Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-10-28

ing 70 me, and / vas wishing inWaFdl
that it would soon end, for had to G
| to S-that very night or. busines
connected with the mill
Gradually the light became dim, ant
the voice OF James sounded hollow.
tried ID tell him 20 trim the lamp ant
speak a little loddeF, but my lips oHl,
moved, and not a sound came from m!
throat. The tOOaco smoke is chokin:
me. thought |. casting my eyes toward
nv right hand, ghich was slowly Sip
ping from the edge Of the table upol
which V4s lying a half-cOnsumed cigar
Strange that felt no pain IS the hanC
struck the sharp corner OF the chair
I tired to rise, but my indeavors were
vain. Some heavy weight seemed t.
press my sholders, weight that ooulC
not shake Of. I lifted my eyes toward
James, vino was sitting opposite TO me
Nv GodI Was it hallucinatiOn OF my
whirling brain, or was it reality?
[ saw, as if through q haze, the eye:
of James glaring at me like those of d
wildcat about 10 spring upon its prey
Every line of his features proclaimed
hate-undying hate. He rose and came
clase to where sat.
His voice sounded to me like the roar
of thunder, as he said:
AhaI I've got you now, my fine fell
low this time [ am sure that you can
never. never marry Minnie. Ten min
utes more and you are dead. Oh! it's
no use, " cried be, in a voice that pierre
ed nv ears, as he saw that L tried to
shake off the coils that seemed to bind
me to the chair. No use whatever,
old boy. If l would let you go now you
would hang me. True enough, gypsy
once said that I would break my neck,
but not upon the gallOws, no nol Some
weeks ago [ tried to kill you, but it was
already too dark to take good aim, and
YOU escaped. y
1.-THE letters you have perused are ali
nothing but forgeries. My mother has
been dead these four years, and the girl
Annie is only a creation Of my brain. "
His voice seemed to lower to whis-
per, as he continued:
"They will say that you have been a
villain, that you fled q few days before
the day set for the wedding. Minnie
will be very unhappy, and viii do my
best to cheer her up. She would have
loved me had you not crossed my path
with your fine talk and soft nonsense,
which won her affections.
"TwO minutes more, " said he, after a
pause, during which he looked at his
watch. "Yes, two minutes more and your
soul will leave its miserable body. Please
give my regards to His Satanic Magesty.
Tell him sooner orlater I will join you
in the fiery regions below. Your eyes
are closing now ; your face has the hue
of death your limbs are getting cold,
yes, cold as ice. u
1 felt the touch of his hot hand upon
my face. 1t seemed as il 4 thousand
needles were entering every part of
my body; red blur abscured my vision
and it was becoming darker. l felt as if
was pressing upon my head
which now seemed to leave my body,
my breath became shorter and shorter
all at once it stopped. I felt, as [
counted the beatings of my heart-one
two, three, four, five, six! Then all was
oblivion.
L opened my eyes, that is, felt that ]
opened them, as not ray of light fell
upon the pupils. Darkness, dmpenitra-
bic darkness was around me. Was l in
the grave? I made an effort to stretch
out my hands. l succeeded. They moved
water, which I now felt was
around my neck.
Where was I? Surely it was not 4
dream, for felt that / was thoroughly
awake. I rrised my right arm to my
head and my hand came in contact with
an iron rod upon which my head was
lying. Again the quetion passed through
my mind, "Where am I?"
Soon, but not too soon, the question
was answered.
Hark! hear the sound of a distant
voice. 1t came nearer and nearer-yes,
nv ears did not deceive me. 1t was the
voice of George, our night watchman.-
He was singing a song. The words of
the refrain came distinctly to my ears
"And for my bonnie Annie laurie
Id lay me down and deei :"
It took all my strength to raise my
self to q sitting position. stretched
1ut my arms. My hand came in con-
5act with cold iron. L was mad! No,
40, not mad, but I felt that Iunacy in
he shape of a terrible specter was ap-
me-for the question was an
,wered:
was imprisoned within the steam
boiler!
I began to shout:
"HelpI George, for Gods sake, help!"|
Bnt my voice sounded like that of 4
nuffled bell. Then I commenced to
pound with my fist upon the iron.-.
q Surely, George must hear that"
thought.
But no. he was whistling the tune of
Yankee Doodle.
Once he stopped, and thrill of joy ran
through me. Then he began again.
1 felt my way to the head of the boil
ar, for now heard that he was'cpenine
i L.
he was going to do. Soon [ heard the
sound-he was lighting
4 match. Then I heard the rustling of
shavings which he was throwing into
the furnace. This was shortly followed
by a cracking sound.
He's lit the fire, and will be boiled
alive thought 1, again pOnnding aud
against the side of the boiler,
in the vain hope ofmaking myselfheard.
[ felt not the pain, bat [ felt that the
warm blood was dropping from my la
cerated knuckles and torn nails. / list
ened. The sharp, cracking sound of the
fire became lower and lower. Again l
had hopes-the fire had gone out, and l
knew that the watchman had gone to
bed, for the lighting of the fire was his
last duty to five o'clock in the morning.
L also knew that the fireman would not
rise until half-past five. Twenty, per-
naps twenty-five minutes, and then he
would come and relight the fire.
"Thirty minutes and then I must
lie !"
1 folded my hands, prayed to God as
mad never prayed before. 1 recalled
10 my mind a prayer my mother taught
me when L was child, and holy calm
came over me, for surely, thought L, He
who sees the sparrow fall viii not desert
me in my present need.
Slowly my hands darted ana fell to
my side, and slowly 1 crawIled back to-
ward the cad of the boiler, where 1 knew
was the man-hole through which l had
been showed by the wicked engineer
while was under the influence of the
drug which he had administered.
[ passed my hands over the cazt-irOn