Page 219 - YB1903
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as the process to which the muscles had been attached were indeed very small, so that the person must have had considerable trouble with the muscles of the lumbar regions of his bade Going closer, I took the abnormalmembcr ill Illy hand and began to make a careful examination of it; immediately the other hand of the skeleton slapped me between the shoulders, and a deep voice said, "Yes, Jcny, you remember wcll the day that was done." 1 turned around thinking 111y old friend, the Professor, had returned, but was terrified to find I was alone. Cold beads of perspiration collected all my forehead, cold chills ran down 111yback, my knees shook and I was almost ready to collapse, when the skeleton began, with a terrible grinding of bones, to move towards me. "Don't be frightened," it said, in grinding tones of con- solation. "Don't you remember your old friend, 'Tarr?" I did remember Tar!", but to my recollection he was of short stature, and, 011 the contrary, this frame was that of a man of at least six feet, In an in- stant it dawned upon rne that some of the students were working a joke on me, and were indeed succeed- ing very well by the aiel of a ventriloquist; I would not lose the chance to tell them that they were entirely mixed and were fooling a wise mall. So I opened fire: vWelf, Tan, it ran in my mind that YOU were 0"1'short stature when I knew you; how is it now that your frame is so tall?" At this the j;:\\V'Sof the skeleton spread, his ribs begun to rattle and shake vigorously, and he laughed very loud, his hones grating all the while. "You see, it was this ",vay,Jerry; 1 was a I11ISSlOl1ary,arul after I left the Semi- nary 1 went to my field of work in Africa. Aftcr being there a short time I was captured by a tribe which 1 used to visit once each month, remaining with them two days, preaching and doing whatever good was to he done. After capturing \11ethey hailed me and served me on toast at their annual missionury dinner," "But," I continued, "how did your boiling affect your height?" "Well, it was this way: you remember Crosby, the very tall fellow who was at the Seminary when we were in College? Well, he and I were working together and unfortunately suffered the same fate. We were sent to America for burial, and in some way got mixed up, so that now I am standing 0111115 legs." This 'was indeed an amusing thing to me, for there was the body of a man weighing, while alive, about 130 pounds and 5 feet 3 inches in beight, standing on the legs of n man who weighed at least 100 pounds heavier and was almost a foot tetter "Well, how did it happen that you were captured in the first place? were you advancing some doe, trines that the natives could not digest, or did yOll violate some of their unwrit ten laws of courtesy?" - 209 - -
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