What A Brick Did

A gentleman living in the western part of tho city undcrwent a somowhat romarkable experienoe a few nighta ago. Tho indefinito name of Sniith will do well enough to cali him by, aud liis wifc woiüd undoubtedly prefer to bo dosignatod Mrs. Stnith rathcr thau by tLte family title. Mrs. Sruith ia sometimes troublod with restlessness at niglit, mucb to Mr. Smith's disgust, and h; bas always insisted tbat it is becauso sbe eats too mucb snpper I To oharge a woman with too great an appotito is to commit a gravo error, and to even go so far as to say tbat sbe absolutely eats so mucb as to mako ber rcstlcss is to I breed the spirit of a grcat revengo in hefbosörri cvery time. Mr. Sinithknows it now, but bo didn't a sbort time ago, and took great satisfaction in explaining learnedly just how her rost was aff'ected by ovor-oating. He'd say tbat the stomaeh wonlil contain moro tban the secretions for digestión cc uld opeterate upon, and tbat the pressure of an additional wei glit of food aetually prevented the proper eirculation of tho blood, and the adequate snpply of that desirablo liquid to all parta of the body, and tben he'd branch olf hito a disqtrisition on the fimctions of orgaus in general tbnt would nearly tbrow Mr. Sinith into spasms, witb it prosiness. Sho didn't comprehend mnch of wbat ber busbnud said, and sbo didu't behevo bis explanation of ber wakefulneea the correct one, but her curiosity was somewbat aroused, and she determined to learn for herself if a weight upon the stomacb would really cause wakefulness or u ilisposition to nigbtmare. After mucb deliberution nbe resolved to cxperimeni upon Mr. Snaitb. " It'll erve him rigbt, aDybow," sbo said, "for bis uiifceling languago to me when I've been in sucli pain." What Mrs. Smith resolved to do was to put a brick upou Mr. Smith's stomach when he was asleep, and then to note the symptoms to see if restlessness followed. " If it makes bim have awful dreams," she remarked to herself, "i'll believe tbere may be somethiug in all bis botbersome talk about overloadiug tbc stomach." Upon the very iiret m'gbt after making up her mind to try the experiment, Mm. Smith carried the thing info practico. Smith came home late and found Mrs. Smith intent upon some woman's work or otber which abe Baid would still occnpy her for an hortr. Smith went to bed at once, and bis wife waited until nis peaceful snore reverberated through the house, when she Blipped up stairs with a big brick sbe had secmred for the occasion. Bmith was sleeping, flut on JiiK baok, the sleep of perfect bealth, bis breathing was regalar, mul the benignant espresaion upon bis countenance indicated tbat if be dreamed at all it was of pleiisant things. Once he moved a httle and from bis lipa carne eofily the worde, " Mary Aun." Thia was n name uni'aniiliar to Mrs. Smith, ajad she besitated no longer. " You wretch !" sha muttered, :ik she proceeded with her enterprise. ]Jeftly she turned down the oounterpanë and the sheets, nnd delicately pLaced tho heavy brick Bquaroly upou tue atomavh of me Hlecping man. Then phe turned back the brd elothos and sat down to await resulta. What ensued was interesting. Por a few moments after the applioatioi] of tho briok Smith alojit ou as before, but gradiially a chango came. There was a twiteiring of tlio bodj, and tho face asmimod an expression awfulJy weird and solomn. ; Smith appeared to be noeing ghosts I His lips moved, and it beoame parent that ho was going to speak. The sound was uf, firat, mdiatinct, bel rapidly grew louder. H wasquuting ghastly pootry: "Olí ! I stond od .1 Iwfttnpy iit'lit of lmttle, And of bonen mui skullH I mude a r:itüe To friííhtcu the wolf and tho oarion crow, And thf1 hniiyry dotf - but they wonld not go !" Then the sleeper (juivered all and startod and gaeped, and the look on his fao grew weirder than ever. Tho bj-ick was (vidontly gelting heavy, and ia lnn dreams Smith was transl'ormed into something dismal. He broko out igiin : " Ha .' niy grsatoal Joy is ii Inro nú docoy To tho chaffm'fi BÖppery brink Tbe lmnter lold, wíien Itc's weary and ld, And thrn let hint BUddCnly sink ! A thonmnd feet ! Dead ! He, feil Hkc lcail ! Hal he couldn't leap lilir me ; With broften baok, Iikc k fóleu on rack, lic hauys in a split ]ine tree !" Kmith was getting woYse and Mrs Smith was gotting náivDus, bnt Hbo wtw afraid to approaoh tho bed to take Uio briok oft'. Slie crept np softly, butktiolcd over backward as Smith howlcd: "And tbere 'mid his bolioa that echodd with groan h, I made uw, a nest if his huir ; The rilH, dry and wliitr. rattlo ioud nu in Hjilto, Au I rorli in my cradlp. tfaerP." The mau's voice waa rising with eVèry ntterance, and Hlrs. Smith beg.'in to think of iusanity. Sho thonghl, of cilling in the neighbors, but wan afraid of an exposuro by the brick. She didn't know what to do and wan just ajipi-oaching the bed agiftin when her huir wus rajsed by tlie shout : " Whoop 'i It's a ghost without any skin on I Dodgo it ! liiug tho bell softly; there'scrapoon tho doorl Scrape on the door !" And then he ealmed down for a momont fr two only to start again suddenly aud shriek : "When y ou get a black cat skin him to the taill No quarter! Hew tliem down ! Brain the womon and children !" There was a pause for a moment, when tho face of tiie slcepor turned palo and ho hisscd : "Is this a dagger that I sec lxforo nie ? . Como, let ine clutch it, and plungo it in mo boM'els ! Aha!" As he concluded tho sentence, Smith made a wild plunge with his hands. Mrs. Smith had crept np to the bed and was feeling softly for the brick at tho very moment he made tho divo. One hand landed in her hair, the iingers closed with the grip of a giant, and Mrs. Smith was the next moment in the grasp of tho man. "Aha! I havo theo now I " he roared. 'Til tear thy false heart irom thy slmddering form, and rend thee lim'b from limb!" And undoubtedly lie would liave aocomplished tho rending if Mrs. Smith had not lifted up lier voice in a scream piercing enough to raise the doad. It woke Smith and he sprang up in bed, the brick rolling off imnoticod as he moved. "Jane, I've had tho worst dream I over had m my life 1" Mrs. Sirdth suggested, as he had ofton done to lier, that lier husbiuid liad caten too much supper, a proposition he was mcliuod to dispute, attributing his nightmare to a nervous condition induced by overwork down town. Rnally he dropped oif to sleep again, and Mrs. Smith iniproved tho opportunity to remove the brick from the bod. Smith, even yet, doesn't know what caused his terrible dream, but ]Mrf. Smith, thougli never explaiuiug the matter to him, lias become a convert to herhnsband's views on 011e .subject, and BBsiats tlmt j-f'stlessnoss at night is always the result of overloading the stemach. 8he learncd a great dtal in her exiieriment witp the brick, wien