age which he
was powerless to prevent. His mouth was opened as though uttering a
cry, but no cry came out of his mouth. He did not breathe heavily, he
did not appear to breathe at all. He had the appearance of a man who
in the midst of some violent emotion had suddenly been turned into
stone, or rather into some plastic material possessing very peculiar
properties. For we found that, while every limb yielded readily to
pressure and could be placed easily in any posture we pleased, it did
not on being released fall to the ground, but maintained the attitude
in which it had been placed as though it were modelled in wax or carved
in stone.

"'All this was so surprising that I suppose I ought not to have been
surprised, as certainly I was, when I found that no blood flowed when I
attempted to bleed him. The man seemed to be decidedly not dead--and
yet decidedly not alive. We could make nothing of him. And after a
while the physician being called away to attend to some one else, left
me to watch this strange case, and act as I should see fit.

"'For a long time I sat and vigilantly observed the striking figure
before me, in appearance so full of life and passion, in reality so
completely inert.

"'As you may suppose, I was not alone. The small room was crowded with
the neighbours of the old man, who had long known him, and among whom
he was reported to be a miser, who though living in apparent poverty
was really very rich. I could see that many did not confine their
inquisitive glances to the old man himself, but looked eagerly about
them to discover if possible in some corner of the mean apartment that
store of hidden wealth which they had persuaded themselves that it
contained. After a time these visitors departed one after the other,
perceiving neither any alteration in the condition of the old man nor
any signs of his reputed riches.

"'When they had all left, I still sat looking attentively at him, lost
in astonishment and marvelling what would be the end of so singular and
unheard-of a trance. Without the least warning, so suddenly that I was
not a little startled, the full stream of life seemed to return upon
him in an instant. It had been arrested as suddenly and for many
hours--and now in a moment, before one could swallow one's spittle, it
resumed its course as though the interruption had never taken place.
To the mouth half opened all this time utterance was at length
restored, and suddenly as I s