one chair. i was perspiring over
the last leg when was pounded into con-
| seriousness. / think we would have had
| a better supply of kindling wood than
veneered chairs if 1 had been allowed to
operate Upon awakening retained a WELL
| defined impression of the motives which
had seemingly actuated me. 1 seemed to
be impressed with the idea that amputa-
| ton was necessary to save the chairs from
a general tipping over, crash and smash
| In my nightmare the furniture had as
| sumed abnormal proportions. 1t seemed
| to be on stills and susceptible of tumbling
| over at the least jar. So weird are the
| somnambulist's fancies. 1 was but fol-
| lowing an impulse which urged me to save
| the establishment from disaster. dissolution
chaos, by this heroic treatment.
| "As 1 have grown older my experiences
| of this kind have been far less frequent
But within five or six years 1 have made
two or three demonstrations and have sue
ceeded In alarming the household. One fall
during a political campaign. L was discov
cred about 1 o'clock a. m. standing ii
undress In the middle of the floor, wildly
gesticulatng and making a not very well
| connected political speech. 1 talked for tive
or three minutes in a rambling way, anC
my folks put stop to it. But now I'm
going to tell you one of the most ludicrou
and dramatic of these midnight perform
ances. / will give you the details as l dis
tinctly remember them, and will describ
the scenes depicted by my imagination a
if they were real.
Il saw the figure of a man standing
by my bedside. His face and form locke,
so real and plainly defined in the moon
light that If / were an artist l could re
produce him on paper now. 1 remaine
motionless for a few moments and watches
him. He said nothing. 1 sprang up an
exclaimed: What do you want here? &c
out of this!' The figure seemed to dis
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