, 1886-08-19

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of light discernible far up through the In
terspace between the roof and the wall;
but the roof itself wa buried In dark
ness. l arose slowly to my feet, and the
scarcely formed conjecture of my mind
was instantly confirmed As l had OK
pected, 1 could no longer stand erect; my
head now struck the roof. The whole
truth flashed at once across my mind 1
saw why the roof did not touch the walls
of the Enclosure, why 1t was formed of
massive iron 1t WA descending.
Yes-descendingi During the hour l
had remained seated, the roof had sunk
through a space OF fully four inches. But
this discovery, when now l made 1t, SO
far from causing me p~erplexity, at once
revealed to me the whole mystery Of my
prison.
The directness of sound with which the
Ginning Of the bells reached my ears had
already told me that the belfry must be
situated directly above my head. now
perceived that what i had taken for a
solid heavy roof was in fact the massive
int enormous weight Of the great clock
l was imprisoned In the bottom of the
shaft into which the weight descended.
The ponderous block OF solid metal was
falling at the rate of abou t four inches an
hour, or rather more. In less time than
1t takes to trace these words, the conse-
quence of this flashed through my mind
In fifteen hours the weight would de-
scend through a space Of 1--WE feet. Long
before l could expect release, the enorm-
Gus mass would be upon me, and would
crush me helplessly against the pavement
OF my prison.
My sensation upon making this discov-
cry l will not attempt to describe. Often
very often-in the course of my life, have
/ had occasion tn ramark the fruth of the
saying: "The avenues that lead to death
are numerous and strange" Little did l
think how nearly l was myself to afford
an example OF its truth. Yet surely no
mortal was ever before the victim OF an
accident 80 wildly singular and 80 full OK
horrori There the great weight was
above me. Slowly, surely, it was creep
ing downward in the dark ness and silence
of the night.
And far up in the soft air of sunset the
bells were still ringing the 9 vening hymn
For many minutes after making this
discovery l remained motionless, striving
vainly to realize the most singular yet
deadly peril which threatened me. 1 do
not know how long 1t was before l SO far
recovered my faculties as to become capa-
BILE of thought. At length, rousing my
self by an effort to examine whether any
way to escape lay open to me, l turned
my attention to the interspace between
the weight and the wall; but 1t was far
too narrow to admit Of the passage Of my
body. Then-to such extremeties may
desperation drive its victims-I thought
of attempting to arrest the great weight
by supporting 1t with my stick as it de-
scended l might as well have attempted
to support a falling avalanche.
Then an idea occurred to my mind
which brought with 1t a CLEAN of hope. 1
thought 1t possible that by applying my
strength to the weight itself, l might be
able to impart to it by slow degrees q
swinging motion, like that Of 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 exert
ing all my energy in a succession of ryth-
mical impulses l gradually succeeded in
imparting to it an almost impreceptible
moveme mt. Gradually this increased;
and but for an unforeseen circumstance
the scheme might have been successful.
But l presently found that the weight did
not hang exactly in the center of the
shaft. The consequence OF this was that
it struck the wall opposite the door before
1t reached the door itself. The extent of
its swing being thus checked, my utmost
efforts failed to bring 1t into contact with
the door. The attempt had therefore to
be abandoned, and hope again died within
me.
Hope died within me. And now my
sensations were those of extreme horror
and dismay. l for the first time felt the
certainty of my tate. A deadly sicknes
seized me. In a paroxysm of despair ]
flung myself again upon the floor of my
prison, and lay there without motion.
1 VIII not dwell upon the long hours
that followed-those hours of more than
mortal agony of mind. The sensations of
those who have stood face to face with
death for hours, watching with starting
eyes his slow approach, are to me no mys-
terry. But the mind of man has merci
fully been SO ordered that agony pro-
longed beyond a certain point ends in be-
numbing the power of feeling. Thus it Is
that criminals condemned to execution
often sleep soundly and eat with appetite;
a fact which seems amasing to those who
consider how comparatively slight n de-
gree Of mental distress has power to rob
the night of rest and TO turn the daintiest
food to poison. They do not reflect that
mental agony in its extremity ceases to
be felt. But thus 1t Is, and thus il was
with me.
l believe also hat the air OF the shaft
must have acted upon me with some
supplying or bewildering influence, like
that of the vapor which often gathers at
the bottoms OF old wells. The agitation
Of my mind gradually gave place to q
strange feeling of indifference. The peril
under which | lay ceased 10 trouble me,
AID at last no longer occupied my
thoughts.
l began instead to be c~uriously dis
turbed. by another circumstance, very
trivial In itself; by a sound, which reached
my senses from somewhere in the still
ness; a sound low, mufled, throbbing and
mysterious, like the beating OF my own
blood. Had my mind been clear l could
not have failed to recognize 1t for what 1t
was The sound seemed in my ears; but
this was merely owning to my position in
the shaft In reality, it was the the
ticking of the great clock, far above my
head.
For hours l sat there, listening mechan-
ically, half unconsciously, to this monot-
onous sound, broken at intervals by the
notes of the deep-toned bell AT length,
probably owing in great measure to the
heavy effect OF the air upon me, l must
have passed into a sort OF stupor, which
lasted very long.
When 1 came to myself 1 was conscious
OF a very singular sensation. The pitchy
darkness was about me, and of course /
could see nothing. But, In some unac-
couptable manner, OF which l fear 1t is
impossible for me to convey a notion, l
was aware that during my trance the
weight had descended a great way, and
was now close above my body. l could
feel, though nothing touched me. the huge
and threatening mass mass brooding o yer
me in the darkness. With = mighty ef-
fort-for like a person in a nightmare ]
seemed to have lost the power Of motion