thirteen minutes past one on the twenty-fourth of
January
It was unlike him to go on and relate , as he did , the dream that had been greatly occupying his thoughts , which began with the landing in a mystic port and ended with the Toilers of the Light . He described his friend , Peter Schmidt , and declared that Peter had sent his astral self half way across the Atlantic to greet him . He spoke of 1492 , of Columbus 's flag-ship , the _ Santa Maria _ , but chiefly of his meeting with Rasmussen in the form of an old chandler , giving a detailed description of the remarkable ship in the shop window , the shop itself , and the chirping of the goldfinches . He drew out his note-book and read aloud what the mysterious chandler had said to him : `` It was precisely thirteen minutes past one on the twenty-fourth of January when I drew my last breath . '' `` Whether that is true , '' Frederick concluded , `` remains to be proved . So much is certain -- if there is anything about this dream that is n't the illusory work of my imagination -- my soul grazed the boundaries of the world beyond , and I received a hint of the catastrophe to come . As to the _ Roland _ , my friend , Peter Schmidt , showed me a ship in the harbour with a tremendous hole in its side and said it had brought in a great many people , -- which would mean , it had transferred them to the world beyond .