Nebraska advertiser., 1868-03-12
SELECT STORY.
INCH BY INCH.
Concluded

a FlOlELL SuOCh Wdo LEtA oCn0
ing a thrill through my heart, for l ex.
pected to see the whole house come falling
upon Us. The clouds had once more
closed up, and darkness again covered
the rapidly repeated flashes of lightning
only rendering it more mpenetrable {;
while The roaring of the wind, and the
crashing of the thunder, made up q hid
eous tumult such as appalled, the heart,
and almost annihilated the mind.
l have but a very dim recollection of
what aflerward transpired, till l found
myself descending the ladder with Mr..
Gordon but l knew that before we closed
the trap The storm had resumed its empire
and the vibration of the walls told me
they could not stand long unless it abated.
When we had done this, though the
sounds from above were every now and
then startling and appalling. we were In
comparative quietude, and were enabled
20 relieve our dumb-sbOw by the inter.
change of Thoughts and feelings. To
hear the sound of our own voices and
communicate our thoughts by words,
after the O%verpowering din by which we
had for the last hour been encompassed,
was a comfort which words can not ex.
press. The releaf to poor Mrs. Seuter
must have been immense. for now she
could hear herself speak, and listen to
her groans.
The Lord preserve u.s." she exclaim-
ed " but this is awful. | shall die with
fright. If | had never left Aberdeen l
should never have Gracious powers,
what's that We shall all be swallowed
up!''
At this moment there was a report
and then a rolling crash over head,
which made the earth shake beneath US
That's the house gone," said Mr..
Gordon quietly. Il expected it would not
hold up long"
This was followed by a wall among
the negresses, and a young girl rose up,
eKclaiming: "Eh, me Gad!I left my
picCaniny sleep: warra | do now! Tan
away der-tan away-let me 60 fetch
him."
Cough body" replied on old woman
you is mad, you lief senses wild you pic.
caniny too. Tan till. Garramighty take
care of piccaning now-nObOdy else
can"
This, however, did not seem to afford
much comfort to the poor girl, who did
nothing but sit and wall.
MY mind had hitherto been so Occupied
that l had not time to take in the pecu.
l%iarities of the scene by which we were
surrounded. Immured in a large, dari
vault, lit only by the feeble rays of two
candles and a lamp which hung from the
ceiling, there was just sufficient light tC
give everything. except those within the
radius of these lights, q grotesque or dia'
bOlical aspect. The negroes in the dis
lance, most of whom were huddled OF
the floor, appeared the very p~ersonifca'
ton OF spirits of darkness awaiting their
condemnation; one old negro, tall and
spectral, in the back ground, looking like
a benevolent demon gloaIing over their
fall.
During more than an hour we remained
IN a slaie of incertilude as TO what wa.
going on above us all we knew was tha.
the noise of he storm had sensibly dimin,
ished. Atlast l could hold out no longer
and mounting The ladder, / endeavored L
open the trap, shat | might see what was
the state of things above ground. l undiC
the latch. and essayed to lift Up the door
but my strength was not sufficient TO Inf
il. ! called up Mr.. Gordon and one Of
the negroes, but our united strength
failed 10 move IL and at last, after re.
peated efforts, we were fam 10 give over
for it become clear that the ruins of the
house had fallen over Us, and ill assIs,
tance could be Obtained from above we
were prisoners. Our position was by nc
means an en-;able one, for we had DC
idea when, even if ever, we should be
released, and our stock of food was very
scanty. But this was not the worst evil
we had 10 encounter, for presently, as we
sat, a low mysterious rumbling came
from the bowels of the earth. A few
minutes elapsed, and the noise increased
reached us-the earth rose under our
feet-the whole edI6ce reeled-the wall.
cracked-and the ladder leading 10 the
trap split into fragments, and fell among
the negroes, whose wild and despairino
cries filed the vault. II was a momenl
of intense agony. We all stood transfxed
with awe, for we expected nothing les,
than that the earth was about 10 oper
and swallow US up.
No sooner bad the earthquake passed
than a new Can ger menaced Us. TbrouoE
one OF the cracks 10 the wall water wa,
Rowing rapidly, and the floor Of the vaul