of the turbans of
his attendants. A boat was at hand, in which he escaped to the opposite
bank of the river.

"And now a new object took possession of my soul. I spoke a few hurried
but energetic words to my companions, and, having succeeded in gaining
over a few of them to my purpose made a frantic sally from the kiosk.
We rushed amid the crowd that surrounded it. They retreated, at first,
before us. They rallied, fought madly, and retreated again. In the
mean time we were borne far from the kiosk, and became bewildered and
entangled among the narrow streets of tall, overhanging houses, into
the recesses of which the sun had never been able to shine. The rabble
pressed impetuously upon us, harrassing us with their spears, and
overwhelming us with flights of arrows. These latter were very
remarkable, and resembled in some respects the writhing creese of the
Malay. They were made to imitate the body of a creeping serpent, and
were long and black, with a poisoned barb. One of them struck me upon
the right temple. I reeled and fell. An instantaneous and dreadful
sickness seized me. I struggled--I gasped--I died." "You will hardly
persist now," said I smiling, "that the whole of your adventure was not
a dream. You are not prepared to maintain that you are dead?"

When I said these words, I of course expected some lively sally from
Bedloe in reply, but, to my astonishment, he hesitated, trembled, became
fearfully pallid, and remained silent. I looked toward Templeton. He
sat erect and rigid in his chair--his teeth chattered, and his eyes were
starting from their sockets. "Proceed!" he at length said hoarsely to
Bedloe.

"For many minutes," continued the latter, "my sole sentiment--my sole
feeling--was that of darkness and nonentity, with the consciousness of
death. At length there seemed to pass a violent and sudden shock through
my soul, as if of electricity. With it came the sense of elasticity and
of light. This latter I felt--not saw. In an instant I seemed to rise
from the ground. But I had no bodily, no visible, audible, or palpable
presence. The crowd had departed. The tumult had ceased. The city was
in comparative repose. Beneath me lay my corpse, with the arrow in my
temple, the whole head greatly swollen and disfigured. But all these
things I felt--not saw. I took interest in nothing. Even the corpse
seemed a matter in which I had no concern. Volition I had none, but
appeared to be impelled into motion, and flit