The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1911-09-28
AGRIM
VISITOR
BY F. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1871.
BY F. A. MICHEL

"This cholera business Is merely a
scare" said one. Besides, why fear
death2 We must all die some time"
That for deathw said young Thorn
ton, swapping his fingers. I'm going
to live to be hundred"
A singular looking fellow came into
the restaurant and sat down at an ad-
Joining table. | could not make out
that he was of any especial age; he
might have been thirty or fifty or a
hundred and fifty. Yet there was
something about him that made him
look prematurely aged. His eyes were
set very deep In his head and glistened
like those Of wild animal in the dark.
He was 80 thin that one could almost
| see the functions Of the bones Of his
face, and his clothes hung about him
In huge folds. He had evidently heard
ThOrnton's boast. for be fixed his eyes
on him In a way that made my blood
run cold. Other of the younger mem
bers of the party who sat with their
backs to the newcomer perpe;rated
Jokes about death. Every word on
that subject seemed to excite the stran-
gers ire until he was dashed into
fury.
MY friends" he said presently.
you who condemn death do not real
ize what you are talking about. You
should have seen such sights as l have
seen. Were any of you in a battlef"
We all stared at the stranger. tongue
tied. No one OF US claimed to have
seen anything Of war.
Il was at the battle of Gravelotte,"
he said. "and ADVANCED with an at
lacking party of Prussians. II you
had seen that white pail that | threw
over the faces of those who were
struck you would not laugh at death"
"You threw over their faces" l ask
ed, puzzled
"Then at New Orleans" the man
went ON without noticing my remark
"you should have seen the British com.
| ing up in perfect formation against
the Kentucky hunters. Heve, there.
everywhere the redcoats sank down
In their tracks
do you refer to the battle of New
| Orleans. sir?' interrupted one of our
party.
"Yes, sir, I do. But battles are moth
ing. Take the great plague that swept
London. Two men were walking be-
fore me on Cheapside. touched one
by way Of attracting his attention. he
! paled and sank down In bis tracks. A.
party we're drinking In an ale house
without the town limits. As ] looked
at one of them be threw up his hands,
with a groan. | went out into the
street and saw the people burning bar
rels of tar. laughed at them"
do you mean. sir" l asked. that
you were In London at that timer
MY friend. where have | not been
when men and women and children
were struck down by this something
you call death? In the days of ancient
Rome whole communities of Gauls who
rebelled against the Roman authority
were butchered. They had been; they
were not"
1t was evident to most of Us that the
man was a iunatic. But we did not
communicate the thought to one anoth-
er. Each of us was spellbound no
less by his strange talk than his weird
personality.
But even these stricken barbarians,
| so far as numbers are concerned, were
but few In comparison with those
this thing you sometimes call the
reaper has cut down at one time.
There have been portions of the earth
that have sunk into the sea swallowing
up hundred times the number Of the
greatest butchery."
"When?" asked.
when? What knowledge have you
Of the little planet on which you live
beyond a few thousand years? The
time of which l speak was forgotten
10000 years ago."
TELL u.s." asked. your nationality.
You speak English as n you are Anglo
| Saxon"
English! I speak every living and
every dead language. | am a citizen
of the world. I am always busy. At
this moment | am resting preparatory
to a great work"
when did you come to NaplesT
Yesterday at noon."
We all shuddered. At IL O'Clock the
day before the first cholera patient had
died.
Twill you remain longY
my stays no human being knows.
I 60 into a place. do what work find
for me to do there and 60 elsewhere
Then I stop often by the wsyside.
During my journey here ] stopped at
q cottage. There was one less In the
family when I left. On entering this
city / made several calls before resting
from my journey. But | must be 60
ing. I am pleased to have met you
gentlemen"
He rose, and as be did so I though!
I heard a grating. rafting sound I'M
der his long cloak. Paying no further
attention to any of us except Thorn
ton, whose remark he had heard on en-
tering and which had started him or
his grewsome talk. the stranger as ht
passed him stopped and offered hi:
hand. Thornton looked up at him ir
terror. Withholding his hand. but thu
maniac kept his eyes fixed on him. and
slowly the hand was lifted and drawn