The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1904-12-24
MUSINC OF THE DEAD

a shape, a vapor, resting In my coffin.
could distinctly hear the digger at
work on another grave beside my own.
1t bed never occurred to me in life
that the dead had ears to hear and
eyes to see, and even NOW there was
nothing in the dsmeanor of my cofilned
neighbors to uphold me In my present
theory.
l was q criminal when they buried
me, and my soul seemed left within
my body to grovel IN the dust Of hor-
TOR and humiliation for a period ut
least before its further evolution.
1t was az II my own contempt for
the sublimity Of the soul was being
mockel by feshly dissolution. was
forced to witness the filthy degenera
ton Of what in life had seemed to me
Of paramount importance.
Vanity and carnahty had been my
ruling passions, and all the higher at
tributes of man, in which the soul
took precedence Of body, aroused with
In my carnal mind only feeling Of
sarcastic pity.
1t was for this destroying of u mental
self that l was finally hunted down
and brought to sudden justice.
For many years my wild debauches
had been carried on with fallen NOR.
tais. and men who scorned and loathed
me, even they were satisfied to let 1t
60 as a thing beyond their Interference.
1t was only when l won poor Nellie's
love TINT they began shaking their an
CRY heads and pointing their warning
fingers at me.
But had wisdom In my evil way.
felgned q reformation that l did not
feel and for q. time behaved with rigid
circumspection.
There were days even when the
child's sweet nature almost shaned me
in my wicked purpose, bat to heart
grown old in Sin woman's virtue
only adds persistence, and after each
brief moment Of remorse the old desire
crept swiftly back, with tenfold worse
intentions added.
And day after day the noweret droop-
ed with the sun Of passion beating on
it. Day by day truth took q weaker
hold npon the soul that wavered in my
power.
Warnings 1 had In plenty from tho
friends that loved the girl, and al
though there was no violence from me
at any time they called my deed
deed Of crime and lynched me like a
common felon.
Whether It was just some did not
know, but to, me, lying cramped and
huddled. In, this moldy box, there comes
at times, q realization Of my sin that
makes the Judgment seem most fir
and even tempered with that plea for
mercy which doubtful jurors often add.
Day by day. hour by hour and minute
by minute the scenes and sins Of my
life are creeping slowly through my
soul and now. viewed BY tho light Of a
disembodied spirit ! and how greatly
the sins Of the flesh are at variance
with the spiritual being.
Hope and desire, 20 all important to
the carnal frame. shrink to the mean
est form Of guilt when viewed through
nobler. purer lenses.
Like q wornout husx. battered and
travel stained. my flesh lies rotting In
this grave, while I. a soul. exist, here.
there and 81 about, able to penetrate
the very earth, able to Gee the heavens
above, but totally unable to escape
from the dread proximity Of my mold
ertng clay Of this constant vision Of de-
coy in what was once my fondest
pride.
And now another silent form Is being
lowered to my side. hear the sound
Of falling sods, the creak Of ropes, the
tread Of feet and wish-oh, coward that
am!-that 1t might be another soul 90
doomed that II would bsar me COM
pany.
They are going now. the mourners at
the grave above my head. and almost
touching my crumbling feet l see the
outline Of a polished casket
No one n all those silent tombs
seems wakened or disturbed but me.
The advent Of another form into the
gloom and horror Of this place brings
not tremor to the dust Of those who
sleep 20 peacefully.
But now my soul seems pierced again
BY one more venomed ranking dart.
and through the power of spirit sight
l SEQ the limit Of my doom.
There II no soul within this new
made tomb. no clay freed spirit to con-
dole with mine, but low beneath the
polished boards . sweet young face
lies Stll and cain and seems to rnock
my misery.
Once mors trace my evil life In all
Its willful. sinful ways. and, turning.
ty to avert my gaze from that which
almost maddens me.
This then IL Justice for the damned,
To watch, perforce, while ell you love
decays, while desh. once fslr. cresps
vllely back to dust, and the immortSi
soul. denied and scorned, rises from