Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-11-19
A Strange
Experience
Was 1t Coincidence or SUI
pernaturaI2
By F. A. Mitchell.

ODllSCu " VAIN. pbHoCu V'CA INC
mile that separated me from the pa
tient with her husband and was well
satisfied to have his company, for,
though a part of the way lay through
village, even this was unlighted Not
a person did we meet on the way, and
scarcely a word could l draw from
my companion, who was much dis
tressed about his wife.
l asked him what he supposed to be
his wife's ailment. This time received
a response, but not one that would
help me in deciding upon any treat
ment He told me that her trouble
was mental; that she had worried her
self into breaking down of the sys-
TEN. They had but one child, daugh
ter, who being grown, had left them.
The mother not only grieved for the
absent one, but had become convinced
that she was in danger.
| asked the man if his wife had any
reason to suspect such condition, and
he told me that so far as he knew she
had not But he added that she had
given evidence of seeing beyond the
limits of what could be discerned by
the senses; that she had known with
out being informed of happenings many
miles distant from her Years before
a son had left them for the sea- One
night the mother awakened her hus-
band and told him that their boy was
struggling in the water, then that he
was dead. A month later news came
that the vessel in which the young
man sailed had been wrecked. All this
looked to me as if ! would meet a
hopeless case.
And as soon as l stepped into the
SickrOOm and saw her | knew that
she was in q critical condition. But
the case was not hopeless, and l work
ed with all the ingenuity l possessed
to save her. My efforts were in vain.
An hour after my arrival she died.
1t is questionable if any medical man
ever gets used to losing Il patient At
least | never get used to it. We are in
trusted with the whole responsibility
of the life of the invalid. When our
efforts are successful we feel a pleas
. urabe sensation; when the patient dies
on our hands we are apt to feel that
had we adopted another line Of treat
mcnt the result might have been diff
fcrcnt
left the stricken household to walk
| home alone. Above, the stars were
shining just as calmly, us silently as
before l had entered the house where
lay the invalid. | wondered if a pow
cr to bridge the vast distance between
them and us had been given the dis
embodied spirit The planet Jupiter
stood high in the east Had the WON
an been borne to a vision that could
take in the planets immensely? Could
she move with the instantaneous ra-
pidity of electricity, and was she al
| ready passing the far distant Neptune
on into the great vacuum that sep
arates our sun from other fixed stars
| was passing through the village
and at this moment was before the
] OHlN tuulCn II ECuUuGlllN
the stiffness was broken by a cang.
| started as if a clap of thunder in
stead Of a village clock had struck
upon my sense of hearing. Stopping.
| | looked up to note whence the sound
came, and some moments passed be-
fore l realized that what had startled
me came from the striking of a metal
clapper on a metal bell. l waited for
the next stroke, but it did not come.
The clock had struck one hour after
midnight.
passed on, but in a moment turned
for glance at the quaint little build
ing, deserted except when services
were held in it, while every other
house in the village contained human
beings The church and spire being
white, l could easily distinguish them
in the gloom.
Is that ray of light glimmering
through the Stats of the great arched
window?
Impossible! The church is the last
place in the village to be lighted at
such an hour.
Nevertheless, there is a glimmer that
can only come from an artificial light.
Had been superstitious there would
have been something uncanny in see
ing light IL a church when all the
houses where people lived were dark.
But with me the discovery had con
trary effect. The loneliness by which
| had been surrounded was broken.
There was light, and light at that time
Of night meant human beings. l felt
that there were persons in the church,
and | felt, too, their companionship.
| confess curiosity was the chief mo.
tive power that induced me to turn,
retrace my steps, go up on to the little
pillared porch before the tower and
listen. | thought / could hear voices
within. Turning the knob, found the
door unlocked, opened it and entered q
vestibule. A screen stood between me
and the body Of the church, and, step.
ping to its side, the interior was re.
vealed to me.
At the other end of the building were
three persons. One of them faced me
and was evidently waiting. The other
two were man and a woman. The
man was talking earnestly to the wom-
pn, evidently trying to persuade her
to do something, which l judged was
to consent to marriage then and
there. Taking her by the hand, he
attempted to draw her to stand before
the other man, whom l surmised to
be clergyman. But she resisted.
In the clergyman I recognized a per-
son who had long been familiar to me,
and l knew he was not clergyman
I could not understand the situation