This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
DEALINGS WITH THE DEAD
53

back, and had the mate assigned me then appeared, I do not think he would have met a very cold reception. Thereafter all this ended as God decreed it should—rightly.

Around my waist there was a zone or belt of blue, which, kept the fronts of. my open robe together, and then fell floorward in two knotted tassels on the left side. The throat and upper portions of my bosom were covered with what bore the appearance of finest lace, whiter than the driven snow. The hair hung in luxuriant curl-tresses adown my back and cheeks, which latter, as disclosed by the floor-mirror, were no longer sunken, sallow or emaciated in the least degree; on the contrary they were round, full, white, fair as the cheeks of daylight, and suffused with the softest and most delicate tints of the newly-opened blossom of the peach tree. The teeth!—I had teeth—were ivory-hued, large and even. The eyes were larger than they had ever seemed before; their lashes were long, dark and drooping; and they were shaded by a brow far more delicate and finely pencilled than they ever were on earth. My stature was a trifle less, apparently, than when incarnated, and there was a health, vigor, and freshness, which reminded me of the early days, ere woman's estate had come with all its cares and toils, its miseries and deep griefs. About my head there was a shining band, like unto the spirit of a silver coronet, pearl and diamond frosted, and flashing back the light from a thousand jeweled points. In the center of this zone was a triangle of ruby hue, surmounted with the cypher "R," and in its center was a crystaline globe, winged, and bearing the motto, "Try."