The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-05-21

ncy heavenly bine, were lighted up with
,es The moment entered the room $
seized me by the hand, and pointing
to corner OF the room, exclaimed, in .
cents of terror. "0h, save me save l
nd from that monster
looked in the direction where s
les pointed; the space was empty.
thought was dreaming. rubbed n
hi- eyes, and gazed first at the girl befo
me, and then at the empty corner. II
cd young lady's fear was too natural to
stimulated. Then the idea struck n
u that this unfortunate girl was q lunati,
land proceeded to address some cor
Y soling words to her.
She appeared to pay no heed to m
at words, but kept shrinking further bael
dragging me with her.
ID Save mer' she calculated; "he comes
he comesl Seel he is creeping along tn
70 hoorl Oh heavens! he viii murder mt
and you stand calmly by, and will no
/ help mel He comes! he comesp
She now retreated to the farthest ex
y tremity of the chamber, and pointet
with her finger to the floor. There wa
: nothing to be seen, and yet strange t,
say, heard strange rustling, as i
j some one were dragging himself along
the floor.
: 81 see no onep' I exclaimed, in {
hoarse whisper.
"There-there he is Do you not see
his large, bony hands? Look look! Pro
: tect me from him! Save me-"
Her countenance now expressed such
mortal agony, that it presented horri-
I bic spectacle. She continued to gaze on
the invisible monster as if fascinated.
/ Suddenly / felt her shiyer in my grasp;
her throat all at once appeared to be
CONSTRUCTED, her eyes protruded, and she
uttered fearful groan. l placed my
hand on her neck; and, o horror of hOr-
rorsI could feel a long, boRy hand en-
circling it; and yet when / gazed there,
could see nothing. could distinctly
trace the fingers of this hand, the
knuckles, and even the nails.
/ felt that was losing my senses; the
poer girl before me was evidently expir-
ing. A sudden resolution seized me;
threw myself in the empty space where
| supposed the fearful thing might be,
and although nothing was visible to my
sight, my arms were clasped around
some material body. 1t was yielding to
the touch, and struggled in my grasp.
To my Joy discovered that the attack
had caused the monster to release his
hold on the poor girls neck. She utter
ed a cry of joy, and rushed out of the
apartment.
A fearful struggle now ensued between
me and my invisible enemy; his long,
bony arms encircled me and pressed me
with prodigious strength. But | also
appeared to be endowed with supernat-
ural power, and by some means / got
hold of something which felt like hair
it was crisp and wiry. Ipulled it with
all my might-an unearthly kind OF
sound, bearing some resemblance to a
groan, issued from the monsters chest.
He writhed and struggled with renewed
energy in my grasp, and dragged me
about the room as if / were a child. 1t
struck me at the time that he wanted to
bring me over some particular spot in
the floor. He soon accomplished his
purpose, when, to my horror, felt the
floor give way, and began to sink down,
into an unfathomable abyss. The crea-
ture had relaxed his hold, and | knew
that was sinking alone.
1 do not know how long this descent
continued for ! became unconscious. |
When regained my senses, found my
self on the damp ground. rose to my
feet and gazed around me. found l |
was in a sort of stone cavern, which |
was lighted by a lamp hanging from the
ceiling. At one end of this cell was
placed flight of steps which led up to
an iron door | ascended these steps |
and tried the door; it was fastened, and |
firm as a rock. The lamp suspended |
from the ceiling allowed sufficient light |
to illuminate the cell, so that / could |
trace the form of the stones of which it |
was built. They were large and rough,
bearing in some places the marks Of in
seriptions, but too much Obliterated to
be read. There was one thing particu-
larly struck me, and that was the damp |
ness of the place; it chilled my very /
blood Not only was the floor damp,
but the walls were reeking with m0is-
ture, large drops of unwholesome ex
halations coursing each other down the
discolored blocks of stone.
/ sat down on the only chair the cell /
contained, and unused upon my condi-
ton. What was to become of me? Was
perpetual confinement? What motive
could there be for taking my life? How
had offended? Such was the question
| asked myself over and over again as |
sat in that solitary, dark, dismal prison.
A feeling of some great unknown terror
was fast settling in my breast, which
surpassed that | had lately undergone.
At last rose up and began to pace up
and down the Shiny bricks of which the
floor was composed.
1t was strange anomaly, that with T
some unknown fate hanging over my
head, should begin to feel drowsy, but /
such was the fact threw myself in
the chair again, leaned back and actually |
slept. In the black solitude of the dun
oeon delightful dream visited my /
troubled mind | was with my wife and
we were gazing on a beautiful expanse
of water together, the waves ripping to /
our very feet The rays of the morning /
sun Illuminated the placid surface of |
the lake, aud the air was musical with /
the songs of birds. / could even feel |
the pressure of my wife's arm on mine,
and could see her loving face turned |
towards me, every feature beaming with /
ioy, happiness and affection. | thought |
we advanced closer to the lake, nay SO
close that our feet actually touched the
water; while the ripples grew more and
more distinct. 1t was no dream-my /
feet did touch the water; felt it dis
tinctly and I could hear the rushing /
sound made by the waves; a chill seized |
me and / awoke. But, strange to say,
the rushing sound still continued. The
lamp had gone out and / was IN the most
complete darkness. Irose from my seat
and my feet went splash, splash, into
water. | stopped down and found that
the floor of the cell was covered to the
depth of eight or ten inches with water.
The drip, drip of the water still con-
tinued, What could it meant Even a
suspicion Of the truth did not enter my
mind. It was some Waterpike that had I
burst, and the fact would soon be dis |
covered by the inmates Of the house and /
remedied. Such was my FIRST thought
The dripping had changed into Fush-
ing sound; the water was evidently |
pouring il faster. II had already reached |
above my knees. and I felt it ascending |
higher and higher. Now it had reached |
nv waist. and had great difficulty ii !
wading through it. Suddenly the truth /
burst on my mind, was to be drowned.
Yes. that was to be my fate. uttered
one cry 0f despair, and struggled to and
fro in the mass Of fluid.
The water had already reached ny
chest. when l thought of the steps and
endeavofed to reach them. ! struggled
about some time without success, the
water al the time gaining upon me
grew chilled and cold, but At last reached
the steps and ascending them. was for
the time being removed above the sur
face 81 the water But It was only pro
longing my fate. for the rushing sound
of tie Nater became 80 loud IS b drown
every hing else, and I felt the Geld fluid
again invading ny limbs 3 stood on
fI1e tor step. beat aaiiist the door.
then cried out at the top Of 1ny voice
but still The water rose higher ariin It /
Is61 7daszsfs1 my waist renewed nv