I returned to the spot, but only to be riveted to
the earth in astonishment. I saw, stretched on the
grass, just on the verge of the pit, the dead body of
a man; but what was my horror, when, perusing
the ashy features in the light of the moon, I perceived
my onw countenance! It was no illusion;
it was my face, my figure, and dressed in my
clothes; and the whole presented the appearance
of perfect death.

The sight was as bewildering as it was shocking;
and the whole state of things was not more
terrifying than inexplicable. There I lay on the
ground, stiff and lifeless; and here I stood on my
feet, alive, and surveying my own corpse, stretched
before me. But I forgot my extraordinary duality
in my concern for myself—that is to say, for that
part of me, that eidolon, or representative, or duplicate
of me, that was stretched on the grass, I
stooped down to raise the figure from the earth, in
an instinctive desire to give myself aid, but in vain;
I could not lift the body; it did not seem to me that
I could even touch it,—my fingers, strive as I
might, I could not bring into contact with it.

My condition, or conditions (for I was no longer
of the singular number) at this time, can be understood
only by comparing my confusion of senses
and sensations to that which occurs in a dream,
when one beholds himself dead, surveys his body,
and philosophizes or laments, and is, all the time,
to all intents and purposes, without being surprised
at it, two persons, one of which lives and observes,

[figure description] Page 062.[end figure description]

while the other is wholly defunct. Thus I was,
or appeared to be, without bestowing any reflection
upon such an extraordinary circumstance, or being
even conscious of it, two persons; in one of which
I lived, but forgot my existence, while trembling at
the death that had overcome me in the other. My
true situation I did not yet comprehend, nor even
dream of; though it soon turned out to be natural
enough, and I understood it.

I was entirely overcome with horror at my unfortunate
condition; and seeing that I was myself
unable to render myself any assistance, I ran, upon
an impulse of instinct, to the nearest quarter where
it was to be obtained. This was at the cottage, or
little farmhouse, which I spoke of before as standing
on the by-road, a little beyond the old church.
It was occupied by a man named Turnbuckle, whom
I knew very well, and who was a very industrious,
honest man, although a tenant of Mr. Aikin Jones.

I arrived at his house in an amazingly short
space of time, rather flying, as it seemed to me,
through the air, than running over the marsh and
up the rugged hill. It was the gray of the morning
when I reached his house, and the family was
just stirring within. As I ran towards the door, his
dogs, of which he had a goodly number, as is common
with poor men, set up a dismal howling, clapped
their tails between their legs, and sneaked off
among the bushes; a thing that surprised me much,
for they were usually very savage of temper. I
called to Turnbuckle by name, and that in a voice

[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]

so piteous that, in half a minute, he and his eldest
son came tumbling out of the house in the greatest
haste and wonder. No sooner, however, had they
cast eyes on me, than they uttered fearful cries;
the old man fell flat on his face, as if in a fit, and
the son ran back into the house, as if frightened
out of his senses.

“Help me, Thomas Turnbuckle,” said I; “I
am lying dead under the beech-tree in the hollow:
come along and give me help.”

But the old man only answered by groaning and
crying; and at that moment the door opened, and
his eldest son appeared with a gun, which he fired
at me, to my inexpressible terror.

But if I was frightened at this, how much more
was I horrified when the old man, leaping up at
the discharge, roared out, “O Lord! a ghost! a
ghost!” and ran into the house.

I perceived it all in a moment: the howling of
the dogs, which they still kept up from among the
bushes,—the fear of Turnbuckle and his family, all
of whom, old and young, male and female, were
now squeaking in the house, as if Old Nick had
got among them,—my being in two places together,
and a thousand other circumstances that now occurred
to me, apprized me of the dreadful fact,
which I had not before suspected: I was a dead
man!—my body lay in the marsh under the beechtree,
and it was my spirit that was wandering about
in search of assistance!

As this terrible idea flashed across my mind, and

[figure description] Page 064.[end figure description]

I saw that I was a ghost, I was as much frightened
as the Turnbuckles had been, and I took to my
heels to fly from myself, until I recollected myself
a little, and thought of the absurdity of such a proceeding.
But even this fatal conception did not remove
my anxiety in relation to my poor body,—or
myself, as I could not help regarding my body; and
I ran back to the beech-tree in a kind of distraction,
hoping I might have been revived and resuscitated
in my absence.

I reached the pit, and stared wildly about me—
my body was gone,—vanished! I looked into the
hole I had excavated; there was nothing in it but
the spade and mattock, and my hat, which had
fallen from my head when I leaped out of it, after
hurting my foot. I stared round me again; the
print of my body in the grass, where it had lain,
was quite perceptible (for it was now almost broad
day), but there was no body there, and no other
vestige excepting one of my shoes, which was torn
and bloody, being the identical one I had worn on
the foot hurt by the mattock.

p016-074

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