Year: 1865

not stand idly here. Let an under
taker ut once be called, and the re-
mains prepared for burial"


"When should the funeral take
place Z" asked cousin John.


" / should say tomorrow afternoon,
taking in the circumstances of his
death and the state of tho weather."
replied the Doctor.


All this time / had been trying to
break the bonds that held me down,
but it was useless. i could not speak;
/ could not move. There was no way
that could give sign, and they all
passed from the room and left me
alone.


The undertaken came and ere long
was robed for the grave. Then he
went away, the door was carefully
closed, and L was again left alore, :.
AS they closed my eyes / had atteMed
to resist their efforts, but that was
equally futile with all my other strug-
giles; and now day and night were
alike TO me.


The watchers were in an adjoining
room, and once an hour they came to
see that all was secure. They spoke
in low, fearful tones, as people do OH
such occasions, tarried no longer than
duty required, and then went out
and. when they came not again, /
knew that morning had come, which
was to be my last day in tho sunlight
of earth.


In the course Of the forenoon Mrs.
Bell came i'll and wept over me, she'd
ding genuine tears of sorrow, such as
no one except the Doctor had DONE.
Not long after she went out, the un-
dertaker and his assistants came with
the coffin, and l was soon encased
therein. While this was going on
tried to break the spell and give some
token of my condition, but it was as
futile as the other efforts L had made.


Their task done they departed, and
soon afterward two persons entered
the room, came up to the side Of the
coffin and raised the lid They were
cousin John and his wife. The latter
was sobbing quietly.


I" He looks natural, does he not,
Nary" said cousin John.


Yes, John. He looks almost as
though he was alive. And how l wish
he was, and as well as he was when
at our house the day before yesterday"


" i wish that he had not been taken
so suddenly. But then without doubt
he is better off; and so are we, wife;
for l have been looking over his
papers and find that he has made
no will. In that case all his property
comes to us as nearest Of kin. This
sudden stroke is all the better for us,
my dear; for had his been lingering
sickness he might have made will,
and cut us off with but a portion"


1t seemed TO me that if any thing
could have burst the bonds that held
me, this cool, calculating voice of my
relative would have done so, that
might have lived to cut him off with
a shilling but it did not and they left
the room, leaving me rejecting upon
their baseness even in my terrible sit
uation


A short time elapsed aud again the
door opened, and light footstep camo
across the floor and gently raised the
lid above my face. 1t was Jessie
Willowly that stood beside me now.


"Dear friend F" she said, as she still
kept her face close TO mine. How
l shall miss you whom loved the
best, beside my father, of any body
on earth Oh. why were you taken
now z"


This was a confession, indeed
Then she loved me Oh, for life! and
again / struggled, but uselessly. j
heard her father call her name, and
she carefully let down the lid, and
glided from the room. Again l was
alone with my despair.


After a time the undertaken $ men
came; and then / was carried out of
the house, and up the road to the
church, on the shoulders of four stout
men, as is the custom in our part OF
the country, and deposited in front of
the altar. Then and there / listened
to my own funeral sermon, which is
more than most people can say.


/ listened TO every word carefully.
Somehow could not help doing SO
and even caught myself finding fault
with some points set fort by the cler-
gyman / have since discussed the
matter with him; and he has admitted
that / was right and he was in error.


The service was over at last and
the assembly gathered round to take
the last look of one they had long
known. knew many Of them, as
they came near, by the sense of their
prescnce---and two, Mrs. Bell and
Jessie, by the hot tears that fell upon
my face.


In a.few minutes all who wished
had looked upon me and then the
sexton put down the lid, and | heard
the clasp slip into its place, intended
never to be disturbed again.


Thanks to the economy of the maker
Of the coffin, board not fit for such
purposes had been used. 1t contained
crack carefully hidden upon the
outside, but not so efiectually but that
the air, sufficiently for me TO breathe,
came through it, so that l experienced
no difficulty in respiring, as expected.
/ needed but little air for my respira-
tons were SO slight that they had not
J been perceptible to the Doctor, or any
of those who had bent over me.
/ was carried out of the church, the
I procession formed, and then it moved
toward the tomb of the Seatons, and
} in short time / was placed beside
) the remains of my father and mother,
and heard the key CRATE in the rusty
lock. Then / knew that / was alone
, with the dead, and shut in from the
: great world without!