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Show JESSIE 0E LUCKN0W. A. FAMOUS CASE OF CLAIRVOYANCE GRAPHICALLY RELATED. When the Besieged Had Lost All ITope, the Scotchwoman Heard, the Slogan Which Announced That the Highlanders Were Coming to the Rescue. In conversation between a distinguished distinguish-ed judge of this state and an editor the article of Mark Twain's on telepathy casually cas-ually came into talk. Many cases were cited, and the judge alluded to the remarkable re-markable story of Jessie Brown. It will be new to many, and it is given herewith here-with as it appeared in a letter to the London Times, the letter being written by a lady who was the wife of an officer at Lucknow: "On every side death stared ns in the face. No human skill could avert it any longer. We saw the moment approach when we must bid farewell to earth, yet without feeling that unutterable horror whiif must have been experienced by the unhappy victims at Cawnpur. We were resolved rather to die than to yield and were fully persuaded that in 24 hours all would be over. The engineer had said so, and all knew the worst. We women strove to encourage each other and to perform the light duties which were assigned to us, such as conveying orders to the batteries, supplying the men with provisions, especially cups of coffee, which we prepared day and night. "I had gone out to try to make myself useful in company with Jessie Brown, the wife of a corporal in my husband's regiment. Poor Jessie had been in a state of restless excitement all through the siege and had fallen away visibly during the last few days. A constant fever consumed her, and ller mind wandered wan-dered occasionally, especially that day, when the recollections of home seemed powerfully present to her. At last, overcome over-come with fatigue, she lay down on the ground, wrapped in her plaid. I sat beside be-side her, promising to awake her when, as she said, her 'father should return from the plowing. ' TV-- "She fell at length into a profound slumber, motionless and apparently breathless, her head resting in my lap. "I myself could no longer resist the inclination in-clination to sleep, in spite of the continual con-tinual roar of the cannon. Suddenly I was aroused by a wild, unearthly scream close to my ear. My companion stood upright beside me, her arms raised and her head bent forward in the attitude of listening. "A look of intense delight broke over her countenance. She grasped my hand, drew me toward her and exclaimed: 'Dinna ye hear it? Dinna ye hear it? Aye, I'm no dreamingl It's the slogan o' the hiuhlanders! We're saved! We're saved!' Then flinging herself on her knees she thanked God with passionate fervor. I felt utterly bewildered. "My English ears heard only the roar of artillery, and I thought my poor Jessie Jes-sie was still raving, but she darted to the batteries, and I heard her cry incessantly inces-santly to the men: 'Courage! Courage! Hark to the slogan the Macgregor, the grandest of them all! Here's help at lastl' "To describe the effect of these words upon the soldiers would be impossible. For a moment they ceased firing, and every soul listened with intense anxiety. Gradually, however, there arose a murmur mur-mur of bitter disappointment, and the wailing of women who had flocked to the spot burst out anew as the colonel shook his head. Our dull lowland ears heard only the roar of the musketry. "A few moments more of this deathlike death-like suspense, of this agonizing hope, and Jessie.who had again sunk on the ground, sprang to her feet and cried in a voice so clear and piercing that it was heard along the whole line: 'Will ye no believe it noo? The slogan has ceased indeed, but the Campbells are coming. D'ye hear? D'ye hear?' "At that moment all seemed, indeed, to bear the voice of God in the distance, when the pibroch of the highlanders brought us tidings of deliverance, for now there was no longer any doubt of the fact. That shrill, penetrating, ceaseless cease-less sound, which rose above ail other sounds, could come neither from the advance ad-vance of the enemy nor from the work of the Bappers. No, it was indeed the blast of the Scottish bagpipes, now shrill and harsh, as threatening vengeance on the foe, then in softer tones seeming to promise prom-ise succor to their friends in need. "Never, surely, was there such a scene as that which followed. Not a heart in the residency of Lucknow but bowed itself it-self before God. All by one simultaneous impulse fell upon their knees, and nothing noth-ing was heard but burstimr sobs and murmured voice of prayer. Then ail arose, and there rang out from a thousand thou-sand lips a great shout of joy, which resounded re-sounded far and wide and lent new vigor to that blessed pibroch. "To our cheer of 'God Save the Queen' they replied by the well known strain that moves every Scot to tears, 'Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot?' After that nothing else made any impression on me. I scarcely remember what followed. fol-lowed. Jessie was presented to the general gen-eral on his entrance to the fort, and at the officers' banquet her health was drunk by all present, while the pipers marched around the table playing once more the familiar air of 'Auld Lang Syne.'" Whittier's poem, "The Pipes at Lucknow," Luck-now," and Robert T. S. Lowell's "The Relief of Lucknow" are descriptive of this same incident. Baltimore American. |