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WEIRD TALES

the paper flutter from his hands; I quietly picked up Twining’s written confession and later dropped it into the stove. The old man relapsed into his former state of wandering misery, with apparently no recollection of the episode.

Bauer left soon after that.

"A good day for me, and I owe it all to you, Van Nuys—My thanks," he made genial acknowledgment from the doorway.

I choked on my disgust of him. So Max Bauer, whom only circumstances outside of himself had saved from actual murder, went up to the city, successful and carefree, to add to his many treasures old "Tinker" Twining’s one treasure.

I stayed with the old scholar, whose every instinct would have held him from the murder he had planned, and watched him wear himself out, suffering to the last breath for his one mental sin.

That is why I hope, at the final reckoning, God will take some account of the sensitiveness of the souls he weighs, and will fix his penalties accordingly.


A Weird Prophetic Dream and Its Gruesome Fulfillment

Almost every person has experienced at least one grotesque or horrible dream during a lifetime. Few there are, however, who are afterward able to link their dreams with subsequent happenings, as was the case with Dr. Walter F. Prince, Principal Research Officer of the American Society for Psychical Research, and editor of its official journal.

Four remarkable prophetic dreams by Dr. Prince are recorded in a recent issue of the "Journal," together with the testimonials of reputable people to whom the dreams were related before there was any indication that their fulfillment would be realized. This precaution is taken, as a general rule, by those who are accustomed to search out the truths of psychic phenomena in the interests of the society, as that body would not otherwise accept them as having evidential value, regardless of their sources.

Through the courtesy of the editors of the "Journal" we are permitted to reprint Dr. Prince’s narrative of his striking fourth dream, and the newspaper article which describes its fulfillment. In reading the description of the dream, please note the recurrence of the word "hand," and remember, when you read the second article, that subjective impressions are often symbolical.

The dream follows:

"New York, Nov. 30, 1917.

“DOCUMENT ONE.

On the following Nov. 27, I dreamed that I had in my hands a small paper with an order printed in red ink, for the execution of the bearer, a woman. I did not seem to have any distinct notion of the reason for her condemnation, but it seemed that I inferred that it was for a political offense, and some thought of the French Revolution seems faintly connected with it; though it may be that I was only reminded of the execution of such as Madame Roland. The woman appeared to have voluntarily brought the order, and she expressed herself as willing to die, if I would only hold her HAND.

"I remember her looks quite well; she was slender, of the willowy type, had blonde hair, small girlish features, and was rather pretty. She sat down to die without any appearance of reluctance, seeming fully calm and resigned. It was not clear where we were, but she seemed to me to be in a chair. I should have thought her about 35.

"Then the light went out and it was dark. I could not tell how she was put to death, but soon I felt her HAND grip mine (my HAND,) and knew that the deed was being done. Then I felt one HAND (of mine) on the hair of the head, which was loose and severed from the body, and felt the moisture of blood. Then the fingers of my other HAND were caught in her teeth, and the mouth opened and shut, several times as the teeth refastened on my HAND, and I was filled with the horror of the thought of a severed but living head. Here the dream faded out......"

Following the dream are the depositions of witnesses to whom the dream was related before the incident described in the newspaper article. As we have not the space to reprint them, interested parties are referred to the issue of the "Journal" mentioned above.

On the early afternoon of Nov. 29, as Dr. Prince and his wife were returning to their home in Flushing, L. I., they: noticed the following article in "The Evening Telegram:"

“HEAD SEVERED BY TRAIN AS WOMAN ENDS HER LIFE

"Deliberately placing her head in front of the wheels of a train that had stopped at the Long Island Railroad Station at Hollis, L. I., so that the wheels would pass over her when it started, a woman identified by letters in her handbag as Mrs. Sarah A. HAND, thirty years old, of —— West —— St., ended her life early today. In the handbag, beside the letters, was found a letter, rambling in its contents, that predicted the existence of life in her body after death AND THAT HER HEAD WOULD STILL CONTINUE TO LIVE AFTER IT HAD BEEN SEVERED FROM HER BODY.

“The husband of the woman, —— HAND, was notified at the —— Street address, and he went to Hollis in a taxicab. He said his wife had been missing from home since NOVEMBER 27. Since the death of her little girl, several months ago, he asserted, Mrs. HAND had acted strangely."


Savages Burn Man: Alive To Appease "Goddess"

Human sacrifice is still practiced among certain tribes in Africa. Recently six members of a tribe in Southern Rhodesia were sentenced to death for burning a young man alive in an effort to appease the "rain goddess," a young and beautiful girl. The young man whose life was sacrificed was the son of the tribal chief, and he was charged with having assaulted the "goddess." This, the natives believed, accounted for the severe drought that afflicted Rhodesia, and it was decreed that the chief’s son should perish at the stake. The natives joined in a wild celebration when, soon after the young man's body was burnt to a crisp, rain began to fall.