The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11, 19 March 1908, Page 3

The Storyteller

DO NOT CALL BACK THE DEAD

It i was the evening before All Souls' Bay. Although the hour was not yet late, the early darkness- of a Novtmiler i<i o ht had settled upoa the oity. The two large i lectnc ' lights which burned before one" of the most pretentious* lcoiking dwellings in the residence district of tae city coiuli not penetratj the darkness and fog, and formed comparatively small circles upon the sidewalk. Within the house, tefore~ the writing desk in his- cosy ldjrary, sat -Mr. Elion, apparently engaged in reading a newspaper, the contents of which evidently were not interesting enough to hold' his attention, for he looked up frequently and listened to the sound of voices coming through the open door from a room across ' the ball. Lorttta, his only child, was repeating her night prayers after her grandmother. The clear, sweet treble of the little one could be plainly heard : 1 Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.' The father covered his eyes and sighed. He knew that the child was pray.ng for her mother, who had died more than three years ago. The wound which her death had struck to his heart was not yet healed. -She had be;n so good, so pure, so devoted that no other woman, he fel]L sure, could ever fill 'her place in his home anfl heart. Mr. Elton"Vas a convert, having become a Catholic shortly before his marriage. Although she was gone whose influence and' example had wrought the change, he romia/n'sd staunch in his religion. Indeed, for the last few years he had -found h's greatest consolation in., the principles and practices or his deceased wife. To them he had clung- to save himself from despair. 'Dearest, do not grieve that I have to leave you,' she had said. ' You l-.novv that ""ft will only be for a short time. Then we shall meet to remain united for ever.' Stlill his hearti would rebel. Why had God taken his wife when her "life was yet so short, and she might have dv.ne so much good ? And why was he obliged to live on when life seemed 1 worthless without her ? " 'May her soul rest in peace,' prayed the child., And the grandmother answered with a fervent ' Amen.' " Mr. Elton repeated the words. They sounded like resignation, atid <he could not feel resigned. On. this c en' n°; especially the memory of her whom he mourned was practically \i\id. Do the dead have special -power to beckon to the living on All Souls' night ? With sudden resolution Mr. Elton looked at has watch. The pcatcs of the cemetery would be open until l-.tte, and there was- yet time to visit her grave. It would do h'm good. It woulffWm as though he could sreak to her once more. Ah, if it could only be so ! If he could but once more speak to her and have her answer him ! He felt his yearning liV e physical pain. ~~" He boarded a street car, and was soon at the cemc-" Wy situated an the outs' irts. of the city. Htere and thre through . the lar^e burial ground he saw candles burning upon the graves, owing t 0 a local" custom prevailing) on the evening before the feast of All Souls: The names flickered in the 'danVness, spreading an^imeertain "got, and suggesting to the lonely man that the spirits of the deceased had talk-en form and were appearing, in these shapes. On reaching the snot where his beloved wife Was buried, the mourning husband, overcome by the strength of his emotions, and believing himself to be alone, fell unon bis knees and gave vent to his feelings by callinc with suppressed voice': „ " Atfele.-O A dele, my sweet wife, if I could only see you and speak to you once more !' It was an exclamation of utter hopelessness to when, naturally, Mjf? El' on expected no response Therefore he was seized with a- feelinc; of indescribable terror when a faint vo : cc answered distinctly : t. /.T, ou ' sk' 1 ?" 1 '? n ever ell back the dead, never call back the dead ! ' , Had he been answered by a voice from the spirit Time and occasion were favoring the creation of weird a-d uncanny sensations. Mr. Elton was affected by them. Yet 'ho strove to detect, the source of the mysterious vorce. The cemetery seemed entirely deserted But no ! He looked a-sain. Did he not see the, shadow ot a human form outlined upon a monument a few paces away ? " +T,-« F i°- r a mo ' mient h ' 6 str «£Sled with an impulse to flee thcnJns courage re-asserted itself. He advanced toward the place where he now discerned a dark figure standing

by a grave. It was that of a tall, slight person, dressed in> blacK, and with a black veil covering, the head. Ihe face of the unknown was turned toward him, in the dim light he could see that it was that of a young woman, of about twenty-four. She was pale, and thin, - with ■ an' expression of extreme sadness lin her lar^o dark eyes 1 . She • returned his- gaze steadily, repeating . the^ same words in the same low, clear voice :_ ' ' You should ne^er call back the dead, never call, L ack' the ,dead ! ' Mastering his feelings, Mr. Elton asked : Who are you ? Are you- a spirit oi a living perscn ?' . - ' I'm a ghost, of course. Don't you see that I'm a ghost'?' she answered complainingly. And painting to the monument at the head of the grave : ' Don't you see that I am buried here ? This is my grave.' - Mr. Elton strained his sight to read by the light of the flickering candles. : Our beloved daughter, Lillian. Aged 17.' / 'I have to wander here now, always, always,' conttinued the woman. 'My mother called me back, and 1 came. Oh, I'm so tired of wandering here, while my body lies in the grave. If 1 could only get back-!' And she covered her face with her hands and wept. Mr. Elton was stupefied. W a s this weird experience a reality or was it only a dream ? Approaching footsteps bro 1 c the spell. Two men were at hand. He half expected to see the woman vanish iir £host-like fashion, but with a low cry she started to rr>n away. She had not gone far before one of the-new comers overtook her and lard .a firm hand on her arm. 'Lillian,' he Said, not _uoikind'ly, 'come home. You Inow the d'odor has forbidden you to come here.' And turning to his companion he added : ' It is alt" rirht • i knew I should find her here.' ° ' The young woman, finding resistance useless, walked quietly away with the younger man. Mr. Elton now, •recop;n> : sed the elder as 'Mr. Bolt, the superintendent of the cemetery. ' Isn't it a Pity ?' queried the latter. • You observed • that ste is not right here,' tapping his forehead, didn't you ?' _^ ' Oh, she is insane, is she ?' replied ?»Ti\. Elton. ' I was inclined to take her for a ghost.' . v ' No wonder— meeting her in this nlace at n'eht. The strange part of it is that she believes herself to be a phost. Peculiar delusion, isn't it'? "Well, the li?.s passed through rather recul'ar experiences. Have you ever heard her story ?' " 1 No, I have never seen the girl, 'nor. heard of her le'ore to-night. But tell me her history as we walk dawn.' ' There o<n the toimib<3tD;ne is her name, and under it what were supposed to be her remains were buried some ssvrn or eight years a-ro. She was a very pretty gill,, fond of pleasure, and with a passion for the stage. Her father was dead, and sho was always besieging her mother with petKions that she-*' might become an actress. The mother, of course, would not hear of such a thing.'' ' LilJlan went to CMcago to visit a friendi and while there seized every chance ta attend the theatre. One afternoon, when there was no one ready to accompany her she set out alone for the matinee. It was on thatfateful flay when the Iroquois Theatre, where she had SMd she would go, was burnei to the ground. Thn"*girl never returned to her friend's house, and it was taken for granted that she was amongst those who had perished in the fl?.mes. Whan the news reached her relatives her brother— he who came for her to-night— went -to Chicaio and brought back .what he thought he identified by some pieces of clothing as her remains, to be buried Here.

.The mother nsver recovered from the shock. She lingered a few months, theh-dipd of grief. Two - days after her burial Ldllaan returned home. She had not go)e to the theatre on the afternoon of her disanpearance. but hM taken a train to New York with the intention of jroin-s on t 0 the sta.sie. She evidently had had no success in hor rhosen career, for she was careworn and sad ami in ill health. learning of all thjftt had happened and Itoat her mother h" d grieved herself to doath over her supposed fa'e, she was so d'eenly affected tha<" she became insane. Now she believes herself to be her own gh-st, ard whenever she is not watched she comes here to the cemetery.'

' What a tragiical and pathetic story' !' exclaimed Mr Eltcn.

'Tragical, indeed !' renliod Mr. Bolt. ' Yet, does it' nn o t occur 1o yon that this mother misrht Have jsaved herself and Hie ffiujrhtor she loved so well much misery if she had resigned herself to the will of the Lord in'her supposed 'bereavement ?' - i

' But who could blame her ? It is natural that we grieve over the death of our dear ones.' ' That is true. But we should do it in the spdrit oi_a 'Christian. I see so much grief displayed and 'so - many sad incidents come to my knowledge that I feel strongly the necessity of res>i o nation. t*od claims - Hrs "OAn wh.n He calls one Lam this woikl, and the soul goes home to its Mtuer. No matter how much they may. li.i<ve clung to life, 1 do not thi'iu that any of these silent sleepers who. died in the Lord would be wAling to Come lac'< to continue thieir existence in this life of snuggles. Does it not, therefor-fty seem l'Ue pure selfishness on our part to wish that they should ?- If the spirits of the deceased can observe us, do you think itrwii'l add to their happiness to see us vainly longing, when w e should be working out ou* salvation ? Their task is done, ours is yet to bo accomplished. All that we cpn do for ih.Tn is to give them our prayers. That- is ths "way to show that their memory is sacred.' - They bad reached the entrance of the cemetery. Mr. Eiton stretched out has hand to give a hearty pressure to tlut of his companion.

' You have p,i.en-me sometlrlns; to think of to-night. I thank you, Mr. Bolt. Good night.' He was deeply impressed "by the events of "the evenin •. Cn Ms way home he passed the- chapel of n monas-ti-ry, and halted to listen to the office for the .dead, whoh was be : ng chanted by the monks. _

1 Re |uiescant in pace,' they sang, and their listener murmured, this time with full resignation": ' May her soul and all the souls of the faithfal, departed rest for ever in re&ce. ' The Magnificat.'