Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-09-16

Whlch now leit was eddylng around my
neck.
Where was II Surely it was not a
dream, for felt that | was thoroughly
awake | raised my right arm te my head
and my hand came in contact with an
iron rod upon which my head was lying,
Again the question passed through my
mind, "Where am II"
Soon, but too soon, the question was
answered
Hark hear the sound of distant
voice. 1t came nearer and nearer-yes,
my ears did not deceive me. 1t was the
voice of George, our night Waterman
lie was singing song. The words of
the refrain came distinctly to my ears;
7 "Ar' for my bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd i. J me down and die I"
1t took all my strength to raise myself
to a sitting position. | stretched out my
arms, Ny hand came in contact with cold
iron. was mad No, no, not mad, but
felt that lunacy in the shape of a terrible
specter was pproaching me-for the ques-
/ ton was answered:
| was imprisoned within the steam
/ boiler!
| began to shout
/ Help George, fer Gods sake, help !"
But my voice sounded like that ola muf-
! fled bell. Then | commenced to pound
with my fists upon the iron. 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.
/ felt my way to the head of the boiler,
/ for now heard that he was opening the
furnace doors. | knew well what he was
going to do. Soon heard the scratching
/ sound-he was lighting a match, Then |
heard The rustling of shayings which he
was throwing into the furnace This was
shortly followed by cracking sound
He's lit the fire and | will be boiled
alivel' thought |, again pounding and
scratching against the sides Of the boiler
in the vain hope of making myself heard
felt not the pain, but felt that the warm
blood was dropping from my laceratcd
knuckles and torn nails | listened. The
sharp, cracking sound of the fire became
lower and lower. Again had hOpes-the
fire had gone out, and | knew that the
Waterman had gone to bed, for the light
ing of the fire was his last duty at five
O'Clock in the morning also knew that
the fireman would not rise until haf,past
i've, Twenty, perhaps twenty five min
utes, and then he would come and relight
the fire.
Thirty minutes and then Unjust die i"
folded my hands, | prayed to God as
had never prayed before. | recalled to my
mind a prayer my mother taught me when
| pbi a hll
me, for surely, thought |, He who sees the
sparrow fall will not desert me in my
present need.
Slowly my hands parted and fell to my
side, and slowly | crawled back towards
the end of the boiler, where | knew was
the man-hole through which | had been
showed by the wicked engineer, while
was under the influence of the drug
which he had administered
| passed my hands over the cast.iron
plate which shut up the only egress to the
boiler, | pushed against it with all my
strength; still knew that one hundred
pounds of steam pressure could not remove
that plate. felt exhausted at my efforts,
and threw myself at full length upon the
ilues, The water covered me above my
neck, which | kept above its level
A desperate thought came to my mind
Why should | not drown myselfby lower
ing my head? 1t would end my misery at
once. Some one seemed to whisper in my
ear, ado it." Then another voice said,
1t is suicide, and God will punish your
| laughed; yes, laughed. at is only
a DREAM said |, land | soon will wake,
and once more see the blessed light of
day."
But it was not dream; it was a terri
BILE reality. The love of life came back to
me- Again pressed my hands over the
cold surface of the boiler They came in
contact with something which moved,
God, IN his infinite mercy, had given to
me the means of escape from that living
tomb, My hand was grasping the short
iron bar which the boys had dropped into
the boiler! 1t was lying across some Of
the stray rods which traversed the boiler
in all directions
! used it as hammer against the cast
iron plate which covered the man-hole. .
One sharp blow crack, and stream of
binding light fell upon my eyes. 1t was
the rising sun, for the back part of the
boiler looked toward the east. Two more
blows, and the broken plate fell with
splash into the water and left the aperture
open and clear for my escape
1t is yet wonder to me that the intense
JOY that ! experienced did not kill me /
With difficulty | crawled through the
opening. staggered toward the cngi
nccr's room and opened the door. The
apartment was tenant,esS; James had gone
TO his breakfast. looked at The clock it
still lacked fifteen minutes to six.
a strange thought flashed across my
mind, "What if should take the spare
man-hole plate from the storcroom close
by, and fix it into the aperture | have
yet ten minutes time Would not James
think that was still within the boiler"
ran to the storcroom, and took the
plate from the shelf Itseemed very heavy
70 me as carried ii to the back part Of
the boiler; there laid it down and close
l,r l .