We must
go back. I shall go down the canal to Sinsi. I know the Council of
Scandor will resolve to rebuild the city.'"
The message closed. I rose and staggered backward into the arms of
Jobson. A severe hemorrhage ensued, and slowly thereafter the darkening
doors of life began to close upon me. Disease had won its way against
all the force of life.
It has been my task during these last weeks of life to write this
account of these wonderful experiences, and to leave them to the world
as an assurance--to how many will it give a new delight in living, to
how many will it remove the bitterness of living, to how many may it
bring resignation and hope--that the blight of Death is only an incident
in a continuous renewal of Life.
(End of Mr. Dodd's MS.)
Note by Mr. August Bixby Dodan.
Mr. Dodd died January 20, 1895. He never recovered from the severe shock
caused by hemorrhage, after receiving the second message from his father
and recorded above. He appreciated the imminence of death acutely, and
struggled to complete, as he has, the narrative of his life. My daughter
was not again seen by Mr. Dodd, though he received several letters from
her, which were found beneath his pillow after his demise.
I was with Mr. Dodd constantly during the latter days of his illness,
and then promised him that I should secure the publication of his
remarkable story.
I am not willing to hazard any conjecture as to the more extraordinary
features of this narrative.
Pages:
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193