St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-08

less mystery WHICH lay around. My heart
stopped and then sent the blood whirling to
the brain in sclening force. Was l mad?
Was this a fever-bon dream?
''Some dreadful thing, cold, Shiny, as
was everything in this hideous place. crawled
or wriggled from under or beside nv foot.
Spots red and green began to dance like de-
mons eyes in the distance-formed prob
ably by the pressure of the blood upon the
brain and nerves.
II have twice or thrice since then faced
what seemed like probable death without
much feeling about the matter. but the foe
was visible tangible-not hideous void
like that faced that November night.
Again tried to call out. and this time
faint. h0arse sound, which seemed TO be
the voice of another, issued from my lips.
Il had struck my head violently in my
rapid descent. but gradually my senses re-
turned and drove off the nameless dread.
only to replace it with feeling of HELPLESS
ness. almost of despair. The air was bit
terly cold cold with a vault-like chill.
which stiffened my limbs clad as was ONLY
in a single linen garment, to the bone. But
with the return of thought came the better
feeling of wish to at least struggle for ex-
iStence. l tried to collect my ideas. to in
some manner explain how the strange thing
could possibly have happened. 1t was all
like reasoning around in circle.
''What had been III my room? How came
it there? What had it done to me. How
could possibly have gone through the
floor? Where had | gone? Through what
agency? So back again to, Who had been
in my room? How came it there? and go
on through the round again. The more |
thought the more ineXplicable became the
whole affair." but at least l could now think
hot SILVER i'll nameless horror.
u knew not where was, but felt sure
that no sound 1 could make would reach
the men, all of whom were outside the
fort. Even from the ground-floor it
was quite certain that, especially
on such a night, with the waves
beating against the sides of the islet
no mere report of a pistol could be heard at
such a distance.
Where could L be? Was this some
trick of the thieves who had held the de-
serted fort so long? 1t was dark as only
windowleSs vault can be, even at night
Not one ray to show me if the place were
large or small. d cellar or a we'll By what
possible agency could l have been hurled
into this pit? | had paced over the whole
room, and there certainly was no Opening
i'll the floor. unless it had been most carefully
masked. Besides this, L felt sure that nv
fall had been much greater than the dis
lance from the room l had slept in to the
cellar My brain was still somewhat
clouded by the blow my head had received.
and which l thought had been struck Just
before my fall, or. rather before my being
violently thrown downward.
Fortunately my pistol was still in my
hand and the box of cartridges in my
pocket. L felt carefully for the wall. placed
hapi- IL nd
my life dearly if attacked, waited a moment
in silence. All was still. Taking the box
as noiselessly as possible from the pocket of
my night shirt i reloaded the pistol. Still
nothing. But | was freezing. The sIimv
stones beneath my bare feet were raDidly
chilling my blood. If | fire nv pistol. !
thought, l may see where | am. | fired
twice.
at was the cellar which L had already
visited. | had only, then, fallen some ten
or twelve feet. at once remembered that
to this cellar there was a door leading by
an external flight of stone steps to the
ground in front of the room in which | had
slept. Another showed me the door. on
which. however, there was heavy. old
fashioned lock without key. Half a
dozen shots from my revolver broke the
rusted iron-and was free
NONNICN hlbl blpoO SiiIG. SIDDu
length beneath the stars; my head ached VIC
lently. my teeth chartered with cold. but |
was free! O., the delight of that moment!
Free.
MY first feeling was that it was my duty
to call some of the men and search the
house: but that ! could not bring myself to
do. No. | must not be seen by them in
such plight, nor must they come until
had solved the mystery. Ny own outer
door was too securely bolted to force open:
but, making my way through another ell
trance. 1 easily blew the lock off an inner
door of communication. GraSping my pis-
tol tightly / cautiously entered. There,
directly across the room. was the figure
Bang. bang! and l sent two more bullets
crashing through it. Whatever it was it
certainly was no living thing. If not.
what then? What or who had struck me
the blow? What had opened the solid floor
and cast me into the pit beneath? With
eye and ear upon the alert ready for foe.
human or other reached the table where
the lamp stood and felt for match. None
But had some in my pocket. Ny clothes
were upon The other side of the bed.
went slowly around. found the matches,
came back to the table, and. keeping my
pistol in my right hand. removed the globe
and chimney of the lamp, struck a light
took hurried look about the room. put the
fire 10 the wick, replaced the chimney, and
turned again to that white mystery. There
ii stood: but what it was | could not even
guess at. One thing was certain, it had
not been there when | went to bed. In
the light it looked like great white box
some tenfeet high. open on the sides, and
standing against the wall opposite the foot
Of my bed Taking up the lamp | walked
1fNNar IL ,I,,A
heavens. it is my trunk,
what do You think my ghost was? 1T was
an old. white painted dumb waiter leading
to the former kitchen! My trunk had
CHANGED to be placed directly on its top.
which was level with and formed part of
the floor. The jar and the footsteps had
looSened its old weights. / had taken the
tray OF clothes from the trunk and the
duu5-waiter. gradually looSened, had shot
up-as such things will at times do-a couple
OF hours later. 1t mad long been disuSed
and the shelving removed. When, there
fore, l rushed at it l had simply fallen into
hole, some three feet by two in the floor
between the elevators sides: had struck the
bottom board, the machine had gone down
with me, and my weight removed. had
again risen. L knocked my head against
some corner as fell, and came down very
huu Ol tuc SlonVS paving inc FORMER
kitchen, had cut myself on some projecting
edge-for there Were two pretty bad places
from which the blood still dripped-and
that was my ghost; and the mysterious
agency that had hurled me into that awful
pit,
Ibid you ever hear of a ghost doing
more? L never heard of one who could do
half so much. But just think, if | had
gone barefooted and bedraggled, called up
my men, and led them on to combat with
IN old Nvlnifn IIlh,,h ,,rn itnrf,,