The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-02-02

ma, though not common, are by no
means unheard of. | had talked with
more than one eminent physician on
this very subject, and | remembered
that each had spoken of cases within
his own experience. / would never dis
believe in Authorizations again. To that
| made up my mind; but as for ghosts
-pshaw how could any sane man,
above all, such man as Egerton Wolfe,
believe in ghosts
Reasoning thus, and smiling to my.
self, tigh;ened the shoulder-straps OF
my knapsack, took pull at my wine
flask, and set off toward the tunnel.
And now, with every step that took,
the mouth of the tunnel grew larger,
and the depth of the shade within it
blacker and more mysterious. was by
this time near enough to see that 1T was
faced with brickwork, that it spanned
the full width of the.road, and that 1T
was more than lofty enough for an old
fashioned, top-heavy diligence to pass
under it. The next moment, being
within half a dozen yards of it, dis
tinctly heard the cool murmur of the
more distant waterfall (now hidden by
the great mountain spur through which
the gallery was carried), and the next
moment after that had plunged into
the tunnel.
1t was like the transition from an or
child house to an ice house--from mid
day to midnight. The darkness was
most profound, and so intense the sud-
den chill, that for the first second it al
most took my breath away.
The roof and sides Of the gallery, and
the road beneath my feet, were all hewn
in the solid rock. A sharp, arrowy
CLEAN of light, shooting athwart the
gloom, about fifty yards ahead, marked
the position of the first loop. hole A
second, third, fourth, as many per-
haps as eight or ten, cleaned family in
the distance, The tiny blue speck
which showed where the gallery opened
out again upon the day, looked at
least a mile away. The path under foot
was wet and slippery, and as | went on,
and my eyes became accustomed to
the darkness, saw that every part
of the tunnel was streaming with mois
ture.
pushed on rapidly. The first and
hind, but at the third paused for a
moment to breath the outer air. Then,
for the first time, | observed that every
rut in the road beneath my feet was
filled with running water.
| hurried on faster and faster. |
shivered. | felt the cold selling me.
The arched entrance through which |
had Just passed had dwindled already
to shining patch no bigger than my
hand, while the tiny blue speck on
ahead seemed far off as ever. Mean
while the tunnel was dripping like q
shower bath.
All at once my attention was arrested
by sound--a strange, indescribable
sound-heavymuffled,a las Of mighty forces
at work in the heart of the mountain. |
stood still held my BREATH fancied
| felt the solid rock vibrate beneath my
feet Then it flashed upon me that
must be now approaching that part of
the gallery behind which the waterfall
was conducted, and that hat | heard
was the muffled roar of its descent. At
the same moment. CHANGING to look
down at my feet, | saw that the road
was an inch deep in running water from
wall to wall.
Now, lawyer as | am, and ignorant
of the first principles of engineering, |
felt sure that this much praised Herr
Becker should at least have made his
tunnel water tight. That it leaked
somewhere was plain, and that it should
be suffered to 60 on leaking, to the dis
comfort of travellers, was simply intoler.
able. An inch of water, for instance,
was more than-an inch, did | say?
Gracious heavens since the moment |
looked it had risen to three-it was
closing over my boots-it was becoming
a rushing torrent!
In that instant great horror fell
upon me-the horror of darkness and
sudden death. | turned, flung away
my Alpenstock, and fed for my life.
Fled blindly, breathlessly, wildly, with
the horrible grinding sound of the inn
prisoned waterfall in my ears and the
gathering torrent at my heels
Never while live shall | forget the
agony of those next few seconds-the
icy numbness selling upon my limbs
the sudden, frightful sense Of impeded
spiration-the water rising, ed Lying,
clamoring, pursuing me, passing me
the swirl of it, as it flashed past each
loop-hoole in succession-the rush with
which las | strained on to the mouth OF
the gallery, now not a dozen yards dis.
tant) it leaped out into the sunlight
like living thing, and dashed to the
precipice
At that supreme instant, as | had
darted out through the echoing arch
and staggered few PAGES up the road,
deafening report, cracking, hurried
and tremendous, like the explosion of a
mine, rent the air and reused hun
dred echoes. 1t was followed by mo-
ment of strange and terrible suspense.
Then, with deep and sullen roar, audi
ble above all the rolling thunders of
the mountains round, mighty wave
smooth, solid, CLASSY, like an Atlantic
wave on an English western coast
came cleaning up the mouth of the
tunnel, paused as it were upon the
threshold, reared its majestic crest,
curved. trembled, burst in cataract of
foam, flooded the road for yards beyond
the spot where was clingng to the
L