, 1870-11-07

II Scihteu bF French CT ffGE tUndeut Which Taa
attended hy circumstances Of pccu1i>r horror
aud the hero of It WAS = wealthy Merchant
there. This gentleman. on tho approach Of
the enemy, sent awAv his wife and children,
but cord not himself be prevailed 10 abandon
lis propezty. or this he possessed = great
deal. lie had been toi1iuy for rnauy year4 to
borsa aId shope. and several Of these on the
breaking out OF the wAr were full Of valusbfe
cords. The most bulky ARTICLES he secured ~
we'll Al he was able. and, taking his plate
and lev ell 10 the cellar OF one Of his }.ouscr,
he prepared ,hat place a. his stronghold. Re-
mote, AZ he considered it, from the line Of tre.
md well concealed fEom piilage, he thought
To this end he laid in stock Of provisions,
and, With one or tno t1usty dependents, pre-
pared to endure the interruption of lis busl-
uess aid the misfortune Of his country with
what patience he could. For the first aight
days OF the bombAr,1ment all went sell. No
immediate noighborl,ood, and. although
he Nabe1 Of noi-e and deHtrnc-
ion elsewhere Was irdcscr.bable, no
harm came TO the citizens sanctuary. On the
ninth day there cAme change. a shall
dropped il the street before the dwelling, and
urok, su the windo~s on tue first tloor. Tho
merchant noE thought it hmo to retreat to
the cellar. Hence. On the tenth day, taking
all his eurrlies Of food and all tho books ho
could find, Le Lada farewell to daylight and
deeccnded to the vaults beIov hi1 house. and
here. while the din OF battle went on cease
lesalv above hia head, the worthy merchant
passed his days and evenings in reading by
the light of petroleum lamp.
few days passed in safety and compara-
tive quiet Hut Oh Saturday, at About moan,
While the 1eelnso wac taking his dlnue., there
came suddenly an appalling cr4sl1 overhead.
Tho walls above wera tumb,inG ilto sutn: a
pa1t even Of tho cellar walls topp1ed III; thura
Was bor1id cry. then choking dust. silence
and utter t.askness. 4 tsemauous shell lad
fallen through the roof Of the house above,
and, exploding. hsa scattered devastation
around. Tho merchant ran Us best lie could
to the ssArway* twas completely blocked and
filed By parts Of the fallen wallis. Terrified.
he eonGht everyEhere for crerice Of light !;
hut In sasn. The cellar wa= completely in
INJURED and shut in from the outer world.
TIC captive thniite1 aloud for e1tricaliou
Ule voice came back to him n,uitled aud dull,
with no answering sound to give hope Of its
lenetratiug the MAS Of tnaaonIy ly which ho
tLAt lie 1As buried alive. He felt that for hin
there was lets lope than there sometimes Is
IL such Cases. For. i'll the e,,.l'a.s rsas ot
strife ahoss, viii. coxens OF unfortunate
Nona x'sas1 .i!nt ha Of. e Or tsss tho sssssa
for. auy single nan: Yet before the
eI,,1n.,rn L.. Lad had companions aud the
u,s.Ss cf rnakiry light. ua gropa1 swiftly to
spot where be remembered placing somc
additional Tampa. With trembling han IL lls
succeeded in lighting one, and looked about
him. OF his thzoe companions two we're mi r.
ifg.-bured petha -. in the tfsbFi<. The osher
lay prottrAtc neAr vail ciose ur. quite life
lets- He had been struck on tho temple By q
fsi!inc stone and killed instantly. Tho stun-
ton was eren more awful than It seemed be-
$snTA 1tH hfaPfa eliza xTNQ TfAtRfrE. hnf
it Has ho1nele almost beyond endurance to
be buried alive with the dead.
Some dsys Of agony now passed The hap
less prieone1 had dts OF terror, OF strange
fury, and Of exhaustion. Then be began 70
work with ali the energy Of despAiI. His
only hope, he thought, was to c!car the rao.
tish from the atasrcase. II he failed to 10
thus, the cellar would he his tomb. He toiled
ffzniicalEr to escape FROM 60 miserable fate
hut the wallis ctuubled continually. aud each
brick he took Awsy rnsde others fall. Every
now and then he WAS threatened with instant
lamp went ont for want Of oil, and he wAs
left in total and irtemed.ahle dark.
ness- For time after this he aban-
duned al hope. But the instinct Of se4-pzcs-
| e1yation again asserted Itself. and agsin he
tore desperately At ths stones and mortar. III
two daye. when the ceiling tel in. ! bricl
etsuck him On the head, and be tainted Fol
| Il loGg time he remained insensible, how long
! he could not tell. At last he opened his
eyes, and above him he s2E the stars
| It was night, and he WAS alivo, although
hctnnatd IN by ruebish, and dared not stir
| for fear Of producing freah fall OF mason
I'll daylight. The d2wn eamc Il last, tlu.,nf
the surrounding dcso!a;ion with streams o
| rosy light. Win inhnite canton and pair
| the merchant xcc:ee.ied in drawing hialsei
| up to , beam Of the ceiling, and theuce, afte
rome tune, IN 1u1l1ug his escape. Once free
he crouchel, ~ he says. By the ruius of BIZ
home and wept for more rhan two hours. FL
had spent nearly week IN the cellAz. Liz
the Prisoner Of Cmilon, his heAd, which hxt
not eioelc 6ray hair before, became dutiu;
that week completely white: aud hs declare
himself to have aged more IN those fes
days than in tue previous twenty years
There mzy hare been eveut. more painful
and disastrous than this during the var, aus
especially Is regards their ultimate cat astro
Ines. hut it il difficult to conceive Of hua,A,
runet1ng more agunixing th.n his must hav
trcn, thus closed in ne be was from the wotl,
bv an impossible vail, with darkness and
corpee fer company. aud having ocly Gnge1
ing teath to look forward to, Infinitely NOR
terrible s1su any conceivable swift dtet1ue
tion. 1t ia co1solato;y 10 reflect that. AZ =!
events, the unlucly hero OF 30 1omtatic =
ertsote eurviyea to tell the tale, although h
finds himself completely de.titu:e, and force