THE OMAHA DAILY 11EE: SATURDAY, SETT KMHEll 120, 1002.
The Disembodied Spirit
By CYRUS TOWN SEND BRADY.
Author of "Hnhensollern," "The Qulbernn Touch." "For Love of Country," "For the
Freedom of the Sea," "Colonial Fights and Fighters," Etc.
(Copyright, 1902, by Cyru Townsend Brady.)
Common sense hard, practical common
senss is a great and Important factor In
lata world s concerns. I am not a com-xnon-sense
person myself though Geraldlne
will tell you t am a man of uncommon
ens but It Is to common-senae people
that I address myself people who ssy. If
thy aver so far forget themselves as to
read "Rappacclnl'a Daughter," for Instance,
or that other story by ths gifted son of
his gifted father, which hides Its weird
fascination under the native of Archibald
Malmalson, and you ask them If they like
the atorles "Oh, of course not; I never
heard of ouch improbable things. Why,
bow Is It possible for a man" etc. it Is
ta these people I write.
I live In the enterprising western city
of Kalamantl. As myjamlly and Geraldlne's
.family have lived there many years, we are
. . i 1
well known, ana any or my osnuuun,
among whom are a Judge of the district
court, retired major general of the army,
a United Btatee senator and other persons
,of undoubted veracity, can affirm the truth
of the strange Incidents, of which I am
the principal subject. Oeraldlne will say
that this is not the only case In which 1
am tha principal aubject royally assuming
for tha once but I digress. Oeraldlne says 1
always take too much time In getting at
tha point of the story and, as Oeraldlne
la the only critic of whom I am afraid, here
goes: -
I, James Henry Rettew. commonly called
t Harry, was about 26 years old in the year
, of our Lord, 1901. I was a sleepy and (peo
ple aay) a dreamy, abstracted young man.
Oeraldlne thlnka I am handsome. She is
alone In her- belief unless I agree with
her In this as In most things. I was pos
sessed of a little fortune and was a well
informed young man of studious bent, hav
ing read largely In a rather desultory way.
My favorite atudy was the aplritual essence,
or soul of man, especially my own.
It Is a thing, I believe, most people have
though Oeraldlne saya you have to take It
on faith In the case of a great many peo
pie. What was It? Where was ItT This
pervading vital force within meT How did
Jit exist within my body? What, kept it
there? Was death the reeult of a dlsas
socletlon of the twoT Waa no man capa
ble of over separating the one from the
'other? These are but a sample of the
aoeoulatlona In which I Indulged. And I
dually found myself In the way of solving
some of these problems at last. Kummag-
Ins- la the library of a deceased philosopher
I name across a treatise on this very sub
ject by a sage of ancient times, the learned
Egyptian Archldecbus. No, ou will not
find his name In the encyclopedias. I have
nuraoael altered It. leat anyone should
search for the pamphlet and finding It, be
nAmi as I was but I anticipate, I seised
upon the old moth-eaten parchment vol
una with avidity.
Thla rare I do not think there was an
viher copy lu aUUace expect the ess I
read and wonderful book treated of the
spirit or essence of life as distinguished
from the gross and visible body; the writer
held that' It was possible to separate the
ona frem tha other. In other words, accord
Ing to Archldechus, the spirit might leave
the body and return to It at pleasure; in
fact, tha writer knew of such a case and
cited It; he also gave minute directions tor
rromnllahlas thla wonderful feat. I ahall
not reveal them to you, nor to Oeraldlne,
thaut-h that la the only secret I do not
share with her, so beware how you con Ode
in mejr .r t. ..
Of course the thing was ridiculous, no
such separation was possible, so I rea
aoned.' There were the directions, how
everthey fascinate me. I was always
an Imaginative fellow and a great tryer of
all sorts of strange experiments, why
should I not try this one? I confided my
Intentions to no one, not even Oeraldlne.
I locked myself up In my room and de
voured the old book. Great stress was
laid upon the faith necessary and the con
dition of the mind. It waa stated that any
violent emotion might be of great assistance
at the final moment of shall I call It dis
solution? Now 1 was at peace with all the world
except John Haverford. Hsverford was
In love with Oeraldlne Holablrd, but as
I felt sura of her affection I waa not able
to get up aay violent Jealousy on his ac
count. Oeraldlne has since told me If she
had known I felt so confident of her af
fection she would neve supplied me with
several emotions on that score of an ex
ceedingly violent nature. I don't believe it.
However, I complied with the other di
rections and I even contrived to assume a
reasonable amount of faith, but I could not
quits manage the separation. I could ap
parently concentrate my vital force on one
spot, for Instance, but exert myself as I
would I could not break the tie. The Idea
possessed me, I could think of nothing else.
Oeraldlne says I was the most Intensely
unsatisfactory lover at this time that one
could imagine, and that she bad serious
thoughts of giving me up for John Haver
ford. Our love, which was a secret affair and
none the less sweet for that, by the way
waa violently opposed by the beads of both
lour housea, there being some grudgt be
'tween them. Although I was devoted to
her and she to me, as I now know, though
I did not at the time, yet I had never dared
. to take more of a lover's privilege than a
respectful salute upon her hand. Oeraldlne
waa a tall and extremely dignified girl,
and how she ever came to meet me clan
destinely and write me those little notes
I have them yet I don't know. She saya
she doesn't either.
' But to come back to my experiment
My want of complete success preyed upon
me. I grew thin, lost my appetite, could
think of nothing but that. This, I Imagine,
waa one of the reasons for my final sue
csss. Gsraldioe saya I ought cot to have
said that, as It will spoil tha denoument.
However, It Is too late now. One afternoon
more than usually discouraged at my re
'posted failure, when I, waa about to con
alga tha volume to the tire as a false
prophet, my sister, who acted as our Mer
cury, threw s note info my room from Oer
aldlne. I opened it, I must confess, rather
listlessly.
Good heavens! Her father had discovered
my last letter, he was furiously angry
wore she should marry John Haverford and
she waa now locked in her own room;
would recognise it by the white ribbon
hanging on the window sill and I must
do somsthlng soon, for her father was ter
ribly sngry and she loved me and me only,
her own Harry and you know the rest!
(Oeraldlne protests against these unflat
tering allusions to her notes )
What happened a moment after, or how it
rapprntd. I am not prepared to state. One
thlpg I do know, I found myself In the street
and without a thought of how I came there,
waa hurrying toward Oeraldlos'a house.
With reckless speed I ran headlong full tilt
Into a lady cf my acquaintance. The con
cuiaica nearly atunned me. What was my
surprise aa I hastily took off my hst to apol
ogise tor my carelessness to see the young
lsdy ca'my walk past me, apparently un
conscious ot say presence and giving no evl
; desce of having been In collision with ros!
This rather astonished me. but GeralJlne
was se much la aay mind that I dismissed It
aad hasttned on. It was not fsr to her
fcouss, and sure enough, there wis a whits
I
ribbon fluttering from the window I knew to
be hers.
In my reckless desire to do something for
her I opened the gste and walked Into the
yard; that Is, I found myself there and ot
course could have come no other way. I am
not much of an athlete and could not have
Jumped the fence. These reflections did not
r at the time, but the next thing
which happened did astonish me. While I
waa standing there In the walk, wondering
i . u i ,v .he (rout door opened and
old Mr. Ho.abird came out. His face waa
red with anger and he was armed with a
thick club, presumably for me. Now, I am
not a very brave man though Oeraldlne
thinks me a perfect hero and I confess I
trembled. However, I walked up to him and
tald, "Mr. Holablrd, your (laughter "
He absolutely did not see me, and as he
parsed me, with excess of courage I laid
my hand upon his arm, but he took no more
heed of that than of my voice. What could
have been the matter?
I began to feel a little alarmed, and gave
myself a good pinch to see If I were awake.
the usual recourse of people in a like situ
ation Oeraldlne aays that no one ever was
In a like situation before. I certainly was
awake for the pinch hurt me. Marvelling
more and more I decided to go Into the
house. The old gentleman was my most
dangerous opponent and with him out ot the
way I felt I could brave the rest of the
household. It I could get at Geraldlne I
hoped to persuade her to fly with me, and I
did not doubt once we were safely married
her father would forgive us, or If he would
not, I should not greatly care, so long as I
could have Oeraldlne.
Thinking thus I wslked up to the door
and, placing my hand on the bell, gave It
a good strong pull. The little silver-plated
handle did not move an inch. I rubbed my
eyea and tried It once more no effect! I
then sat down to consider. Waa all the
world bewitched? I racked my brain until
the door opened and one of the children
ran out. She came over to the chair I
sat in and dropped Into my lap. I got out
of the chair In a second. Just how I could
not say. I am not over fond of children
ot that age.
Why, Jennie," I cried somewhat indig
nantly, "what do you mean by Jumping on
my lap In this unceremonious manner?
Where is Geraldlne? Oo tell her I want to
see her at onco."
I was getting angry, but would you be
lieve It, that child went on playing with
her doll and completely Ignored me! It
was too much. I wondered if the whole
town were In a conspiracy to drive me
craxy. In despair I resolved to see Oer
aldlne at once and at the risk of being
shot for a burglar I turned to the door ths
little girl bad fortunately left open and
walked In.
As I entered the hall my foot slipped on
the marble tiling and I fell heavily against
an exquisite bisque bead standing on the
newol post. When I picked myself up.
sufficiently sore from my tall to be con
vinced that It was a real one, the bisque
figurehead was standing aafely and smiling
at me It waa a laughing head In a way 1
conceived to be particularly exasperating.
I waa ao excited by this time that I struck
it a furious blow with my fist, snd still
thst Infernal head stood and grinned at me!
It I did not see Oeraldlne soon I felt
that I would go mad, ao I marched upstairs
until I cams to ths door of her room. 1
knocked gently on the door there was no
sound. I tried the handle, with the same
lllsuccess as before. This waa the last
straw. I confess that I stood at that door
and shouted and screamed and kicked it-
pounded on it until I sank exhausted on the
floor and still no thought of my real con
dition entered my head.
It happened In my present position that
my eyes were Just on a level with the key
hole. I peeped In. There was Geraldlne.
I could see ber plainly and In another mo
ment I saw her take a letter from her
pocket, kiss It passionately and burst Into
a storm ot sobs and tears. I was so
wrought up by this time that in spite ot
my fatigue I Jumped to my feet and in an
other second I found myself by her side.
She wss clad in some soft white wrapper,
ber hair all unbound, and was kneeling
with her face in her arms on a chair. I
was Inexpressibly touched by her heart
broken attitude. I bad never been anything
but a very formal lover aa I said before;
however, I thought the circumstances might
warrant me in waiving a little ceremony
especially aa she evidently needed a
comforter aadly, so I walked quickly over
to her and laid my hand on her shoulder.
"Gsraldlae." I said. "My darling, I am
w
you speak to me?"
There was no answer and no Intermit
to the sobs snd tears she wss pouring ou
my letter. I thought this wss pushing
anynest to a auuauce. ana i nia never sus-
pected her of being shy. However, as she
made no objection to my hand being on her
shoulder, I tnougal mat was a good sign,
and I knelt down beside her and slipped my
arm around ber neck and said:
"Geraldlne, dearest do not cry ao
courage it will be all right.
" Pause. "Won't you apeak to me?
Pleass, please. Just look at me!" Longer
pause "Csraldlne!" 1 shouted savagely,
"look at me at ones or I'll leave you for
ever!" No moveneatl What did It mesa? 1
"THE FAMILIES, THE SERVANTS, EVERYONE, CAME RUNNINO IN." ' .
, ' ' )'
rose and dropped Into a chair, remarking:
"I'll sit here and look at you till you do
get up and say something to me; It your
father comes In here end kills me!"
So I wslted and watched her. Presently
she raised her beautiful eyes, red with
weeping, fixed them straight on me an1
witllout the slightest sign of recognition,
not even the fear that would have filled
them had I been a stranger. What could
be the matter?
I rushed over to the long swinging mir
ror In the corner determined to look at
myself and see what was wrong. I stood
directly In front of the glass and glanced
at Its bright surface to make a last ef
fort to solve the mystery. Reader, I
will solemnly assert that when I looked
In that mirror, expecting to see myself,
I was not tberel
There was nothing reflected there but
the room and contents and Oeraldlne be
yond, completely oblivious ot me. She had
taken a small picture of me she had and
waa alternately looking at it and pressing
It to her heart. This evidence of an af
fection for me which I did not think ahe
entertained, was certainly very gratifying
and at any other moment would have tilled
me with happiness, but in the light ot the
fact that I was not there, where I felt my
self to be, I waa too borrorstruck for any
thing else.
I stood mechanically glaring at Geraldlne,
and the glass which did not reflect me, and
at myself. I could see myself with my own
eyes perfectly, hear my own voice dis
tinctly, or touch myself with my own hands,
In fact, I could see and feel as well aa
ever. I resolved to make one more effort.
"Oeraldlne," I said softly. "Oeraldlne,"
louder. "Geraldlne!" In a perfect scream.
"I am going to kiss you this moment!"
She was lying back In a large chair, her
hands listlessly crossed in her lap and her
eyes closed. I walked firmly over to her,
hesitated a second, and then bent over and
kissed her upon the lips. She says now It
waa very ungenerous of me to have taken
advantage of her, but I submit that I bad
given every possible warning of my In
tentions and besides I was wrought up to
such a pitch by the events of the afternoon
I scarcely knew what I did; so I kissed her
again and again, and this did really have
some effect upon her. At first she blushed
a warm, beautiful crimson, and as I kissed
ber a second and a third time, she started,
raised her head, opened her eyes with s
little scream, and said:
"O, I must lave fallen asleep and
dreamed he was here. r I suddenly felt
a kiss. It seemed. O. Harry. Harrv.
why do you not come and help your girl?"
And her head sank back In the chair, and
teara came again into her eyea. "O, Harry,
why are you not here?"
I waa nearly frantic by this time.
"Geraldlne," I said, "I am here. I dIJ
kiss you, really and truly, a moment ago."
But she paid no attention, and even while
I was speaking kept up her little agonised
appeal for me to come and heln her. I
rushed to the window, leaped out on the
porch. Jumped recklessly to the ground.
dashed right Into the arms of Mr. Holablrd,
ran tnrough the streets to my own house,
burst into the house, tore up the stairs to
my room, and aaw what?
Myself, calmy and composedly lying back
In the chair, with Geraldlne's letter In my
hand! Thla waa too awful. I sank down In
the other chair, and as I did ao my eyes
fell upon the. volume ot the learned Arch,
idechus. The mystery was solved! There
In the other chair waa my phytic! body',
and in this one I sat, a disembodied spirit!
The explanation was so simple and evi
dent It brought great relief to me. Every
thing was explained. Of course no look
ing glass could reflect the spirit of a man;
no one could feel him or It or hear him
or aee him; of course, he could not open
doors or strike people or lift anything,
thougb, to be sure, no door could prove a
barrier to auch an ethereal immaterial en
tity as a disembodied spirit.
Thst accounted for my finding myself In
Geraldlne's room In spite of the locked
aoor, tor me cnua sitting down on tnv
lap, lor me Disque head smiling at my
buffet, for Geraldlne's Ignorance of my
I prfgence. As to the kiss well, love was
j ,h. highest and noblest sensstlon. love aurh
as we felt for each other, and aa nearly a
Bpiruual ethereal feeling as any human
i one eoux be. so when I kissed her her
! spiritual being bad responded to mine.
This explanation fell easily In with the res,
As fur ss I was concerned I was, to put
it plainly and simply, only my feelings and
sencations. I was a wandering sensation,
Doubtless my spirit took the same form aa
my visible body, but it was a thing ao
utterly Immaterial aa to be absolutely In-
visible to tne bumaa eye. I could talk,!
walk, aee and bear because I had all my
sensations w ith me, ths guiding enencs of
my cram, too; nut, reaJiy, my voles, fori
1 1 ; 1 1 1 1 1 j ; 1 . 1 tin vj r ?.A..-7rrv ;,-v .v t 1 , vrvuFMir .
Instance, was not audible, because when I
opened my spiritual mouth It was only ;
with the sensstlon of speaking, and no real 1
sound waa made; or, to put another expla
nation before you, my voice had become re
fined In proportion with the rest of me
snd was pitched In such a sound wave sa
the human ear was not capable of receiv
ing and concentrating.
At that moment this seemed very Inter
esting to me snd I settled myself com
fortably back In my chair and laughed long
and loudly. Of course, I could go back
i Into my own body at any time and matters
would straighten themselves out st once.
I sat speculatively contemplating my body.
It was an Interesting moment.
My bedy wss Fitting In the cbalr In ex
actly the same position I had been when I
l'ft It, or father, I shout) ssy, we had been
when I left It. I bent over and touched It
or him. He left warm and natural, but not
ss If SEieep. There was no beating of the
heart, no rise or fall of the breast hs In
bnatlilng; the eyes were open and fixed, but
not glassy; the Joints apparently flexible,
though, ot course, I could not have moved
one to aee In short, my body presented
every appearance of auspended animation. I
resolved not to try to get back Into my body
Just at present and waa still sitting there
wondering about my double aelf when the
door opened and my sister, the one who
brought the letter, came in; she was my
favorite, and we were great friends. She
glanced at me, and, supposing I was asleep,
drew a chair over to the w indow and waited
for me to awake'n.
The Are was burning brightly In the grate
and, as ill-luck would have It, a bright lit
tle coal sprang out and fell on my lap
that Is, the lap of my bodjr. It seems that
there was yet some sort of a connection be
tween us, because while the coal burnt Into
the leg of my body It was I who felt the sen
sations. I rushed over to myself and at
tempted to brush It off. Of course I could
not. . The pain was really unbearable and,
forgetting my state, I called to Mary, my
sister; of course she did not hear me! This
was a worse dilemma than before. I de
cldcd at once to resume my proper condl
tlon, when, horror of horrors, I found that
I did not know how.
It was true I had been so constantly oc
cupled In endeavoring to get out of myself
as It were, that I had completely omitted
to learn the way to get In! Thla was worse
than anything previous. I forgot all about
the glowing coal which was still burning
me, In the dreadful possibility which rose
before me. Suppose they should bury me,
wou'd I suffer the pangs of suffocation for
ever, or at least until my body resolved
Itself Into Its primordial elements? I knew.
of course, my spirit would never die, and if
my bedy did turn, to dust, would my spirit
go with those of other departed beings as
the bible teaches us, or would the fact that
I had taken my spirit In my own hands, as
It were, condemn me to wander forever In
my present state?
I certainly felt my spiritual hair turn
gray. What would besstna of Geraldlne?
Wcu'd I ever see her again or would ahe
ever see me? Would she at last forget me
and marry some one else and force me to
stand powerless looking on? I ground my
cplrltual teeth In rage and anger and
clenched my spiritual hands and swore but
what was the use of swearing? I could not
do anything. I waa too utterly ethereal, too
entirely disembodied to even hsunt anyone
too epbemereal tor a ghost even! Oh, bor-
rcr! I thought my brain would give way. I
thought of everything I could recall to help
me out.
I bad dabbled a little In hypnotism and
had experimented surreptitiously on vsrl
ous members of my family, principally my
sister Mary, and. with some effect. Now,
hypnotism is the controlling of one will by
another. This will Is an es.ieotlal attribute
of the spirit; there la nothing grcaa about
It. It is true that the weakest am most
physically Imperfect specimens cf this two
fold race of our sometimes possess the
most powerful wills; plainly, then, body,
physically considered, bad nothing to do
with thla will power which la the secret of!
hypnotic force. Apparently I had my will
power Iq better shape for use than at' any
omer urns in my corporate Doay. i naa tt
separated, under command and could con-
centrate It more easily and advantageously,
I would try It.
I got up, made the usual passes and or-
j dered Mar? to come and throw that coal
, off my leg. She did so at ence. I was de-
lighted. She stood abashed and silent
ths presencs of the (to her) hidden force
; controlling her. It flashed upon ma In sn
! Instant I could causa her to open the Vol-
ume of Archldechus snd turn ths pagea for
me. Joy' No sooner said than done. i
I sat beside her snd willed her to do as
i I directed. I hastily made her turn to the
part which treated of the resumption of the
relationship. A new disappointment awaited
me Urn lesrned
the Individual in
Archldechus slate. 1 that
the case he studied had
never assumed his normal condition and
that the means of doing so were entirely
unknown to him. That took away my last
hope.
Mechanically I released Mary from the
Influence and then waited to tee what she
would do. Her glance fell upon me and
she looked st me wonderlngly.
"Why." she said, "how long Hsrry
sleeps!" She pouched hlra on the shoulder.
"Harry! Harry!" and then she looked In
his face and screamed.
The family, the servants, everyone, came
running In. They filled my little room, and
after narrowly escaping being crushed to
death by our fat cook, who hysterically
sank back In the chair In which I was sit
ting, I wslked over to the corner of the
room and malted. They picked him up and
laid him on the bed and tried all the simple
remedies they knew to revive him. One
poured brandy down my physical throat-
Imagine the sensation In my spiritual one
another chafed my hands; one wetted
a towel and struck me repeatedly with It;
the old-fashioned feather was held under
my physical nose imagine my spiritual
sensation a thousand times Intensified and
Judge what I suffered.
I wished they would go away and bury
me decently and let me alone; it was too
much to endure quietly. I tried to hypno
tize the whole lot, but unavallingly. Finally
the futility of their efforts dawned upon
them and they sat down to wait while one
went for a doctor.
Doctor! I thought contemptuously what
could be do unless Indeed they might find
a stray spiritualist who could fulfill bis
promises and perhaps summon my spirit
back Into its earthly shell. Sure, never
had I aeemed so sweet to myself. If I
ever got back to myself again I made a sol
emn vow never to leave myself on any pre
text. Presently the door opened and my father
came In. My mother was long since dead;
the old gentleman was almost heartbroken;
he sat down beside me and took my phys
ical hand. I would have given worlds to
comfort him. Different members of the
family stood around the room talking In
low hushed whispers ot the dreadful fate
that had befallen me, exchanging reminis
cences about me, extolling me for many
virtues I never possessed. There was some
consolation In hearing what a noble fel
low I was. I have not heard It before nor
have I heard It since except from Oeral
dlne. Finally the door opened and the
doctor entered; he could do nothing what
ever, as I had foreseen he actually pro
nounced me dead and a few hours later
I found myself neatly laid in a coffin In
the parlor that is my physical body was.
I took the most comfortable chair, when
no one else wanted It, ot course, and
waited for further developmenta. This was
growing Interesting and I had become
somewhat resigned to the hopelessness of
my situation. I noted several curious facts.
After a while I got very sleepy. Intensely
so, and lay back in my chair and closed my
eyes and tried to sleep. It was no use, I
could not. And yet I never so longed to
go to sleep in, my life. The fact was
spirit could not sleep, and it waa my body
there In the coffin which felt sleepy but
I must suffer for it. It was the same way
with hunger. I waa hungry, I actually got
so desperate as to go out in the pantry
and look at the cold chicken and boiled
ham there, I could easily smell them, but
as to eating Oh, it waa horrible! I do not
know how I got through the night.
The next day I could do nothing but sit
and look at the people who came to see
me and hear what they had to say. I have
forgotten to mention that In my condition
I aeemed to have as one of its attributes
a peculiar faculty of divining the real
thoughts of the people who came to look
at me. Among them was John Haverford
He was actually glad to aee me, ao at least
I read his thought. Geraldlne thlnka I must
have been mistaken at any rate the sight
of hlra filled me with so much rage that
rushed over to him. I threatened htm;
I did more, I struck blm, kicked him,
nothing ot which be was sensible. It was
too bad.
Oeraldlne did " not come. I waited
heartbroken for her. Would she come?
The old man surely would not keet her.
He was a pretty good fellow, after all
be Is devoted to our youngest daughter
now. I thought he certainly might bring
her. I did not go out. I could not bear
to leave my lonesome looking body In the
coffin. I had no heart for further adven
tures, anyway. I was intensely cramped
from lying so long In one position when
I die I am going to be cremated; no more
coffins for me. My wife, says, however, shs
will not hear of that.
Geraldlne told me afterward that she
passed the day In longing for me to come
and take her away, and wondering why
I did not; beside being continually Im
pressed with a premonition that something
was going to happen. Finally toward nigh
on the second dsy of my anomalous sit
uatlon, Mary good and faithful Mary be
thought herself to go snd tell Oeraldlne. On
hearing the news that noble g rl, promptly
fainted. She recovered herself, however,
and, through Mary's sld, managed to ge
'out of the bouse and come down to see
me.
I was looking at myself very dejectedly
In the parlor, half dead from Iowa of sleep
hunger and thirst, and wholly crazy from
j loss of love and all my drea
I surmised they would bury
ded prospects
me tomorrow
In .when I heard the outside door open,
familiar and yet nervous step sounded
in
the ball, and then the parlor door opened
jl bad recognized the step. It was Geraldlne
j but how cbanged! I forgot myself and m
trouble, and aa abe threw herself down on
'ber knees snd rlaiped me In ber arms an
ik ssed me, I suffered for her agony a thou
'sand times worse thsn for mine. Great
heavens! Was ever man In snrh a predi
cament? I bent over ber In drepslr, and as
she turned her face up In prayer I hlssnl
her lips again. She rprsng to h-r fret and
screamed.
"Oh. he Is not desd. I am sure of It. I
felt h'm kiss mo! 1 cannot be mistaken!
Mary, send for papa, and tell him to bring
his newest snd most powerful storage bat
tery slong. I am sure Hsrry Is not diad.
Hurry! hurry!"
So It was from Geraldlne herself that
this new idea of torture emanated. Oh.
why could they not let a disembodied spirit
alone In Its peaceful misery! An electric
battery could do no gocd. and It would be
worse than the burnt feather.
Old Mr. Holablrd was an electrician and
nn enthusiast. He. would have sscriflcel
his best friend to an experiment and con
sequently did not hesitate to come and try
upon me, whom he had hated so bitterly
previous to the unfortunate d'ssolutlon of
partnership between my body and spirit.
He was soon In the parlor and the servant
followed after him with the battery. He
was angry and astonished at seeing Ger
sldine, but his experiment was too engros
sing for much time to be wasted upon her.
Having obtained the consent of my poor
old father ho began taking off my shoes
and then my socks I blushed crimson at
least my spiritual entity did my physical
body, I must confess, betrayed no evidence
of shsmc at the exposure, and before Oer
stdine, too! Mary and father snd the rest
cf the family looked on with anxiety and
little apparent faith. Geraldlne stood be
side me resting one hand against my breast
and gazing at me as If not to lose the faint
est sign of life I might show. Her father,
all business and energy, attached the wires
with a reckless want of ceremony, 1 thought
In wretchedly bad taste. I must confess
I hoped from the result of this experiment
but faintly; however, there might be some
thing In It, so I stood with my arm around
Geraldlne and my head resting upon her
shoulder spiritually, of course ss the con
nection was made.
I was quiet enough for Just one-millionth
of a second till I felt the power of tha cur
rent. It was awful. Worse than any other
experiment; I groaned In anguish wh le that
fiendish old man made the current stronger
and stronger and that miserably placid bdy
of mine lay there as calm and as unfeeling
as a log, while-. I was In torment, i flew
at the old man, clenched my hands in his
hair, grasped him around the throat, did
everything and yet had to bear a current
strong enough to have killed a dozen men,
added to which was the anguish of feeling
my last hope vanish. I was doomed.
The scientific fervor of old Holablrd was
at last satisfied, and he allowed the -urrent
to die down to one ot much less intensity,
merely keeping, as he said, a little on In
case of nn emergency. A little! I felt like
ten tooth aches run Into one, but waa so
much lees than before that It aeemed almost
like a caress In the first moment of relief.
While I was standing there helplessly
wondering what they would do with mo
the old man walked up to Geraldlne, who
tood wringing her hands, looking at me.
with her last hope gone, too, poor girl, and
said:
"Come, Geralding, we must go, the man
Is dead."
"Mar!" I shrieked, but no one heard roe.
"And there Is no use cf staying here," he
continued, "I tell you you must come! I
promised John Hsverford that you would
see him tonight, he asked for your band
and I consented today."
Oh, I could have begged him to turn on
the electricity again; each pang fate bad In
store for me was worse than before. Oer
aldlne answered gloriously:
"But I have not consented."
"What difference? I say you shall marry
him!" he said, grasping her wrist.
'And I say I will not. I will be faithful
to my dear dead Harry here."
"Nonsense; you ahall marry Haverford;
you must.
At this moment a strange thing oc
curred. Geraldlne wrenched herself away
from her father, threw herself upon the
physical half of me and whispered, "I'll
die with him, first."
Something passed over ms as a blinding
lightning flash and behold! the body In
the coffin struggled, eat up, clasped i
trembling arm about Geraldlne and ex
claimed:
"I am not dead, Geraldlne, and you, you
Infernal old villain, get out of my sight!
Take oft the battery and give me something
to eat and drink."
The spirit had entered my body again
My love for Geraldlne and her love for me
had wrought the miracle. Just as anxiety
for her and love, for ber had wrought the
first change. Aye, through love the world
Is made and destroyed.
There Is nothing more to tell. My story
was so circumstantial people generally
believe It, in spite of the lesrned doctors,
who hold It to have been merely a case
of suspended animation. In my mind and
Geraldlne's, however, there Is no doubt
about It. Besides,' does not the learned
Archldechus ssy but never mind. If It were
not for this affair Geraldlne says she might
have been years finding out her heart, as
she did when she thought me dead, and
her father never would have consented to
our marriage as he did.
He Is very kind to us now, and we are
very happy, and have only one anxiety,
lest my spirit sbonld ever take to wan
dering oft again. Oeraldlne says If it does
she will marry 'John Haverford who Is
still pining for her but I know that Is only
a threat to prevent the dissolution of part
nership, as she confesses In private that
she would never marry anyone but me
never!
I am very fat and well now, and have
burned up the parchments of the learned
Archldechus, and am training myself to
utterly disbelieve such things. The mem
ory seema like a faint dream. In the light
of our present happiness, for Oeraldlne
is the loveliest and sweetest ot wives, and
she says I am the best of husbands. And
giving her thst last word, I lay down the
pen.
BOSTON CLl'B WOMES WORRIED.
Caused Hotel to He Closed aad tbe
Maneaer Ssed tar aso.OOO.
Club women all around Boston, as well ss
the temperance workers in the district, re
lates the Boston Post, are eonsidersb'y
stirred over the fact that the closing of the
Albany house at Brighton this spring
through the representations of a number
of club women to Governor Crane haa re
sulted In the bringing ot suits demanding
$50,000 damages from these women, snd ths
husband of one of them, by Timothy F.
Buckley, leases ot the hotel.
Mrs. Frsncls B. Hornbrooke, one ot the
defendants, said concerning the suit: "We
were asked by members ot ths Bright
helmstonc club of Brighton to aid in abol
ishing a nuissncs there, known ss the Al
bany bouse. Fifteen of us, Including rep
resentatlves ot the Watertown and Allston
clubs, together with five from the New
ton federation, early in June waited upon
Governor Crane. There was no Written
petition drawn up, or anything of the
kind. Mrs. Bates ot Brighton simply told
the governor ths situation In a few words
and we all seconded It. Three days later
we saw by ths papers that the Albany
house wss closed, snd from that time until
this I have thought nothing of ths matter;
in fact, I had completely forgotten the In
cident. "This Is really too ludicrous to talk
about." continued Mrs. Hornbrooke, smil
ing; "why ths man won't dars to take tbe
raas to ths courts; if he d'd, hs will be cut
ting his own throat. Ws havs all the facts
Gold Medal
At Pan-American Exposition.
Unlike Any Other I
Tb full flavor, tba del ioious qual
ity, tho absolute rrlt, of Low.
tier's Breakfast Ccc a distinguish
It from all others
No "trestment" with alkalies; no
adulteration with flour, starch or
ground cocoa shells; nothing but the
nutritive and digestible product ot
the choicest Cocoa Beans.
Ask Your Dealer for It.
on our side; this warn t started In a burry-
flurry, sentimental sort of ;, you under
stand; we went at the wiping out of this
place In a systematic, business manner.
It wss simply a hearing before the gov
ernor of the state; a private hearing, in
which a few women desired to tell the of
ficials ot the commonwealth Just what was
going on at Brighton. The governor lis
tened to us, with the result that the Albany
Is st present not running. I think Mr.
Buckley, or whoever tho man Is. had better
sue Governor Crane that la the man he
wants to deal with."
Mrs. C. M. Wilson, president of the Water-
town Woman's club: "I was delegated t
represent my club when representatives of
other clubs met ours. The Young Men's
assembly protested agnlnst the liquor
license being granted, and the women were
against the hotel license on purely moral
grounds."
Mrs. Electa N. L. Walton, honorary pres-.
Ident of the West Newton Educational
club: "We went before the governor to give
our moral support. We folt that a p'aio
such as was described to us should not ex
ist. We were glad to learn afterward that
It bad been closed."
Miss M. Caroline Wilson, president of
the Watertown Woman's club, said that
their protest was not against Mr. Bucklov.
but against the Beaton A Albany railroad
corporation, as they were the owners of tha
property In question.
When asked why the women of Water-
town Interested themselves In a Brighton
hotel, Miss Wilson replied, because tho
place was near the Watertown line, and also
because the Brighton women had ss'te I
their aid In the fight for morality.
Chairman Clark of the police board re
fused to dlscues the case. So did Governor
Crane.
Mr. Buckley said: , ...
"Yea. I have entered suit for I31.00')
against these women; $10,000 for Injury to
business, and $10,000 for personal damages
to reputation."
. rOITKO 1'AHAGRAPIIS,.
Chicago News: To err Is human and to
llo about It Is more to.
Intelelctual Improvement Is apt to warp a
woman's shape.
Even the pessimist Is momentarily happy
In his unhapplness.
This would be a gloomy old world tor cats
if women conld pur. ,
The string tied around a man's finger IS
merely a forget-me-knot.
Some music hath charms to hold a man it
he is chained to the spot.
Speaking of home, rule, what's the mas
ter with that of the first baby?
In matrimony one and one make one, but
In divorce one from one leaves two.
"Fair and warmer" Is the prediction
the weather man lays up for a rainy day.
Girls should never flirt, in public until
after they have a strangle hold on the art.
Some men don't know they are beaten
until long after other people make the dis
covery. If the beauty of the average man's mind
Isn't mors lovely than his fare it is entitled
to sympathy.
There is no objection to a woman hav
ing a great command of language If she
knows when not to use It.
When a small boy gets Into trouble
there's generally a stick In It; when he
grows up and trouble gets Into him there
are generally several "sticks" In It. '
WHEN LIffS AT STAKE
The most timid man will take snjr
chance of escape. The slender rope
dropped down the precipice, the slip.,
pery log orer the sbyss, anything that
offers a chance of life, is eagerly snstch
ed at. The end the man seeks is safety.
He cares nothing
for the means to
that end. -
There are thou
sands of men and
women whose
lives are at stake.
who are hindered
from accepting
the one means of
aafety by foolish
prejudice.
Doctor Pierce's
Golden Medical
Discovery has
been the mesns of
restoring health
to many men aud
women whose hol
low cough, bleed
ing lungs, ema
ciation and weak
ness seemed to
warrant the state
ment of local phy
sicians "There if
no cure nossible."
Wbv should prejudice against a put-up
medicine hinder yem Iron trying wliat
has cured thousands of sunenncr men
and women?
Only for Dr. Pierce's-GMn Mdel Ws
covery I Iniuk I would Ut in my grave tfc-Usv.
writri Mr. Mom Mile, of HiilUrd. I'inu Co..
Wyomiuc. 1 had aMhma o bad I roiild ai
sleep at night snd was ioo.pll4 to give un
work. It sBtcted niy iunga so lt I cough
all the lime, both dv snX night. My Mends
all thought I had rmiautnption. My wife hal
taken Df. Pierce's Favorite l'recnption fcad it
bad helped her so much ah tiiwMed o niy try
ioa hia 'Golden MerUcal lxvry 'which I
did. 1 have takes tout, bottles and am now a,
wall man, weighing iti pound, than to I.
Pierce s Golden Medical Lnw.uvcry.
The sole motive for substitution it to
permit the desler to tu-ke the little more
proGt psid by the sals ot" leas nwritorious
iuedicuic. Uc gains; j ou lose.
if
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