The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1868-02-20
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upright. "God,S will de .done!'
was all he said. as he crouched his
body, and placed his hand upon the :
bier, for such twas. The iron bed :
stead had been SO contrived BY the
mechanical art Of Ludovico Sforza,
that. the advancing walls came in
contact with its head and feet, q
pressure was produced upon CON
cealed springs, which, when made
to play, set in motion Q very simple
though ingeniously contrived ma
|chinery, that effected the transform
alton. The object was, of course, to
heighten, in the closing scene of this
horrible drama, all the feelings Of
despair and anguish which the r,,re-i.
ceding ones had aroused. For the
same reason the last window was 80
made as to admit only a shadowy
kind Of gloom rather. than light, that
the wretched captive might be sur
rounded, as it were. with every
seeming preparation fer approach
iDgjdeatl.3 = -5aae3oG - 1e 90
Vivenzio seated himself on his
bier. Then he knelt and prayed fer
vently; and sometimes tears would
Egush from him. The air, seemed
thick, and he breathed with difficult
ty; or it might be that he fancied it
4 was SO, from the hot and narrow
limits of his dungeon, which were
now SO diminished that he could
neither stand up nor lie down at his
full length. But his wasted spirits
and oppressed mind no longer strug-
gled within him. He was past hope
| and fear shook him no more. Happy
tif thus revenge had struck its final
blow; for he would have fallen be-
meath it almost unconscious of q
pang. But such lethargy Of the
soul, after such an excitement of its
fiercest passions had entered into
the diabolical calculations Of Tolf;
and the fell artifcer of his design
imagined aeounteractirg device. ba
The etolling of an enormous bell
struck upon the ears of Vivenzio
He Started. It beat but once. The
sound was SO close and stunning,
that it seemed to shatter his very
brain, while it echoed through the
rocky passages like reverberating
peals of thunder.~This was followed
by a sudden crash of the roof and
walls, as if they were about to fall
and close around him at once. Vi
venzio screamed, and instinctively
spread forth his arms, as though he
hada giants strength to hold them
back. They had moved Learer to
him, and were now motionless. vi
yenzio looked up, and saw the roof
) almost touched his head, even as he
sat covering beneath it; and he felt
that farther contraction of but a
few inches only must commence the
frighttul operation Reused as he
: had been, he now gasped for breath !;
/, his body shook violently; he was
: bent nearly double. His hands rest
: ed upon either wall, and his feet
were drawn up under him to avoid
the pressure in front. Thus he re-
/. manned for more than an hour, when
that deafening bell beat again, and
2 lagain there came the crash of horrid
5 death. But tie. conclusion was now
SO great that it struck Vivenzio
: down. AS he lay gathered up in
!, lessened bulk, the bell beat loud and
2 frequent--crash succeeded crash
:, and on, and on, and on came the
|, mysterious engine Of death, till vi
e venzio's smothered groans were
: heard no more! He was horribly
d crushed by the ponderous roof and
collapsfng sides-and the fattened
Z bier was his IRON SHRoUD! ..