American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1880-10-02
A LIVING TOMB.

1.-THE Catacombs of Paris, ugh" said
nv companion, with a shiver of dread.
why" said, laughingly. "you
speak as though you had been immured
in them"
"And SO was for an actual forty
eight hours, which seemed more like
forty-eight centuries to me. 1 don't
like to speak of it even at this remote
period" said he, and he shuddered
visibly.
Its scarcely fair to go so far and
then fail to satisfy my curiosity after
ALL" 1 replied. If you have been
placed in so novel o position as your
hint would imply, do manage to pocket
your distaste of the subject, and give
me the benefit of your experience.
"Well." he said, after pause, cit
was in the year 1876. l was a much
younger man at the time, and advent
ure had not lost its charm for me- I
was passing through Paris, when q
friend asked me to Join their party to
the Catacombs. As it was a difficult
matter even then to gain access to this
part of the great city, 1 gladly accept
ed. thinking would manage to COM
bine business with pleasure by spend
ing an hour in the underground inspec-
tion. and still leave myself time to
catch the London train. mention this
fact as it illustrates upon what small
hinges serious events turn, for if l had
not said the following words to the cab
man who took me to the entrance, 1
should never have had to endure what
1 am about to tell you. These words
were, If do not return in an hour
you are discharged So saving, paid
the man in advance for waiting, and
followed my party to the entrance-door,
which was of heavy wood. l had
fancied that an hours exploration
would satisfy me. and if L had q cab
ready L could catch the one o'clock
train, whereas, should L find the in
spection sufficiently attractive to occupy
more time, would then defer my de-
parture til evening.
Every body knows that the Cata-
combs of Paris were originally the stone
mines which supplied the city's build
ing material, so Paris. it has been aptly
said, is built of her own entrails.
"A dismal, grim place are these
Paris Catacombs-albeit monotonous.
When Napoleon. at the beginning of
this century, decreed extramural inter-
ment, the bones of centuries were
moved into the Catacombs, and mill
ions of bones of dead French were car
ried there and Enthusiastically arranged,
SO the visitor passes between two walls
which seem to stare at him with a
CHASTITY blind stare. The black gloom
of the place; the mystery of its count
less and impenetrable ramifications; its
numberless skeletons, grotesque and
strange, that flank the walls and seem
TO stare and watch and follow YOU as
you pass; the damp malarial breath of
the vaults, intensified by the confined
atmosphere; the wet rock below; the
consciousness that you are cut off, as
it were, from the rest of the world; if
your guide takes a wrong turn out of
the hundreds that present themselves
you are likely TO be irretrievably lost,
as no sound you can utter can reach the
upper air; all these considerations OPP
crate to make a visit to the Catacombs
absolutely appalling, though this same
feeling of terror possesses fascination
of almost unappeasable longing to PEN
citrate further and further into the I'M
known depths.
However. half an hour was quite
enough to satisfy me, and 1 began to
long restlessly to be off. The rest of
the party, however, were not SO easily
satisfied, and urged me to proceed with
them, hooting at the idea of my being
able to find my way back alone.
'.We each carried little lamp, and
by the light of mine consulted my
watch, and finding 1 had still time to
get back to my cab and catch the train,
asked the guide if 1 could not find
my way back to the entrance.
Perhaps so. monsieur he replied,
but / advise monsieur not to attempt
it.
$50 Jagged on in the rear of the
party, still undecided whether to take
the guides advice or to act out nv
impulse and leave.
1--WE were passing through many
transverse passages, intersected at reg
ular intervals by smaller streets, courts
and alleys, when, as the lamps of my
companions crossed one of these inter-
sectional cuttings, 1 noticed, few steps
ahead of me along the passage, an i'm
mense skull in which all the teeth were
singularly perfect and cleaning with q
dazzling white. 1 went nearer to in
spect the skull more narrowly, when, as
had my face close to it, a horrible rat,
frightened at my presence, leaped full
against my chest. am almost ashamed
to say that was paralyzed for the mo-
ment and felt as though 1 had been
shot. We all have our antipathies, and
my antipathv is rats. l abhor them,
and the sudden appearance and touch
of this rat so unexpected must have
caused me to faint.
''At any rate. when my senses came
TO me again was utterly in the dark
A blackness that could almost be felt
enveloped me on every side, while q
dead silence pervaded everything. In
n few moments think + lost cOuScioua-
ness again. / am not sure on this
point, however, for 1t may have been
minutes, or hours, when a slight num-
bling overhead caused me to grasp the
full truth of my position, as recognized
the rolling of q passing carriage over
my living tomb.
That my friends were not near me
was certain.
'sHad they discovered my loss even?
II they had Sthey would naturally look
for me near the spot where they last
saw me. and in that case, why had they
not found me, for / was still in the
place where | had tainted? BY degrees
the horrible truth began to dawn upon
me; they had thought after calling for
me and receiving no answer that I had
tried to make my way to the entrance,
and when they had reached it. the hour
having expired, the driver being gone,
they had believed him to have taken me
to the station, and so supposed me on
ny road to London.
F..Ir caused me no little effort to shake
the despair that this terrible knowl-
forced upon me, and to try and