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

against one of the walls and nv see ~,
s'saahss the opposite, and was relieved
20 h'ld that the posture was more
.oiertsbie than expected. 7 beca,, : :,
De not without hope TINT I n,;sht :,
Time pc able to fall asleen. and se ,s =.
PORTION OF the weary hours before
i,ie ~ Inconsistencies. Little did I
k = what was to rouse me. Sleeni
II was not sleep that was in store for
PRESENTLY a loud and startlino
sound seeming to issue from the roof
ABOVE my head, burst suddenly unon
the silence. 1t was the great elock 81
the cathedral striking the hour. The
notes Tell slowly from deep, solemn
and sonorous bell. But Instead al
reaching my prison, as might have
been expected, in dull. far-off and ponf.
ned tones, they fell upon my ears with
eliritiing clearness and distinctness.
as II they were close Mt hand. 1t was
evident, IN TACT, that my cell must be
situated directly under the clock tow
en-. Tins conclusion, however. led me
no further at the moment.
sat Tor q long time in reflection mn.
on the number OF hours which must
siapse before ! could expect to be sci
Tree. The bell had struck the hour ~
SIX. The cathedral would probable
not be open in the morning before 4
or or ~ O'Clock, | had, therefore, some
. nLeeell hours at least before me to get
through as best might.
How slowly the time wanedl At
seemingly long intervals the bells
struck the quarters; one. two. three
iour; ana then in deeper tones the
hour ITSELF O'clock. And now. when
the ringing sound of the last note had
died away, the bells of the carlton be.
gan TO chime. The notes fell on nv
ears with the same singular and mn
accountable distinctness which / had
observed in the striking OF the hour,
They ohimcd the evening HYMN.
Very suddenly i strange thought
struck me, causing me to raise my
eyes toward the ceiling OF my cell. In
my present position Icould lust per
eeive the faint gleam OF light discern.
sole iar up through the interspace
between the roof and the wall:
but the roof itself was buried
IN darkness. rose slowly
to my feet, and the scarcely-formet
conjecture of my mind was instantly
confirmed. As had expected. | could
no longer stand erect; my head now
struck the roof The whole truth
flashed at once across my mind. /
nov saw clearly the explanation OF
what had before astonnded and per.
picked me. ] saw why the roof did
not touch the walls of the enclosure,
why 1t wasformed of massive iron. II
was descending.
Yes. descending During the hour ]
had remained seated, the roof had
sunk through a space fully OF four
inches. But this discovery, when now
| made 1t, so far from causing me
perplexity, at once revealed to ME the
whole mystery of my prison.
The distinctness OF sound with
which the Ginning of the bells
reached my ears had already
told me that the beltry must be
situated directly above my head. |
now perceived that what | had taken
for solid, heavy rootwas, in fact, the
massive and enormous weight OF the
great clock. | was imprisoned in the
bottom OF the shalt into which the
weight descended. The ponderous
block OF solid metal was falling at the
rate of about four inches an hour, or
rather more. In less time than it
takes to trace these words the conse-
quence OF this flashed through my
mind. In fifteen hours the weight
would descend through space of five
feet. Long before | could expect re-
lease the enormous mass would be
upon me, and would crush me help
lessly against the pavement oil my
prison.
My sensations upon making this
discovery ! will not attempt to de-
scribe. Often, very often. i'll thacourse
of my life, have / had occasion to re
mark the truth OF the saying:
The avenues that lead to death are
numerous and strange" Little did ]
think how nearly was myself to al
ford an example of its truth. Yet
surely no mortal was ever before the
victim of an accident SO wildly singu-
lar and so full of horrorl There the
great weight was above me. Slowly,
surely, it was creeping downward in
the darkness and the silence of the
night.
And far up in the soft air of sunset
the bells were still ringing the evening
hymn.
The suddenness, the unexpectedness
of what had happened, had formed no
small part OF its effect upon my mind.
Yet up to this time my adventure,
though not such as one would have
chosen to undergo, had nothing in it
portentously alarming. 1t was dis
agreeable enough, undoubtedly, to be
forced against one'a will to put up
with such lodging for the night. But
what was the discomfort of my stu
alton, had that been the worst it had
in store for me, compared with the
horror OF it now?
Bor many minutes after making
this discovery remained motionless,
striving vainly to realize the most sin
gular yet deadly peril which threaten
ed me. do not know how long it
was before i recovered my faculties so
as TO become capable of thought. At
length, rousing by an effort TO exam
inc whether any way OF escape lay
open to me, ! turned my attention to
the interspace between the weight and
the wall; but it was far, very far too
narrow to admit of the passage OF my
body. Then-to such extremities
NAV desperation drive its victims--l
thought of attempting to arrest the
great weight by supporting 1t with my
stick as it descended. ! might as well
have attempted to support afailing
avalanche.
Then an idea occurred to my mind
which brought with it a CLEAN OF hope.
| thought it possible that by applying
my strength to the weight itself, |
might be allie to import to 1t by slow
degrees swinging motion, like that oil
a pendulum; and this being continued,
might at length bring the ponderous
mass IN contact with the door, and so
burst it open. Raising myself from the
floor OF the cell, upon which l had
again sunk down, | applied my strength
TO the weight, and by exerting all my
energy in u succession of rythmlcal
impulses or adually succeeded in inn
parting to it an almost imperceptible
movement. Gradually this increased;
and but for an unseen circumstance
the scheme might have been sue
cessiul. But | presently found
that the weight did not hang
exactly in the centre of the shaft. The
consequence OF this was that it strdck
the wall opposite the door before it
reached the door itself. The extent
OF its swing being thus checked, my
utmost efforts failed to bring it into
contact with the door. The attempt
had therefore to be abandoned, and
hope again died within me.
H., ,1;o1 ,,,if hin ma And now my