St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1866-04-05

p3ntlng anu DAlnueu, up aSaluet tAo suMy
wall. .a2sls5tl9 5}sfzL .@ss
There stood for at least ten minutes. I
should suppose, shuddering and mortified,
with the thick darkness all around, the
Shiny, muddy bricks against my hands, the
cold, rushing water beneath me, and
mind in that confused state that for, few
minutes longer didn't know what ! was
going to do next, and wanted to persuade
myself that il was all . dream, and should
wake up directly. H. s.s ii
AL at once, though, gave jump. and,
instead O. being cold with the water drip
ping from me, turned all hot and burning,
and then again cold and shuddery; for I had
felt something crawling on my shoulder,
and then close against my bare neck, when
I gave the jump, and heard close by me q
light splash in the water, IA splash which
echoed through the hollow place, while,
half to brighten the beasts that i fancied
must be in swarms around me, half wrung
from me as cry of fear and agony, I yelled
out 81. <--.s'.4t T sfs'ssts5 Z 4EA h
"Rats!n q. .>.:,. !, Z = ts4aS5.sa
:, Rats they were;' for above the hollow
{" wash wash, rry-hurry, wash-wash,
hurry-hurry of the water, could hear
little sp}ashes and scuf6ng by me along
the sides O. the brick-work. - !, ID - q
You may laugh at peoples hair standing
on end, but know then that there was q
creeping, tingling sensation in the roots q
mine, as though sand was trickling amongst
it.; cloud seemed to come. over my mind,
and for few moments / believe was mad,
mad with fear; and it was only by setting
my teeth hard and clonching my fists that /
kept from shrieking. However, was soon
better, and ready to laugh at myself IS
recollected that could only be little way
from the spot where the men worked; SO I
began to wade along with the water here
about up to my middle. AL! at once stop
ped, and thought about where / was at
work. .,.,..,.....r,- &c.. ..... ., -. 81.
g, Which ,pay did the ,cater run ?" r.; -
+ My head turned hot and my temples
/ throbbed with the thought. If went the
wrong way I should be lost-lost in this
horrible darkness-to sink, at last, into the
foul, black stream, to be drowned aud de-
voured by the rats, or else to be choked by
the, foul gases that must be lurking down
here in these dark recesses., F. ~ af.;ss a.,
| Again the horror of thick darkness come
upon me: !, shrieked out wildly, and the
cry went echoing through the sewer, sound
ing hollow and wild till it faded away. i But
once more I got the better of. it, and persu-
AIDED myself, that ! had only cried aloud to
scare the rats. What would I: not, have giv-
en- for stout stick as defence against as I
CROPPED my way on, feeling convinced that.
should be right if i. crawled down stream,
when a little reflection would have told me
that up stream must be the right way, for I
must have been borne down BY the water.
But could not reflect, for my brain seemed
in q state of fever, and; now and then my
teeth Chartered as though I had the ague..,
i CROPPED on for. quite q quarter of an
hour, when the horrid though. came upon
me that I was going wrong, and again /
tried to- lean up against the wall which
seemed to cause my feet to slip from under
me. i felt no oold,, for the Precipitation
dropped from me, as / franticallyt turned
back and tried to retrace my steps, guiding
myself by running . hand against the wall
where every now and then it entered the
mouth Of a small drain, when, 80 sure as it
did, there Was . scuffle and rush, and more
than once / touched the cold slippery body
of q rata touch that made me start back
as though shot, aan afssxf ~ :cs5tit .
On went, and on, and still NO scaffold,
and no CLEAN Of gaslight Thought after
thought gave fresh horror to nay situation,
as now I felt certain that in my frantic haste
had taken some, wrong turn, or entered a
branch Of the main place and at last, COM
pletely bewildered, I rushed headleng on,
stumbling and falling twice overysso that j
was half choked in the black water. But ii
had its good effect flor it put stop to my
wild struggles, which must soon have ended
in my falling insensible into what. was GER
tain death. The water cooled my head, and
now, feeling completely lost, knowing that
must have been nearly two hours IN the
sewer 1 made up my mind to follow the
stream to its mouth in the Thames, where,
if the tide was down, I could get from the
mud on to the wharf or bank. - 2EE ~
y So once more struggled on, following
the stream slowly for what seemed to be
hours, till at last, raising my hand, found
! could not touch the roof; and by that
knew that i was in q larger sewer, and
therefore not very far from the mouth But
here there was new terror creeping up
me, so to speak, for from my. waist the
water now touched my chest, and soon after
my armpits; when I stopped, not daring To
trust myself to swim, perhaps mile, when
I felt that weak I could not have gone
hundred yards. 49,. .s1.5. ,.s
know in my disappointment gave q
howl like wild beast, and turned again to
have hard fight to breast the rushing
water, which nearly took me off my legs.
But the fear Of death lent me help, and ]
got on and on again till I felt myself in q
turning which I soon knew was smaller
sewer, and from thence I reached another,
where had to stop; but the water vas
shallower, not above my knees, and at last
much less deep than that. ts=,f.s 51
a Here knelt down to rest, and the posi-
ton brought something else from my heart
and, after Q while, still STOPPING, went on,
till, having passed dozens upon dozens. Of
drains, l determined TO creep one, and I did.
P'raps you wont think it strange, as I
dream and groan in bed sometimes. when /
tell you what followed. d#
crawled on, and on, and on, ii the hopes
that the place I was in would lead under one
Of the tstreet-gratings, and i kept staring
ahead IN the hopes Of catching 8 CLEAN 81
light, till at last the place seemed SO tight
that dared go no farther, for fear Or being
fixed in. So I began TO back very slowly,
and then, feeling It rather hard work, stop
ped for rest. Z
TWAS quite dry here; but, scuAling on ii
front, kept hearing the rats INhad driven
before me; and now that ]. stopped and was
quite still; half dozen Of them made rush
TO got past me, and the little fight which
followed even now gives me the horrors
I'd hardly room 70 move; but I killed ons