Fantasy fiction; Utopian fiction; Utopias -- Fiction
"Within the second chamber are batteries and means of obtaining
heat, and fluids of life-giving principles. Cause the chamber to
be warmed, arrange the batteries for current, and prepare the
nourishment which you will find in the glass jars. When all is
ready, cover your nostrils well, break the top glass of the casket,
quickly seize the form therein lying, and bear it to the second
chamber.
"Once within the warmth of that room, tear off the bandages, and
apply the poles of the battery to the heart, in front, and over the
fifth rib, in the back. Let the current come with all its force. If
it be God's will, the form will shake, will quiver, open its eyes,
will breathe, and become a living woman once again. Nourishment and
care are all that will be required to complete the resurrection.
Within the folds of the bandages over the heart lies a golden case
containing a letter which is to be read by my daughter alone. Give
it to her when she is recovered, and may God be with you.
"JEAN COLCHIS."
"Ah!" sighed Mollie, with tears in her eyes; "I see it all--I know it
all!" Then, with all semblance of fear vanished from her heart, she
cried:
"To work, doctor! To work!"
Dr. Town was a man quick to grasp a situation. He did not stop to
wonder or ask questions. To be sure, he was very much surprised at what
he saw, and at Mollie's exclamation, but he was prepared to rescue a
woman therein entombed--this from a knowledge of the contents of the
letter found in the copper cylinder, and which Mollie had shown him.
Wasting no time in speculation, the instructions engraved upon the
tablet on the top of the casket were carefully followed out. Returning
to the second chamber, they commenced their work. Oil was found in
the sealed bottles, and put into the stove, whose asbestos wick would
still perform its functions. The stove was soon aglow with a bright
flame, and its warmth diffused about the chamber. The batteries were
ready for adjustment, and only required the dropping of the carbons
into the electropoion fluid. The bottles of beef extract and fluids of
nourishment were opened, and their contents prepared upon the stove.
Clothing from their own persons was prepared by the two girls, as none
could be found about the place.
When all was ready, the doctor prepared to break the glass top of the
casket.
"Remain here," he said to them, "and I will bring her to you;" then,
modestly: "and you shall strip off the bandages and cover her form; but
leave bare her bosom and back."
Having given his instructions, he proceeded to the chamber wherein
Marie Colchis lay.
A moment of silence followed, then a crash was heard, and the doctor
came staggering into the room with the drooping, lifeless form of Marie
Colchis in his arms. Laying her upon a bed, which had been improvised
from their wraps, he cried, as he turned away:
"Quick! Strip off the bandages, and tell me when you are ready!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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