The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-11-21


Answer, or I'll shoot you Still there
was silence. My pistol was pointed
little abo.e the center OF the figure,
and again | cried, Answer, or I'll
shoot No answer came, and pulled
the trigger. | was sure of my aim, but
yet the bullet seemed to bury it
self harmlessly into the wall beyond.
Lowering my aim, sent another ball
somewhat lower, and then a third, al
most to the ground. Still the figure
neither moved nor spoke. There it
stood, white, CHASTITY and uniniured hy
lead As the third shot left my pistol
Ileaped from the bed and rushed upon
the shadowy form. A box ofcartridges
lay upon the table, and these | thrust
into the breastpocket of my night
dress. Cooking my revolver as | ran,
| tried to seize the intruder with my
left hand, flinging myself with all force
upon him.
Horrors An instant lat 7 | was
thrown down, down. | knew not how
far or where. The floor seemed to
have opened and swallowed me up.
With a crash | came to the bottom Of
the pit, bruised, bleeding and in utter
darkness.
Confused, half-unconscious, l strug
gled to my feet, and once more there
came, first that moaning cry, and then
the dreadful scream which had reused
me from my sleep.
''YOu know how little superstition
there is in my nature-some say, in
deed, too little, TOR it is difficult for me
to believe in anything not patent to
my senses; but at that moment there
crept into my soul a grisly fear OF
something not of this world. A shud
der ran through my frame. | could
feel my eyes dilate and open to their
utmost, and sweat, cold as ice,
mingled from my brow with the blood
/ tricklng from my wounds. All was
still as death. | tried to shout; my
throat, dry, parched and contracted re-
fused its office. No sound came to
break that horrid silence. | strained
my eyes into the black obscurity which
encompassed them-a darkness which
pressed upon me, which seemed to
hold me, breathless, in its Internal en-
brace. Nothing. i void, vast as the
universe, narrow as tomb. My
shuddering feet stood upon a some
thing dark, dark and cold, as if they
rested on a nest OF serpents; above,
around, a silent pail of unutterable
obscurity. My elbow touched the
wall. | started asst stung by a scorpion
or as If ghostly hands had seized me
from the nameless mystery which lay
around. My heart stopped and then
sent the blood whirling to the brain in
sickening force. Was | mad? Was
/ this fever-born dream?
"Some dreadful thing, cold, Shiny, as
was everything in this hideous place,
I crawled or wriggled from under and be-
side my feet. Spots red and green be-
gan to dance ike demons eyes in the
| distance - formed, probably, by
pressure OF the blood upon the brain
! and nerves.
81 have twice or thrice since then
/ faced what seemed like probable death,
without much feeling about the mat
/ ter, but the foe was visible, tangible,
not a hideous void like that | faced
/ that November night.
"Again | tried to call out, and this
time a faint, hoarse sound, which
[ seemed to be the voice of another, is
sued from my lips.
Il had struck my head violently in
/ the rapid descent, but gradually my
senses returned and drove off the
nameless dread, only to replace it with
a feeling OF helplessness, almost OF de-
spair The air was bitterly cold, cold
with a vault-like chill which stiffened
my limos (clad as | was in single
+ linen garment TO the bone. But with
/ the return of thought came Une better
I feeling OF a wish to atleast struggle for
/ existence. | tried to collect my ideas,
to in some manner explain how the
strange thing could possibly have hap
pened. 1t was all ike reasoning
around a circle.
"What had been IN myroom? How
could | possibly have gone through
the floor? Where had I gone
/ Through what agency? So, back again
to who had been in my room? How
came it there? and so on through the
round again. The more | thought the
more inexplicable became the whole
affair, but at least | could now think,
not ShiVer IN namelesS terror.
II knew not where | was, but | felt
/ sure that no sound could make would
reach the men, all of whom were out
side the fort. Even from the ground
floor it was quite certain that, eSpe-
cially on such a night, with the waves
beating against the sides of the islet,
no mere report OF a pistol could be
heard a distance.
"Where could | be? Was this some
trick OF the thieves who had held the
deserted fort so long? 1t was dark,
as only a windowless vault can be even
at night. Not oneray to show meif the
place were large or small-a cellar or a
well. By what possible agency could !
have been thus hurled into this pit? |
had paced over the whole room and
there certainly was no opening in the
floor unless it had been most carefully
masked. Besides this, | felt sure that
my fall had been much greater than
the distance from the room | had slept
in to the cellar My brain was still
somewhat clOuded by the blow my
head had received, and which | 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. Ifelt carefully for the wall,
placed my back against it, and, deter.
mining to sellmy life dearlyif attacked,
waited a moment IN silence All was
still. Taking the box as noiselessly as
possible from the pocket OF my night,
shirt reloaded my pistol. Still moth.
ing. But / was freezing. The Shiny
stones beneath by bare feet were rap
T idly chilling my blood. If | fire my
pistol, | thought, may see where !
am. | fired twice
1T was the cellar which | had al,
ready visited had only, then fallen
ten or twelve feet. | at once remem.
bered that to this cellar there was a
/ door leading, by an external flight OF
+ stone steps, leading to the ground in
front OF the room in which | had slept.
Another shot showed me the door, on
which, however, there was a heavy
OldtashiOned lock without a KEY.