John Spencer has mysteriously disappeared and is supposed to have
committed suicide. Before committing the rash act, he left a sum of
money which he directed to be used for defraying the burial expenses.
The ponds in the neighborhood are being dragged in the hope of
finding the body.
His surprise on reading the above can readily be imagined. He returned
home immediately. Almost the first person he met was his friend,
Johnson.
Spencer staggered and put his hand to his head. Was he awake? Johnson
showed similar signs of surprise.
“Then you didn’t commit suicide,” said Johnson.
“And you are not dead?” returned Spencer.
“Dead? Certainly not.”
“But I left you for dead in bed last night.”
“Dead! You must have been dreaming.”
“No; you were pulseless and cold and stiff.”
“Ah,” said Johnson, “that is easily explained. I was simply in one of
my cataleptic fits. No wonder you thought I was dead.”
“Yes, I thought you had committed suicide.”
“That’s what we all thought about you. What did you leave the money
for?”
“Why, to pay your funeral expenses.”
“Well, since I don’t need it, I shall return it,” said Johnson. “I was
afraid I’d have to use it to pay yours.”
“I am glad it has all turned out so happily, old fellow,” said Spencer,
and the two ghosts shook hands.
He Addressed the Jury.
A man who had never seen the inside of a courtroom until he was
introduced as a witness in a case pending in one of the Scottish
courts, on being sworn, took a position with his back to the jury, and
began telling his story to the judge.