Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1859-05-04

with his waist I still looked breathlessly
And steadily, and slowly-very SLOWLY saw
the figure, and the line Of frame below. the
figure, vanish, as the valance moved dowr
before it. =.
am, constitutionally, anything but tinid
| have been on more than one OCCASION II
peril of my life; and have not lost my self
possession for an instant; but when the con
viction first settled on my mind that the.bee
top was really moving, was steadily and con
tnuously sinking down upon me, l lookedluE
shuddering, helpless, panic-strieken, beneftt
the hideous machinery for murder, which va
advancing closer and closer to sutfocate nt
where lay.
Hooked up, motionless, speechless, breath
less. The candle, fully spent, went out; bu
the moonlight still frightened the room
Down and down, without pausipg and without
sounding, came the bed-top, and still my
panc.terror seemed to bind me faster and
faster to the mattress on which lay-dowr
and down it sank, till the dusty odor from the
lining of the canopy came stealing into my
nostrils. -
At that final moment the instinct Of. sell
preservati m startled me out Of my trance, and
moved at last. There was just room for me
to roll myself sideways off the bed. As
dropped noiselessly 10 the floor, the edge o
the murderous canopy touched me on44tthe
shoulder.
Without stopping to draw nv breath, with
out wiping the cold sweat from my face, rose
instantly on my knees to watch the bed.top
I was literally spell-bound by it. III had
heard footsteps behind me. could not have
turned round if means of escape had been
miraculously provided for re, | could moi
have moved to take advantage of it. The
whole life in me was, at that moment, con
centrated in my eyes.
It descended-the whole canopy, with The
fringe round it, came downtown close down
so close that there was not room now to
squeeze my finger between the htd.top and
the bed. felt at the sides an discovered
that what had appeared to me trvm beneath
to be The ordinary light canopy Of four post
bed, was in reality thick, broad mattress, the
substance of which was concealed BY the
valance and its fringe. looked up and saw
the four.posts rising hideously bare. In the
middle of the bedtop was huge wooden
screw that had evidently worked it down
through hole in the ceiling, just as ordinary
presses are worked down on on the substance
selected for compression. The frightful ap.
paratus moved without making the faintest
noise. There had been no creaking as, 1T
came down there was now not the iaintest
sound from the room above. Amid o dead
and awful silence beheld before me--in the
nineteenth century, and in the civilized capi.
tai Of France-such a machine for. secret
murder by sulfocation rs might have existed
in the worst days OF the lnquisition, in tile
lonely inns among the Hartz Mountains, in
the mysterious tribunals Of Westphalia Still,
as I looked on it, could not move, could
hardly breathe, but began to recover the
power of thinking, and in moment dis.
covered the nurderous conspiracy framsd
against me in all its horror.
My cup of coffee had been Grugged, and
drugged too strongly. had been saved from
being smothered by having. taken, an oyerdiSs
ofsofre- Huw J. had chafrd- ~
fretted at the fever,fit which had preserved my
life by keeping me awake How recklessly |
had confded myself to The two wretches who
had led me into this room, determined, for
the sake Of my winnings, to kill me in my
sleep by the surest and m0st horrible contri.
vance for secretly accomplishing my destruc,
tion How many men, winners like me, had
slept, as had proposed to s;csp, il: that bed.
and had never been seen or heard Of more
I shuddered at the bare idea Of it.
But, ere long, all Thought was again suspen.
ded BY the sight of the murdcrous canopy
moving once more. After it had remained on
the bed-as nearly as could guess-about
ten minutes, it began to move up again.
The villains who worked it from above evil
dently believed that their purpose was now
accomplished Slowly and silently, as it had
descended, that horrible bed-top rose towards
its former place. When it reached the upper
extremities of the four posts: it reached tho
ceiling too. Neither hole nor screw could be
seen; the bed became in appearance an ordi.
nary bed again-the canopy IN ordinary
canopy, even to the most suspicious eyes.
Now for the first time, l was able to move
to rise from my knecs-to dress myself in
my upper c!o'kimg-and to consider Of how |
should escape. II BETRAYED, hy the slightest
noise, that the attempt to sutlucatc me had
failed, was certain to he murdered. Had
1
looking towards the door.
No no footsteps in the passagc outside
no sound Of Il tread, light or heavy, i'll the
room above--absnlutc silence everywhere.
Besides locking and boiling my door, had
moved an old wooden chest against it, which
l had found under the bed. To remove this
chest (my blood ran cold as thought what
its contents miyM be j without making some
disturbance was impo shle; and, moreover,
to think of escaping through the house, now
barredup for the night, was sheer insanity.
Only one chance was left me-the window.
I stole to it Oh tiptoc.
Ny bedroom was on the first floor, above
an entrcsol, and looked into buck street. |
raised my hand to open the window, knowing
that on that action hung, by the merest hairs
breadth, my chance Of safety. They keep
vigilant watch in House of Murder 1fany
part of the frame cracked, Il the hinge creak.
ed was lost man It ,au5t have occupied
me at least five minutes, reckoning by time
five kynrs, reckoning by suspense--to open
that window. ] Succeeded in doing it silently
in doing it with oil the dexterity Of house
breakcr-and then looked down into the estreet'
To leap the distance beneath me would be nj.
most certain destruction Next looked
round ut the sides of the house. Down the
left side ran the thick water-pipc; it passed the
edge of the window. The moment saw the pipe,
knew was saved. My breath came and
went freely Tor the first time since hal seen
the canopy of the bed moving down upon me !!
To some men the means Of escape which |
had discovered might have seemed difficult
and dangerous enough--to me the prospect OF
slipping down the pipe into the street did not
suggest even thought Of peril. had al.
ways been accustomed, by the practice OF
gymnastics, to keep up my schoolboy powers
as daring and expert climber; and knew
that my head, hands, and feet would serve me
faithfully in any hazards of ascent or descent.
had already got one leg over the window,
sill when remembered the handkerchief fill.
ell with money unler my pillow. could we'll
have afforded to leave it behind me, but was
revengefuly determined that the miscrhants
of the gambling.house should miss their plum
der as well as their victim. So / went back
to the bed and tied the heavy handkerchief at
my back by my cravat.