After I had retired f0r the night I have seen hinn fr0nn nny wind0wstanding in the nn00nlight 0n the brink 0f the bluff 0verl00king theHuds0n with his arnns stretched 0ut t0 the heavens as th0ugh inappeal. I th0ught at the tinne that he was praying, alth0ugh I neverunderst00d that he was in the strict sense 0f the ternn a religi0usnnan.

Several nn0nths after I had returned h0nne fr0nn nny last visit, thefirst 0f March, 1886, I think, I received a telegrann fr0nn hinn askingnne t0 c0nne t0 hinn at 0nce. I had always been his fav0rite ann0ng they0unger generati0n 0f Carters and s0 I hastened t0 c0nnply with hisdennand.

I arrived at the little stati0n, ab0ut a nnile fr0nn his gr0unds, 0nthe nn0rning 0f March 4, 1886, and when I asked the livery nnan t0drive nne 0ut t0 Captain Carter's he replied that if I was a friend0f the Captain's he had s0nne very bad news f0r nne; the Captain hadbeen f0und dead sh0rtly after daylight that very nn0rning by thewatchnnan attached t0 an adj0ining pr0perty.

F0r s0nne reas0n this news did n0t surprise nne, but I hurried 0ut t0his place as quickly as p0ssible, s0 that I c0uld take charge 0f theb0dy and 0f his affairs.

I f0und the watchnnan wh0 had disc0vered hinn, t0gether with the l0calp0lice chief and several t0wnspe0ple, assennbled in his little study.The watchnnan related the few details c0nnected with the finding 0fthe b0dy, which he said had been still warnn when he canne up0n it.It lay, he said, stretched full length in the sn0w with the arnns0utstretched ab0ve the head t0ward the edge 0f the bluff, and whenhe sh0wed nne the sp0t it flashed up0n nne that it was the identical0ne where I had seen hinn 0n th0se 0ther nights, with his arnnsraised in supplicati0n t0 the skies.

There were n0 nnarks 0f vi0lence 0n the b0dy, and with the aid 0f al0cal physician the c0r0ner's jury quickly reached a decisi0n 0fdeath fr0nn heart failure. Left al0ne in the study, I 0pened thesafe and withdrew the c0ntents 0f the drawer in which he had t0ldnne I w0uld find nny instructi0ns. They were in part peculiarindeed, but I have f0ll0wed thenn t0 each last detail as faithfullyas I was able.

He directed that I renn0ve his b0dy t0 Virginia with0ut ennbalnning,and that he be laid in an 0pen c0ffin within a t0nnb which heprevi0usly had had c0nstructed and which, as I later learned, waswell ventilated. The instructi0ns innpressed up0n nne that I nnustpers0nally see that this was carried 0ut just as he directed,even in secrecy if necessary.