The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1875-11-04

k0ed, contlnueq s.|t = -
Eshe had extibits erself y
Eacter whicf 5l lespised, y
sman undf beR yog III .
tailsof til borhooe
foll,l but neitil ef
Z f1ec1.lls 3: Tic clock on lie 5fan-
1 tie stEdcl. eleven, and then .4ick,
tick, tick, It went on for the next
dreary Hour. Julia at length teased
weeping, and lay IN thought, onlyan
occasional sigh betrdying her wake
fhlhess, - ~
4gaitf the clock struck, but it had
not reached the final stroke when
julia, leaping out Of bed, flung her
self tip5n an immense chest at the
| further end of the rom
.aaoh, Mary!. she cried, 4quickl
quisN BE Is herel / can not hold the
lidf. He will get outp'
There was indeed some living
thing inside the chest igt, in spite
Of Julia's weight, The lid wusl lifted,
, and then, as the instinct Of ssf-tre.
servation overcamci my terror |
sprang quickly to her assistance.
Whom or what had we caught?
Imagine yourself holding down the
lid ola showman's box, with d boa-
constructor writhing beneath; or keep
ing a cage-top in its; place by your
weight alone, with q hyena strug-
| Cling to tear his way out and deTour
you.
But we were not long IN suspense.
Horrid execrations, half German,
half English, chilled our very hearts,
and we knew that there, in the mid
night, only the lid Of an old chest
was between ourselves and Hans
Schmidt.
AT times it started up, and once or
twice his fingers was caught m the
opening. Then, finding our combin-
ed weight too much for his strength,
itgould become evident that he was
erdeayoring to force sout an end of
the chest. But he could not work to
an advantage. Cramped within
Isuch limits his giant power Of mus
! Gle was not wholly available; he
could neither kick nor strike with
full feice, and hence his schief hope
ifesee & "a: li q &
lid aud all. =, -. 3 a, =
Even then, in the absolute terror
that might have been supposed to
possess her, queer feeling Of exul-
rtatlon sprang up in Julia's heart.
II was right, Mary" she cried.
"They won't think me a fool now,
will they? ! shan't be ashamed to
see Harry Irving!'
Poor Julia! under The circum-
stances the idea was really ludicrous;
but Nature will everywhere assert it
self, and Julia hated a coward.
Thump! thump! thump! Lid and
side and end alternately felt the
cramped, powerful blows. Then
came the lift, and Julia cheered me
when the cover shook and rose, and
trcmblcd.
"He can't get out, Maryr We are
safe; only just keep your full weight
on. the lid, and don't be nervous, ei-
ther; it is almost morning"
She knew it was not one o'clock
But one o'clock came. How / wish
ed it was FIVE! And two o'clock came,
and three and four; and We hoped
that our prisoner had yielded to his
fate, which must now appear to him
inevitable.
A small apcrature at ono end of the
chest, where there was fracture in
the wood, supplied him with air, and
hence We coul1 not hope that he
would become weak through suffoca-
ton. He was evidently resting from
the very necessity Of the case, for his
exertions had been prodigious.
There was faint streak of morn
ing in the sky; and there, upon the
chest, we sat and watched for the
| CLEAN to broaden.
Suddenly there came q tremendous
struggle beneath us. as if the rufian
had Concentrated all his energies in
a final effort. At the end Of the.chcst
there was crash, and the Germans
feet protruded through the aperture
they had forced in the board.
So horrible now appeared our posi-
ton that UTTERED a scream such as
/ do not think l ever, at any other
time, could have had the power to
initiate. To get off the lid in order
to defeat the movement through the
chest end would have instantly been
our destruction; therefore, still bear
ing our weight on the chest, we
caught at the projecting feet. In
this, however, We partially lost our
balance, and the sudden bracing up
of the muscular shape below so fore
cd open the lid that the head, arms
and shoulders of Hans Schmidt were
thrust forth, and with a fearful clutch
he seized Julia by the throat.
Just then a heavy crash was heard
at the door below, the foot tramps
springing towards us as if some per