The Cairo bulletin., 1911-02-21
MARCHING
TO GLORY
b. F. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911

t0l0fs. W nat we consider COiGrS are
timply millions Of wages impiAging on
the rctina OF the eye. Comparatively
Slow moving waves produce red; rap
Idly moving waves produce violet; those
between the Two produce intermediate
tolols. Now, may not the retina when
turned awry he readjuS,cd to receive
that which it Is not Intended to re.
ceive? In other words. man not what
! am going to relate have really cT-
listed Instead Of having been dream
Or vision produced By strained con
Glti0ns?
was in the thick of the fight Men
were shot down beside me, in froat
Of me and behind me. The noise was
like thousand tlundnrstorIas. Taerc
were The Gaafcning explosions of can
ron, tie ra't'e of mushatry, the Shriil
E.s!iiAg OF horses Shouts, iroans
shrieks. Presently something struck
me and termed me half ground NY
legs afforded no support; felt rarsc.f
sinking; the terrific sounds abcat LIE
grew faint then oblivion.
Suddenly | was again consaiots.
sat up, Supporting myself with al arm
The tight had moved short distance
beyond Ele 2iel were hurrying to
the rear, Ggd uel were hurrying to
the FROM Two men were carrying
past me another on strctchcr. AS
/ looked | saw somoSii1g llistli..c
forming above the one borne along
There was nothing desgribable about
it, appealing, as it seemed to me. to i
sense Of which | had never before
been conscious. Like smoke wreath
it rose AID slowly driftad away,
| knew that a wounded man had
died willie being carried by me. dill
net know how knew it, but l had TO
doubt Of it, Turning my eyes to the
front. where n hundred wares from me
a thinncd Tine of my comrades, from
whose ranks had dropped, were re-
ceivirg sharp fine, saw men fall
ing, some crawling away, while others
were limniGg rearward ON some who
fell Immediately the m!stlike ST.
stance had seen on the man who had
died while passing me appeared, rose
and driftcd awGy Had not seen IT,
leave the lody / should have taken IT,
for Il ruff If smoke from the mouth OF
q gun.
Then I noticed that all these wraitEs
were moving in the same direction,
gathering. clustering about common
ccnterg. grouped in what seemed TO DO
one faint luminous cloId. From It
broke away line like men marching
by platoon or company front then an
other line and another till many sue!
lines at equal distances had moved
out from the whole, which gradually
grew less till a column Of the deal
was marching on rising curve.
I At first this curve led them away
from me, but the direction, ever chang.
ing presently caused them TO pass
over my head, yet since they were con-
stantly rising they passed far above
me. 1t was sight to see, these-soul-'
of dead soldiers passing from earth on
their way to spiritland Ever turning
as they were, at last l realized that
they were passing 10 their long homes
in gigantic spiral.
! I thought If those spiral nehulae,
developing universcs, seen in the heav-
ems through telescopes and wondered
If this form, rs it marks the beginning,
marks also the end of the infinite com
hination Of matter and soul.
! At last the reccding column became
single line, growing thinner till 1t
formed a barely perceptible curve like
that Of Il comet.
| So rapt was l in this strange Vi
sion that I was Obvious to all else.
Then l noticed that the battle was
ours. / dropped upon the ground
again, and gradually oil things about
me vanished, | must have passed the
night unconscious on the battlefield.
When l came to myself right above
me and within foot of my face was
| a blade If timothy. on the end OF
which a spider was crawling. | watch
ed him runnlng about on the cereal
| for awhile. then noticed that it was
morning Occasionally ] heard dis
tant shot. ] knew a picket fired 1t,
| for with on army in the field picket
shots are always to he heard Occa-
| eionally volley came over the feds
which knew had been fred over some
soldiers grave. AS | grew more con
scious If my surroundings grew also
conscious of pain in my side and
terrible stiffness through my whole
body. Then | heard q voice say:
"This mans alive"
A soldier with a spade in his hand
stood over me- and an officer with n
sash about his waist, the color OF
which knew denoted surgeon, came
and bent over me. He called his as
sistant, who put flask to my lips.
81 saw this fellow last evening"
said the latter. "and was sure he
was dead"
| recovered and have often since told
this story Of what 7 saw on that bat
tlefield. But people usually tap their
forelieads knowingly or say, You
were delirions, old man"
know that what saw / saw.
did not dream II, for so far as animal
life was concerned 1t was not In me.
] was for the time being lifted out Of
it. | believe I was given q vision or
spirit condition.