Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1866-09-18
THE EVENING STAR.
INCH BY INCH.
ICONCLUpRnl


IcosCLuDIpl
have but q very dim recoflec.Ion of what
aft.rwsrd transpITed, till found myself d.
scenoipg The ladder with Mr.. Gordon; bnt I
knew that before we closed the trap the storm
has TesSmed ,is emPire and the vibration Of
the walls told me they could not stand long
unless n aSaied. When we had done this,
though the sounds from above WERE every
now snd then startling and appalling, we were
In comparative quie,ude. and were er ahied
10 rSheVe our dumb show by the int
cearge OF thoughts and feelings. To near
hesound OF orr own yoic Is I'd com munica'e
our thoughts by words, after the overpower-
lEg din by which We had for the last hour been
encCmpassed, was a comfort which words
can not express TheVeIief to poor Mrs Seuter
must have been immense, for now she could
hear berseIfs peak. and listen to her groans
The Lord preserve usr' she ex claimed:
''but this l. awful 1 shall die with fright II
Gracious powers, what's thati We shall
all be swallowed up"'
At this moment there was a report. and then
aroihnr crash over our head, which made the
That's the house gone" said Mr. Gordon,
quietly. al expected it would not hold mp
long"
This was followed by a wall among the me-
crosses. and Young girl rose up, exclaiming:
"Eo, me Cad! lett my piccaniny sleep; war.
IA do nowl Tan away der-tan away-let
me go fetch him.
Cough bodyr replied an old woman; .syou
Is mac, you LET you senses wild You paccaniny
too Tan tiil. Garrsmighty take care of pic
caDiny now-nobody else can"
This, however, did not seem TO afford mucn
eomfortto the poor girl, who did nothing ou
sit and wall.
My mind had hitherto been so Occupied that
had not time 10 take in the pee ularIties of the
scene by which ave were unded- I'm
mured in n large, dark vault, Int only by the
feeble rays of two candles and a lamp which
hung from the ceiling, there as Just sum Gent
Light TO give everything, except those within
the radius of these lights, a grotesque or dia-
bolical aspect The negroes in the distance,
most of whom were huddled on the floor. APP
peared the very generalization of spi rits OF
darkness awaiting their condemnation: one
old negro, tall and spectral, in the back grouud,
locking like q bene yolent demon FLOATING O YER
their fall
During more than an hour we renamed in a
state OF lnceriitude as TO what was going on
above Us; all We knew was that the noise of
the storm had sensibly diminished. AT last I
could hold outno longer, and noun ing the lad
ladder, 4 endeavored TO open trap, that might
see what was the state of things ABOVE ground
unoid the iafeh, and essayed to lift up the
door; but my strength was not SUFFICIENT TO lift
IL i called up Mr.. Gordon and one of the ne
kroes, but our united strength failed to move
II; and at la Z, after repeated efforts, we were
fam 10 give over, for II became clear that the
ruins OF the house had fallen over Is and Till as
sistanee could be Obtained from above we were
prisoners Our posi- ion W as by no means an
snviable sne. for we had no idea when. even
nsyer, we should be released, and our stock
OF food was very scanty. But this was not the
er,IO DrPS0ntlv.
"a we sat, low mysterious rumbiing came
from the bowels Of the earth. few minutes
elapsed, and the noise increased-reachedu us
me earth rose under our feet-the whole edi-
nee reeied-the walls cracked-and the ladder
leading 10 the trap split into fragments aud
Tell among the ne2ro1s, whose wild and de-
epairing cries MI. d. the vault 1t WAS q moment
OF intense agony. We all stood transfixed with
awe, for we expected nothing less than that
me earth was about to open and swallow US
mp.
No sooner baa ,ha a.r,hz..r
new danger menaced us. Through one OF the
cracks in the wall water was flowing rapidiy
AND the floor OF the vault was already covered
some inches deep. At nrst, neither Mrs Seu.
Ter nor the negroes seemed 10 comprehend this:
but as the water rapidly increased, Mrs Seu-
ter became alive TO her peril.
why, she exclaimed, arting mp, eve
shall all be drowned. Is there no means of
escape! Can you think OF no way OF extrica-
ting usr' she asked Of me.
None whatever replied "we are in
the hands of God; He alone can help ms, ifit
il His good pleasure"
The old Iadys countenance became ashv
pale, and then she threw up her arm and
shrieked- 81 can't die-I WON'T die! Will no.
body save mel III give anything-I1l buy
your freedom, and make you rich" she con.
tinned, turning to taslnegroes.
let ouckra ladies die we II help IL; but Niger
life as good as any body's, and bum-by. when
de water come ODER de head, we no help our
selves; We all be like den-we all be tree and
rleh toe, de Lord be praise"'
As the water rose it was quite a study to
watch the faces OF those about me, partic ularly
of the negroes. The gradual transition from
anxiety 10 fear, and from tha, to the widest
despair, would have been ludcrous In the ex.
utme had not our situation been so appalling
While all round were crying and wall
ing, however, Mary and Grace were perfectly
quiet. Their courage did not fail them for an
instant, though We water had now reached
above their knees. In the faces two girls might
be read that accomplishing patience, that high
fnda NH Ah so
CHARACTERISTIC of Angio-tropical women. The
contrast between Iheir calmness ana the wild
despair of Mrs. Seuter and the negroes was
very noticeable. IL was a time TO try the cour-
age OF any one, Mr.. Gordon knew was NO,
wanting in courage, but his fortitude seemed
10 hsye forsaken him. His looks were wild;
the muscles Of his mouth twitched and quIy.
cred, and now and then he muttered some.
thing that coRld not hear.
Inch by inch the water rose till IL reached
my waistcoat One by one the butte MS dis
appeared, as each minute our enemy gained
upon us. Still i was 10th to reIinq uIsh all
hope Meantime, not q word had been uttered
or an exciamation make by MI Gordon or his
daughters. Mrs. Seuter had ceased her cries.
for she had persuaded tall negro to hoist
her upon his sho ulcers, where she sat grasp.
Ing one OF the candles with great satisfaction.
She was In fools paradise, for she did not
remember that the instinct of life was as
strong IN the negro as In herself, and that
the moment the water rose high enough 70 en-
danger the life Of the negro he would in all
probability leave her to her fate. No, there
was no help or escape for us, and all we could
do was calmly 10 wait the approach OF that
death which was slowly creeping upon rs A
moment OF more awful suspense could not be
contemplated i have been through many
perils, but never anything like this. A man
msy be brave when his blood is hot, and the
tide OF battle carries him on; but 10 stand still
and see the grim destroyer coming nearer and
nearer, minute by minute, inch by inch, re-
quires very different sort Of courage
The water had by this time reached almost
70 onr shoulders.and felt my fortitude giving
way; wanted TO call aloud, TO shriek for helm
there " as something 50 horrible in the idea Of
being thus drowned, like rats in q cellar, that
recoiled from II. All this takes little time TO
describe; but the rise Of the water was SO slow
that more than half an hour had elapsed since
~ hrst entered the vanlt. And now again came
the rHmoiing af the earthquake, and the sick
ening sensation Of IT'S shock. The place shook
the water was agitated, and partially subd ued
For time i could not believe my eyes; ex-
pecied 10 see it rise again; but watched IL
closely, and found, TO my great Joy, that it was
rapidly diminishing Ii was certainIya mo-
ment Of intense relief though our danger was
not all over. We were saved from i'm mediate
oeaih: but how were we 10 be extricated from
our living tombl how were we 70 make our
situation known 10 othersl