Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1884-03-15

/
4 One beautiful summer evening
wearied with the stir and noise o,
the town, and yearning to breath
the fresh, pure air Of the woodland
| sauntered along through the wav
ing fields Of grain, in the direction
OF the shady forest. reached a spot
where u little brook, with q quiet,
soothing murmur, rolled onward in
its course, and the trees united in
forming . waving canopy above me.
1t was beautiful place, and seating
myself upon moss. covered stone,
that lay half hid amid the woodland
grasses on the bank of the stream,
watched the ripping wavelets, and
listened to the drummings Of the par
fridge upon his log. As l sat there,
the murmuring brook and humming
bees lulled me into a pleasant sleep,
when was visited with the follow
ing vision:
The great wood was on fire, and
the Kissing flames and the wild con
fusion of the denizens of the forest
made din unearthly real. Thought
| was plucking wild flowers, when
suddenly the ground opened in front
OF me, and there came out of the
opening three imps, who seized me
with their long, horrid hands, and
bound me with a chain. Then they
flew away with me to the burning
wood, and laid me beside a brook
that ran close by, filled with melted
lead, and from which rose inDumer
able demons. Some leaped almost
out of the stream, and glared at me
with their mad, cleaning eyes
then plunged beneath the boiling
current again. / could see the wild
flames as they swept toward me; /
could hear the fall of great trees,
sounding like the roar of artillery
upon the battle field; while vast vol
umns Of smoke FASTENED the oncom-
ing darkness. Soon the sun went
down; could see the last beams,
through the smoke, as they fingered
along the rolling clouds above.
Then the night came on. The scene
was dreadful. AS l looked towards
the brook saw imp after imp, with
long three pronged forks, issue from
the burning stream and disappear in
the roaring flames. / laid there suf-
fering as Ter mortal suffered before.
OF sudden / saw a great throng of
demons circling around me, drawing
nearer and nearer. When they were
within ten feet OF me they stopped,
and one came forward and rolled
big stone over, which laid near me.
| saw great hole In the earth and
through it came strange object. Its
countenance was so horrid that my
blood almost ceased to run through
my veins Its face was like that Of
a COW, with eyes OF blood which shot
forth pale blue flames; its ears were
short and pointed; it's nostrils wide,
from which steamed great clouds of
smoke; the mouth was terribly big,
showing two rows Of teeth, resem-
bling ret-hot pieces Of iron and on its
fingers grew long, crooked talons.
From the forehead protruded two
long, crumpled horns, while huge
tail beat to and fro amid the weeds.
All the band of imps paid this mon
ster homage. 1t advanced to me
and grabbed me by my hair, while
from its mouth came noise like the
thunder. AS he grabbed me the
tends began dangling around us, and
then formed into two ranks, facing
each other. The old devil (for l
knew him now,) walked down be-
tween these ranks towards the burn
ing stream, with me in his clutch.
/ struggled violently to break the
chain that bound me, for / knew I
was to be carried into the stream. It
was Of no avail. Raising me on his
broad shoulder, he commenced to
descend into the molten deep. Slow
ly the burning lead crept up, until
my feet disappeared. I thought Of
home and friends. No one would
know what had become Of mel As
1 thought Of these things, / sank be-
meath the waves Of the burning
metal, with one wild, loud cry of
fear and anguish.
Then I awoke. The sun was far
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