The Red Cloud chief., 1879-09-25
THE BELL TOI.I.ED ONE,
DR. >nu,n~aN's odd Experience with nj
touSsisnts

THE BELL TOLLED ONE.
br. >IunnuaN'- Odd Experience with his
tous'iror".
\ loud elan. al iic brll of the Dunn
allie Church land | cali ia" plarr Dunn
Nill" hcr1u-" thai ~r"i H. nnmrD awok"
-" people 81 midnight. Tho ~imgIr
stroke Ms like 4 hard blow with a
-lcd"r-hammcr .anh the ~%iillnc-~ through
',Ui The l1'zDr had been perfect that
uiaht. - uu m6r4l ItIhls. The bell rave
cont q tremendous dong. lik, = braIcn
tr, 81 terror at the untimrly blow. and
nhcu, with --~huddrrimg rcvcrbrrations.
lrrcamc silent 10y the time the imhahil-
lmt~-~"m" of them summer visitors
lik" ml~rlf-wrrc >iitin" H, 80 their
beds. Startled, wondcIin" and wide
awake. Uncommon things are indeed
ia this little New England
village. aud within ten minutes after The
bell tollcl one at midnight, a dozen
hastily dressed men were at the church
door. Foremost was The SEXTON. bare
headed aud larcluol"d. wcarin" nothing
bat Il E"l night-~hirt aud Il pair of irons
rr~ Next anne the village lawyer. and
hr WAS truly ~harchrlird. FOR he had
~i"r"ptt"u &" pui on his VIZ. All piIcS-
t'rurd lh" sexton, who could not rive
~tti-iliu- lie had heard the
bell riuw, and that wl~ all he knew
about ID. The group grew lar"cr every
SECOND, and %azc'i eagerly mp at Tia"
hrllr1.
LETS =" ia, said the school
master.
That's a GOOD idr"." was the re
~l"nn~r. in tone that accorded praise to
ihr ~ch"olma~Icr for Il -trtkin"ly novel
Suggestion.
tullN a hnnarcd men. women and
children wvni quietly toward the doornf
the church. for women ana children had
added Themselves Ia the gathering Of
men; bat not one entered, although the
door bad been unlnckcd. There WIS
bright moonlight outside. while the in
I~riur wa, dark. and who knew what
dreadful thin" might bc in there? Ac-
lion Wa plainly expected of the sexton
and the ~rh""lma>trr. They met the
call with manifest reluctance. The ~cN-
l"n lighted a lantern. and offered il ia
the N-hnolma~irr. VIII" did not take il.
III" trcmhlin" pair stepped h">itaiingly
Hlu ia" entry. aud stepped "ut a"lin. \
Nouum fellow, who had recently acUuir-
81 4 reputation for bravery lay catchin"
- runaway horse. W. turned Ia in this
emergency. lie had iIi>i coMr out of a
sound Sleep. and a. >;Irh a time triilc~
impress a. with wcirlncS~: hut hr made
a deceptive prrtrn~" at f"arlr>Snr>>.
seized the lantern and entered the
church. The sexton and the >chuolmlS-
ter followed this header. and others
followed Them. The hcll-r"pc was
found han.in" int" the entry through
ihr hole in the ceiling. a. usual. The
-eNt"n pulled il. shyly and gently AT
first. and then hard enough L" have
~wun" the he'll against the clappcr under
ordinary circumstances
There's >nmrthin" wrong about the
bell" he said ""rwon't turn"
Lets -" up and Sec, said the Su"-
FESTIVE >cho"lma>icr.
However. the >chnolma>tcr did not
irid the WAY. and the Young man of re-
puted bravery again felt that he must
act or let his reputation suffer. \ stair
MAN led - the first landing in the >tce-
plc. and a. far ~ that he WAS followed
;r ~ many "a could crowd in" the
space. \ ladder reached the rest of the
way no Ia where the bell WAS hun". and
he climbed rapidly. while the others
strained their eve with looking up nj
the LIGHT of the lantern that he carried.
Timbcr> crossed the hclfrN, nhStrurtinw
the view: Vet the folks "n the platform
below were a. quick a. the climber to
see that q black object WAS hanging just
underneath the bell.
that - Tho S.Nfpn >h,,uf..l
The Young fellow held the lantern to-
ward the dangling object, which al that
instant turned slowly round. and al Slw
10y the neck. The women screamed and
turned their eyes AWAY from the sight IF
= face wrun~ hy the contortiyr a"onir>
of death hy >tranwulation: nut their Gu
rioSitv WAS stronger than their horror.
and they quickly looked again.
Who i it?" the >choolmaStrr asked.
"pr. ~Shumway, the Young man "n
the ladder answered.
Cant h".
Yes. il IL.
Ii WAS indeed DIR. Shumwav. The phv>i-
clan of the village. who had for MANY
.car> been loved and respected, and in
~ no>c life nobody would have picked
ont a motive for suicide. He had rugged
Il rope 1" the ciapper of the bell in such
an ingenious WAN. that, when he lcaped
from the ladder with Il moose around his
neck. the bell was struck one hard blow.
The body was lowered a> q a> pos
~ihle. hut life had entirely zone out of il.
The wonder WAS WHY he had killed him.
self. and conjectureS We're wide and wild.
until the following document. carefully
written in the Doctors W hand. was
= found in his pocket.
DR.. SHUMwAY'S EXPLANATION
| hope that ! am not murderer.
fear that | am. Between the hope and
the fear there i nothing hut miserable
anxiety for me on earth. and | have
made up my mind To 90 where such
questions are a~uthoritatively Judged.
have considered my ease from every
standpoint. Ny guilt sometimes seems
clear. and sometimes | am convinced
that | am innocent of any wrong shall
kill myself in a way that will leave no
possibility of hiding NV suicide. as liy-
in@ friends might do if they could: and
for the qualification of their proper curl
osity. a well IA TO provide thinkers with
a subject for nice reasoning. write this
honest account.
q | am - years old, and for half nv
; life have been the only physician in
Dunnville. My professional labor has
been arduous, and not Very remunera-