New Ulm weekly review., 1886-08-18
And Tar up in the soft air of. sunset
The bells were still ringing the evening


the bells we're still ringing the evening
hymn.
The suddenness, the unexpectedness
of what had happened, had formed no
small part OF it's 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. It was dis
agreeable enough, undoubtedly, to be
forced against ones 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?
4 For many minutes after making
this discovery remained motionless,
striving vainly to realize the most sin
gular yet deadly peril which threaten
was before | 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
may desperation drive it's victims-I
thought Of attempting to arrest the
great weight by supporting it with my
| stick as it descended. | might as well
have attempted to support a falling
avalanche.
Then an idea occurred to my mind
| ,,1; oh pbt1 n <r1oo oH
thought itpossible that by applying
my strength to the weight itself, I
might be able to impart to it by slow
degrees q swinging motion, like that'o
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 ] had
again sunk down, Il applied my strength
to the weight, and by exerting all my
energy in succession Of rythmical
impulses Igradually succeeded in inn
| parting to it an almost imperceptible
movement. Gradually this increased;
and but for all unseen circumstance
the scheme might have been sue
cesstul. But I presently found
that the weight did not hang
exactly in the centre of the shaft. The
consequence OF this was that it struck
the wall opposite the door before it
reached the door ITSELF The extent
| OF it's 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-.
Hope died within me. And now my
! sensations were those Of extreme hor-
ror and dismay ] for the first time
felt the certainty OF my fate. A dead
| ly sickness seized me. In q paroxysm
OF despair flung myselfu the floor
OF my prison, and lay there without
motion.
will not dwell upon the long hours
that followed-those hours Of more
than mortal agony Of mind. It happen
ed that l had lately been read
ing an account OF traveller
who had perished in a quicksand. The
time of the accident was on summer
evening, when the sun was sinking,
and the lonely shore was bathed in
rosy light. The spot where it occur
red was we'll known to me-and after
reading the account Ihad endeavored,
in that unreasoning spirit which some
times leads the mind to dwell on hor-
ro1s, to realize in fancy the sensations
Of the victim, as inch by inch and
foct by foot, in full sight of the free
ocean and the glorious sun. the treach-
erous quicksand drew him downward
-downward-to his doom.
What the sensations attending such
a death must be could then but feeb-
| ly realize. know them now.
know them now. The sensations
| of those who have stood face to
face with death for long hours,
watching with starting eyes his
slow approach, are to memo mystery.
| But the mind of man has mercifully
been SO ordered that agony prolonged
| beyond a certain point ends in be-
numbing the power OF feeling. Thus
| it is that criminals condemned to exc
cution often sleep soundly and eat
with appetite; a fact which seems
amazing to those who consider how
comparatively slight degree OF men
tai distress has power orob the night
VI ICSU fsllO w CI1Iu OllC OdlllCltoU lOOu
to poison. They do not reflect that
mental agony in it's extremity ceases
to be felt. But thus it is-and thus it
was with me.
l believe also that 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 bottom of old
wells. The agitation OF my mind
gradually gave place to q strange feel
ing of indifference. The peril under
which 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 a sound, which
reached my senses from somewhere in
the stiffness; a sound low, muffled,
throbbing and mysterious, like the
beating OF my own blood. Had my
mind been clear Icould 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