San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-02-15

for what followed till morning Is bianK
to him. He must have been very quiet
too. for the sexton, on his late rounds,
closed and locked tho door OF the tomb
without seeing or hearing anything Oh
him.
II was not until some hours had pass
ed Burt came to himself, somewhat, and
began to wonder where he was. He lay
for some time, trying, IN dull heavy
way. to solve this difficult problem. The
air felt cold and damp. He was IN dark-
ness. He put on; his hand. 1t touched
a cold stone. ;pon this, he started
with n shudder o his feet, though he
was so benumbed that he staggered and
fell back against the wall Of the tomb.
Was he in prison? Had he commit
ted murder or some other criminal Of
tense while he was drunk?
The thought so appalled, him that 1t
cleared his brain to some extent OF the
effects of the alcohol. For the one thing
which Burt had always feared more than
anything else was that on one OF his
"sprees he should kill some person.
He felt in his pockets, found match
and lighted it. By its dim light, he
made the horrible discovery that he was
in tomb along with the dead.
As yet, he could recall little or moth
ing of last evenings doings. How he
had got there, or who had put him there,
or for what purpose, was more than he
could divine. At first, he thought that
he must have been taken for dead, and
put in there to wait for II post-mortem
examination, OF something of that sort.
But this idea was too improbable for
him to entertain long; and there was
even less probabilitySthat he had been
put there for joke.
Then he lighted more matches, and
tried the door. 1t was a heavy lion
door, and securely bolted; for he could
not move it.
Then he shouted for help till he made
himself hoarse: but the echo of his own
voice, as it resounded through the pent-
up resting-place of the dead, was his
only reply.
Now Burt was not n person to be
alarmed without good cause; SO, with
more composure than might be sup
posed. he sat down on coffin and took
account of his chances. They were not
flattering. The only thing that he could
be sure of was the fact that he was in a
tomb, with the door locked, and with a
very poor prospect, so far as he could
see, of getting out. The place was close
and noisome to the last degree; and,
even if not suffocated, he might have to
remain there till he would be starved or
frozen to death.
He had loaded revolver in his under
coat pocket. He took it out, thinking
whether it would not be better to use it
and end his life. For, even if he should
live to get out of this horrible place, his
fate, with his present habit, was only a
question of time. That bullet would in
one instant end it all
"For u moment" so he afterward told
me, " it was toss-up which l should do,
die then and there, OF live on, if I could,
and face temptation again"
Then there came better thoughts.
He thought of his business; thought of
what he might make it if it were not
for his bad habits. He thought, too, of
dear lady friend who had never quite
lost faith in him; and then, by contrast,
of what he was, and where he was at
that moment; his life, too, and his duty
to other people, as well as to himself,
came to his mind in new lights. What
fool I've been." he said Worse than
that. weakling and coward.'
There was ample scope here for seri-
Gus thought, certainly, and Burt did
more serious thinking then than he had
ever done in his life before. The result
was that he put his pistol in his pocket,
and. in better frame of mind, looked
higher than his own rash arm for aid.
Il had never prayed, nor been taught
to pray, he said to me, but / honest
" said aloud, that if God would give
me one chance more l would try to be