Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1886-08-23

fort in my power, not until every
CLEAN of hope had vanished from my
mind, did | give up the attempt to
folce the door as hopeless, and turn
ed away from it to examine more
narrowly the place of my imprlson-
ment. :; Nothing now seemed left to
me but to ascertain how / might pass
the hours with least discomfort, un-
til l might expect assistance from
without.
In my assaults upon the door 1
had already discovered that the place
in which was inclosed was of very
small dimensions. 1t was in fact, a
little more than a recess or deep
niche in the masonry, not exceeding
three feet square, and it would neith-
er enable me to lie at full length nor
to obtain any other relief for my
tired limbs than by the change of
one cramped and uneasy posture for
another. The floor was of solid
pavement. The roof, as / stood
erect, just touched my head. The
walls, like the floor, were of solid
stone. Standing close to one of
these, and casting my eyes upwards,
[ made discovery which filled me
at first with surprise, and afterward
with extreme perplexity.
Between the roof and the wall
there was a space of at least four
inches. Through this space l be-
came aware of faint CLEAN of light
very far above my head. With the
object of ascertaining the length of
this aperture 1 moved along the wall
keeping my eye upon the crevice.
the light did not vanish. 1 turned
the angle of the wall and still the
light remained visible. | traversed
in succession the four walls of the
cell ; no obstacle obscured the feeble
CLEAN. The roof did not touch
the wall at single point of the cir
cult.
At this unaccountable discovery |
was so astounded that for some time
I refused to credit the evidence of
my own senses. The roof was, to
all appearance, like Mahomet's cof-
fin, suspended in mid air. | struck
it with my stick; it sounded heavy.
massive, substantial as the walls
themselves. But yet neither to the
touch, nor by the peculiar ringing
sound which it emitted when struck,
did it seem to be of stone. 1t gave
rather the impression of block of
solid iron. But how could this be?
Totally unable to account for this
discovery, l placed myself on the
floor of the cell, my back supported
against one of the walls. and my
feet against the opposite, and was
relieved to find that the posture was
more tolerable than 1 expected. l
began to be not without hope that
/ might IN time be able to fall asleep,
and so pass portion Of the weary
hours before me in unconsciousness
Little did / know what was to rouse
me. Sleep! it was not in store for
me.
Presently loud and startling
sound, seeming to issue from the
roof above my head. burst suddenly
upon the silence. 1t was the great
clock of the cathedral striking the
hour. The notes fell slowly from
a deep solemn and sonorous bell.
But instead of reaching my prison
as might have been expected, in dull,
far-off and muffied tones, they fell
upon my ears with thrilling clearness
and dlstinctness as if they were close
at hand. 1t was evident, i'm fact that
my cell must be situated directly un-
der the clock. tower. This conclusion
however, led me no further at the
| moment.
I sat long time in reflection upon
the number of hours which must
elapse before l could expect to be
set free. The bell had struck the
hour of SIX. The cathedral would
probably not be opened in the morn
ing before nine or ten. / had, there
fore, some fifteen hours at least be-
fore me to get through as best |
might
How slowly the bell waned At
seemingly long intervals, the bell
struck the quarters one, two, three.
four; and then in deeper tones the
hour ITSELF. And now, when the
ringing sound of the last note had
died away, the bells of the carlton
began to chime. The notes fell upon
my ears with the same singular and
unaccountable distinctness which |
had observed in the striking of the
hour. They chimed the evening
hymn.
Very suddenly strange thought
struck me, causing me to raise my
eyes towards the ceiling of my cell.
In my present position l could just
perceive the faint gleam of light dis
cernible far up through the inter-
space between the roof and the wall;
but the roof itself was buried in
darkness. l rose slowly to my feet,
and the scarcely formed 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
across my mind. / now saw clearly
the explanation of what had before