Deming graphic. (Deming, N.M.) 1903-1948, 1906-07-27
THE LAST RESORT.
BY RALPH RECORD.

but It nauseated me. ! thought Of the
dead man that had lain there and T.
made me sick-sick of heart and sick
Of s,ul. Then prayed that | might
die, All my life had dreaded death
--nGw ! prayed for IT,.
Fer yesterday was not to blame.
bad company and weakness did ii.
Because an old road companion had
asked for shelter in the farmhouse
whe.e lived, and tried to work hon
estly and | had let him in and he
had beaten down the good farmer and
his wife and robbed them-was t.
BLAME for that? ! knew too well thar
the ayenging neighbors would not be
lievv that | was not an accomplice.
So F, had hed-iled to this.
The cold face of the corpse rose be.
fore my vision. had robbed him of
his resting place, taken even his body
away from his people Nonsense,
knew, but he haunted me.
could feel the train stop with 4
lurcf Could II be Jackson City? /
tried 10 cry out. but my tongue would
not obey the command of my brain.
Again. the awful faintness crept over
me. Again, ! struggled madly. "Oh.
God" | prayed, give me my senses.
give me power to escape from the
grave. Then my brain seemed to stop.
! knew no more
II may have been minutes, II may
have been hours, before | again awuke
and my almost crazed brain brought
me back to a realization Of my sltda-
ton. The steady whir of car wheels
had ceased. but ! seemed to be riding
still Then II came to mel was in
hearse on my way TO some mouse
or church, perhaps to a cemetery. The
motion stopped and ! heard mufiled
voices
Then-oh, thank God They were
going TO open the box; some one
wanted to see for the last time the
face Of Henry Donnelly. For a r,o-
ment doubted. Could It be! Yes,
they were unscrewlng the top. In
sheer joy | almost tainted again,
At last, | heard the box top re-
moved Then, suddenly. the instinct
OF seli-pfeservatlon came to me in an
other form. What would they do
when they saw It was not Henry DON
nelly, | should have to explain my
presence there had committed an
awful crime. ! was body snatcher.
Then | saw the light. Oh, II was
grateful! Light! had thought
never see 1t again. 1t dazzled me
and shut my eyes. Then opened
them full and wide.
Two faces were bending over me,
two faces full of horror. One was a
woman's face, old, wrinkled-the 9th.
er mans, eauht, hypocrtical :
opened my mouth to speak and with
cry that echoes In my memory c,en
now, the woman threw up her arms
and fell across the coffin in swoon.
The man, with look of supersttous
terror, turned and fed
More dead than alive, | crawled out.
somehow and tried to bring the wum-
an back TO consciousness. Aflcr
awhile her eyes opened partly, am I
saw she was better Something Il do
not know what-im peled me to bend
over and kiss her brow She loked so
old and careworn
Slowly and painfully | skunk ont
through the rear Of the cemetery and
walked till | reached some woods.
lay down where the morning sun
shone through the trees, and looked
up at Gods blue sky for hours. At
last hungry, faint and weary, | board
ed freight train and left Jackson
City far behind.
wonder who Henry Donnelly was,
and II that old and wrinkled woman
with the careworn face was his moth
err Sometimes start from my sleep,
lighting, pushing back the great in.
dehnable black thing that seems to
SHUT me from the light
Copyright. 1900. by Daily Story pub. COS