Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-01-28

sob, Mary!" she cried, "quiekl
quick! He is herel 1 cannot hold the
Iid-he viii get outl'
There was indeed some living thing
insidethe chest; for in spite of Ju-
lia's weight the lid was lifted, and
hen, as the instinct of self-preserva-
ton overcame my terror, l sprang
quickly to her assistance.
Whom or what had 1--we caught?-
Imagine yourself holding down the
lid of showman's box with a boa
constructor writhing beneath; or
keeping cage top in It's place by
your own weight alone, with a hye-
ma struggling to tear its way out
and devour you.
But we were not long in suspense,
Horrid exelamations, half German,
half English, chilled our very hearts,
and we knew that there, in the mid
night, only the lid of an old cnest
was between us and Hans Schmidt!
At times it started up. and once or
twice his fingers were caught in the
opening. Then, finding our combined
weight too much for his strength, it
would become evident that he was
trying to force out an end of the
chest But he could not work to an
advantage. Cramped within such
limits, his giant strength of power
was not wholly available; he could
neither kick or strike with full force,
and hence his chief hope rested upon
his ability to lift us up, lid and all.
Even then, in the absolute terror
that might have been supposed to
| possess her, queer feeling of exul-
tation sprang up in Julia's heart.
81 was right, Nary" she cried
''They won't think me fool now
will they? / shan't be ashamed to
see Harry Irving"
Poor Julia! Under the eierum-
stances the idea was really ludicrous.
But nature will everywhere assert
itself, and Julia hated a coward.
Thqmp! thumpl thumpl-lid and
side and end, alternately felt the
cramped, powerful blows. Then
came the lift-the steady, straining
lift, and Julia cheered me when the
cover shook, and rose, and trembled.
"He can't get out, Mary We are
safe; only just keep your full weight
on the lid, and don't be nervous,
either-it is almost aorning."
She knew that it was not one o.
clock.
But one O'Clock came. How 1
wished it was FIVE! andt two O'Clock
came, and three. and four; and We
hoped that our prisoner had yielded
to his fate-whieh must now appear
to him inevitable.
A small aperture at one end of the
chest, where there was fracture in
the wood, supplied him with air, and
hence we could not hope that he
would become weak through suffoca-
tion. He was evidently resting from
the very necessity of the case, for
his exertions had been prodigious.
There was a. faint streak of daylight
in the sky; and there, upon the
morning, we sat and watched for the
CLEAN to broaden. r.
Suddenly there was a tremendous
struggle beneath US, as if the rufian
had concentrated all his efforts for
final effort. At my end of the chest
there Was a Grassland Immediately
the Germans feet protruded through
the aperture that they had forced
in the board. So horrible nov ap-
peared our position that / uttered a
scream, such as l do not think I ever
at any time could have had the pow
er to initiate.
To get off the lid in order to de.
feat the movement through the chest
end would have instantly been our
destruction; therefore, still bearing
our weight upon the chest we caught
at the projecting feet. In doing this,
however, we partially lost our bal
ance, and sudden bracing up of the
ITSuseuiar shape below so opened the
lid inst the head, arms and shoul-
ders of Rsns Schmidt were thrust
forth. and wiES~a fearful clutch, he
seized Julia by the fESoat.
Just then heavy cras6~yyas heard
at the door below, the foot tfSSDs
springing toward US as if some per-
son were tearing up the staircase
with the ullconvietion that this was
an hour of need. The dim daybreak
hardly revealed his identity, but I
had faint perception that young
Harry Irving had come to us in our
hour of peril.
Sometime during the morning I
found myself in bed with Julia, and
several of the neighbors standing
about me. Julia clasped me in her
arms and cried: '-ro
';We are safe, Mary! Harry Irv-
ing was near the house Knight. He
returned after seeming to go home.
The least scream he would have
LooS1 as he at last heard yours; but
= -. an. <Ou did not scream before,
ia. am 1,.g gisa an experience and
know what we can do. S.a ,,,o,
Hans Schmidt had deeIG~S I'm
the chest as safer hiding place 49,
that in which Julia had first disoov.
cred him.
Upon the very morning on which
Harry Irving stunned and secured
the rutian IN our room, the officers
Of justice were searching for the old
dessian seoundrel as a supposed muir
aerer, and he was soon convicted and
hung.
Julia became the wife Of Harry
irving land a most excellent wife she
was. Maguanimous and unfevenge-
iul, she was perhaps the only per,
,on who felt no qualification at the
tate of old Hans Schmidt, bat rather
pity for the ignorance which steep
ID him in crime.
A properly conducted printing Of
ice is as much secret as. a. Mason
c Lodge. The printers arernot un-