The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1886-09-03

through JnlS space L became aware OF
a faint CLEAN Of light very far above
my head. With the object of ascer
tanning the length of this aperture I
moved along the wall, keeping my eye
upon the crevice. The light did not
vanish. turned the angle of the wall
and still the light remained visible. l
traversed in succession the fourlwalls
of the cell, no obstacle obscured the
feeble dream. The roof did not touch
the wall at single point of the circuit.
Presently loud and startling sound,
seeming to issue from the roof above
my head, burst suddenly upon the 81.
lence. 1t was the great clock of the
cathedral striking the hour. The
notes fell slowly from deep, solemn
and sohorous bell But instead of
reaching my prison, as might have
been expected, IN dull, far off and muf-
fled tones, they fell upon my ears with
thrilling clearness and distinctness, as
if they were close at hand. 1t was
evident, in fact, that my cell must be
situated directly under the clock tower.
This conclusion, however, led me no
further at the moment.
l sat for long lime 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 open in the morning before 0
or 10. l had, therefore, some fifteen
hours at least before me to get through
as best / might.
How slowly the time waned ! At
seemingly long intervals .he bells
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 on my ears
with the same singular and unaccount-
able distinctness which l had observed
in the striking of the hour. They
chimed the evening hymn.
Very suddenly a strange thought
struck me, causing me to raise my eyes
toward the ceiling of my cell. In my
present position | could just perceive
the faint gleam of light discernible far
up through the interspace between the
roof and the wall; but the roof itself
was buried in darkness. arose slowly
to my feet, and the scarcely formed
conjecture of my mind was instantly
confirmed. As l had expected, l could
no longer stand erect; my head now
struck the roof. The whole truth
flashed at once across my mind. l
saw why the roof did not touch the
walls of the inclosure, why it was
formed of massive iron. 1t was de-
scending.
Yes-descending! During the hour
l had remained seated, the roof had
sunk through space of fully four
inches. But this discovery, when now
made it, SO far from causing me per-
plexity, 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 bel
fry must be situated directly above my
head. l now perceived that what I
had taken for solid heavy roof was
in fact the massive and enormous
weight of the great clock. I was i'm
prsoned in the bottom of the shaft 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
consequence of this flashed through
my mind. In fifteen hours the weight
would descend through space of five
feet. Long before l could expect re-
lease, the enormous mass would be
upon me, and would crush me helpless.
ly against the pavement of my prison.
My sensation upon making this dis
covery l will not attempt to describe
Often very often-in the course of
my life, have had occasion to remark
the truth of the saying: "The avenues
that lead to death are numerous and
strange. Little did / think how near
ly was myself to afford an example
of its truth. Yet surely no mortal was
ever before the victim of an accident
30 wildly singular and so tull of hor-
ror There the great weight was
above me. Slowly, surely, it was
creeping downward in the darkness
and silence of the night.
And far up in the soft air of sunset
the bells were still ringing the evening
hymn.
For many minutes after making this
discovery remained motionless,
striving vainly to realize the most
singular yet deadly peril which threat.
ened me. | do not know how long it
was before | so far recovered my
faculties as TO become capable Of
thought At length, rousing myself
by an effort to examine whether any
way to escape lay open to me. / turn.
ed my attention to the interspace be.
tween the weight and the wall but il
was far too narrow to admit the pass
age of my body. Then-to such ex.
tremeties may desperation drive its
victims-I thought of attempting to
arrest the great weight by supporting
it with my stick as it decended. ]
might as well have attempted to sup,
port a falling 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 it
self, | might be able to impart to il
| by slow degrees a swinging motion
like that of pendulum and this be
ing continued, might at length bring
the ponderous mass iD contact with the
door, and so burst it open. Raising
myself from the floor of the cell, upoI
which ! had again sank down, l ap
piled my strength to the weight and
by exerting all my energy in a success
ion of rythmica impulses ! gradual,
succeeded in imparting 10 it an almos
impreceptible movement. Gradual,
this increased and but for an unfor
seen circumstance the scheme nigh
have been successful. But | presently
found that the weight did not hang
exactly in .he centre of the shaft, Tn,
conseque nee of this was that it strucl