Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-08-19

Duo thc mind OF man has mercifuiIv
peen SO ordered that agony prolonged
beyond q certain point ends in he.
numblng the power OF feeling. Thus
IL 70 that criminals condemned TO exc
cution often sleep soundlv and eat
with appetite; fact which seems
amazing to those who consider how
comparatively slight degree of men.
tai distress has power torob the NIGHT
OF rest and to turn the daintiest food
20 poison. They do not reflect that
mental agony in its extremity ceases
TO be felt. But thus it Island thus il
was with me.
belieye also that the air of the
shaft must have acted upon me
with some SIMPLIFYING or bewiIder:ne
influence, like that OF the vapor which
Often gathers at the bottom of old
wells. The agitation of my mind
gradually gave place to strange feel
ing OF Indifference. The peril under
which l lay ceased to trouble me, and
at last no longer occupied my
thoughts.
began instead to be curiously dis.
turbed by another circumstance, very
trivial IN itself; by sound, which
reached my senses from somewhere in
the stiffness; sound low, muffled,
throbblng and mysterious, like the
beating OF my own blood. Had my
mind been clear could not have fail
ed to recognize it for what it was,
The sound seemed in my ears; but this
was merely owing to my position in
the shaft. In reality it was the tick.
ing OF the great clock, far above my
head.
For hours / sat there.
listening mechanically, half un.
consciously to this monotonous
sound, broken at intervals by
the notes OF the deep-toned bell. At
length, probably owing in great meas
ure to the heavy effect of the air upon
me, | must have passed into a sort of
stupor, which lasted very long.
When | came to myself wac con.
scions OF q very singular sensation.
The pitchy darkness was about me,
and OF course Icould seenothing. But,
IN some unaccountable manner, oil
which fear it is impossible for me to
convey a notion, | was aware that
curing my trance the weight had de-
scended a great way, and was now
close above my body. / could feel,
though nothing touched me, the huge
and threatening mass brooding over
me in the darkness. With a mighty
efiort-for like aperson in a nightmare
| seemed to havelost power OF motion
i raised my hand. My expectation
was correct one. My hand struck
against the under surface of the weight,
at an elevation OF less than three inches
from my faeei At last-after an eter-
nifty of unutterable suspense-at last
lit touched me.
Ii touched me. At first lightly;
then with a perceptible pressure;
then with pressure which grew dis.
tressing. In vain sought relief; in
vain | sought to writhe my body into
the narrower compass. Slowly, stead
lily, the mass descended, crushing me
against the floor.
The last minute of my life seemed
come. breathed prayer to heaven
and resigned myself to die. Still
space the weight descended; my brain
swan; my breathing became difficult;
believe that for some brief
seconds | bore upon my fainting form
the whole burden of the ponderous
mass. The blood rushed in torrents
TO my head; felt that my senses were
leaving me.
Very suddenly the pressure ceased.
/ was conscious of welcome relief.
drew in deep breath, freely. moved
my limbs, and found their liberty no
dream. The weight was gonel
/ l.a5ga1 NV hand md ~ anaA.tt,
tered space. | staggered, gasping, to
my feet. The weight was already
above my head, and rising rapidly up
ward into the darkness of the shaft
A sound ofmoving mechanism reached
me from above. thought heard the
murmur of voices; men were moving in
the tower above me.
The purpose which had brought
them there was evident; they were
winding up the clock.
IL was not until afterward that
learned what really had occurred.
The clock should have been wound up
the day before; but the men whose
duty it was to do the winding had
overlooked their work, and the over
sight was not discovered till late at
night Afraid that the clock would
run down, and that they should be
blamed, they had come to the catbe-
dral earlier than usual to rectify the
error Had it not been for their neg
lect of duty, the weight would not
have descended nearly so far as it did
toward the bottom OF the shaft; while
had their visit been delayed but a
little longer, they would assuredly
have found the clock already stopped
stopped by cause which now Il
shudder to think OF Then-at that
moment ofrelief-I thought of nothing
clearly. Giddy, bewih cred, Keeling
with wild sense of deilverance, the
prolonged oppression ofmy soul found
vent in loud, long and ringing cry.
| remember little more, and that
confusedly. ! have some dim memory
of an interval OF silence, broken by
voices outside my prison, OF the sud
den opening of the door; of a binding
light; of group OF several forms with
out. / seem to remember also that
there were cries OF wonder as | stag
gered from my narrow lodging and fell
fainting into the arms of my deliver
ers But these things are to me the
shadows OF dream. The rushing
darkness returned upon me, and for
many hours / knew no more.
Such is the history OF my strange
adventure. Igreatly doubt whetherin
all the chapter OF accidents in history
stranger can be found. have al
ready stated that its truth is known
to several persons and that the strict
accuracy OF my account can be yeri
fed by simple nquiry.-Argosy.