Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1872-07-11
] 4 fIl.k -
JULY I'LL, l8n.

4 Iafelt change of air. Il rested mo-
ment, prayed God to help me, repeated
the effort With even greater. power. Their
was no resisting this I! The coffin liz
was burst asunder with a crash, and ny
limbs and body wcro free in the an fu
| darkness which euyeloped me- 4-the raw
less darkness of tomb
/ In considering this wonderful feat, i
should be borne in mind chat none of my
strength had been exhausted in sickness
and that besides being very strong, pow
erfsl man, my physical powsrs, were Der.
haps doubled aAd threbled by my feal
land despair Q
| was free now to breathe she damp
ldeieterious air what l believed to be a
vault or tomb !; but I confess my sterro,
vas scarcely lessenod at thea saousht al
having thus extended the limits Of nv
prison for after all might not be sble
to escape from this horrible place, and, il
not, it would only be 4 prolougatiaa Of
the sgonies of life eud death. Fortunate.
y, | had been coffned in my own gar
ments. and 1t Vas season of the YEA,
when could not suffer from cold. 60; tha,
the question Of life without escape was
reduced 10 two points, auffocation from
foul air on starvation. !. I'll could escape
the first, iknew there were several DAYS o.
life yet before ME. and perhaps the time
would be long enough, with uuromitting
toll, for.ne to dig my way out, ike q
| convict FROM prison. ....er
The first important thing for ne &c
ascertain Was the dimensions of nv sen.
ulohor. Whether in was day or night
could not then tell but / could see moth
lng whateVer-not even my hand, when
held it close up before my eyes,
Everything Mast be done BY feeling and
though shuddering with horror at the
thought of what | mig ht discover, I knew
that delay conid avail me nothing, and
resolved to set about the work before hue,
rose up in nay coffin and stretched NV
hands above my head, but thoy came in
contact with nothing. I felt out on
either side, but touched no object. |
pat them down below the coffin. and
found it rested on slab that was sun
ported some distance above the ground,
could not tell how much. l COS out of
the coffin carefully. stretched down nv
feet till they touched solid basis, and
then slowly and cautiously began to grope
around the vaalt. I soon touched tho
wall on one side, and carefully felt Of the
stones. l found them, as I feared I
should, large, solid, hewn and eyidculy
putotogether with cement. There seemed
little hope of my ever finding my way
through them. l followed the wall along
tlll came toa pile of coains, one upon
the other, reaching up as high as nv
head. They had evidently been there a
long time; and | fancied, from the slimy
-eneal ara ii3e.-..,-a ----------
passing these, | came to another portion
of The vail, and then to another pile Of
coihns not SO high as the first, but. eHon
more deeayed. In turning from .theso,
my feet slipped, l fell against thenssad
the upper oae came down wih erass,
buras open, and the bones rolled out with
a phosphorescent glare, lighting up the
darkness, and looking like SC many Goals
of fire. staggered back. With an in
voluntary yell of horror-the thing was
SO sudden aud the spectacle SO awful /!
Ny reason returned in moment !; and
though my nervous system had received
shock that for g a long time kept me
weak aud trembling, yet waa the gamer
BY the accident, since by this means
nc. had dun yicw of The charnel house
which has become my prison il not my
grave. The vault was tot lasge, but
contained gate t namber of coAins, not
one OF which was new save my, own,
which led me to believe is had
seldom been used Of late years, except,
perhaps. as. e place of temporary deposit.
l! was strange light to see it blythe
phosphorescence of dead mans bones +;
and when | take everything into consider
atlon-my return to consciousness, the
horrible suspicious, oertaintlcs and dis
eoveries, which followed in appalling order
II an even now compelled to wonder
how it was possible for me to keep nv
senses and continue my Efforts to escape,
with even the GOODNESS | did.
| soon found the door Of the vault. I,
was wooden one, and scanned much do
cayed on the Inside, like the collins have
mentioned. l tried it with trembling
eagesness: but discovered, alas it waa
fastened Oh the other side-probably
secured by heavy iron bolts Oh for the
use Of an ak for one half hour, l would
willingly have given for it ell | was
worth i'll the world. | struck again st
the door with my fist, end threw my
body heavily against it; but only to dis-
cover its massive HoldisY. and to know
that, without SOHO implement to escape
would be worse than vain-t at [ might
as well sit down aud wait my appointed
time.
But perhaps some tool might be found
in the vauls--left by o mistake !-some
Ratchet, hammer, pick, spade, crow-bar
something ! ] searched everywhere, as
well as | could by the linn, ghasllY light
but found only two things that I could
possibly use-a large spike-nail and a
pebble stone weighing over pound. Oh,
how precious did oven, This seem. No
miser ever elutohsd his gold and
diam nds with such intense and heartfelt
JOY as | did those possible keys to liv-
ing world. ,ye
There was portion of the door SO
decaycd that, with the use Of the nail and
the stone, | believed !. could work hole
through it, large enough, perhaps, to
admit my arm and as this place was
near where the bolt. If single one.
would naturally be, ] had great hope |
might be able to reach md slide it ba K.
) With this idea | commenced atouce, with
oil the earnest energy Of man in my
situation; aud for hours l llborod IA
rem sttiurly -ha,nn r.u;,r o,a