Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-03-22

the other, hoping thus to rupture tho ice upon
tin doing which | slipped and fell on my
back, and in falling gave convulsiye kick,
which, striking tho feet of the figure, dis
lodged them from their frozen hold Of the.
deck, and down it fell with a mighty bang
alongside Of mo- and with a loud cracking
noise like the rending of sheet of silk.
was not hurt, and sprang to my feet with
the alacrity Of fright, and looking at tho body
saw that it had managed by its fall much
better than my hands could have compasscd;
for tho snow shroud was cracked and crum-
bcd, slabs Of it had broken away, leaving
tho cloth OF the coat visible; and what best
pleased mo was the sight Of the end of
hanger, forllng out from the skirt Of the coat.
Yet to como at it 50 as to draw the blade
from its scabbard required an intolerable ex-
ertion OF strength. The clothes or his body
were indeed like a suit Of mail. l nevG-
could have believed that frost served cloth
so. At last l managed to pull the coat clear
Of the hilt of the hanger; tho blade was
stuck, out after had tuggod bit it slipped
out, and found it good piece Of steel.
Tho corpse was habited in jack boots, a
coat of coarse, thick cloth lined with flannel;
under this Il kind of blouse or doublct of red
cloth, confined by a belt with leathern loops
for pistols His apparel gave mo no clew to
]
deed, than a sort of incorporating attire-as
though the fashions of more than one coun-
try and pcrhaus Of more than one age had
| gone to the habiting Of him. Io looked O
/ hurly immense creature, as he lay upon tho
! deck in tho same bent attitude in which he
/ had stood at the rail- and SO dreadful was his
| face, with n singular diabolical expression Of
| lccrng malice, caused by the lids of his eyes
/ being half closed, that having taken ono peep
] had no mind to repeat it, though / was
above ten minutes wrestling with his cloak
and hanger before / had the weapon f;tr in
my hand.
[ walked to tho companion, and fell to
scrapng the snow away from it. Twas like
scratching q. mortar between bricks. But l
worked hard, and presently, with the point
of the hanger, felt the crevice 'twixt the door
and the jamb, after which it was not long be-
fore | had carved the door out of its plate Of
ice and snow.
I toied on, and having cleared the door Of
the snow that bound it, pried it apart with
the hanger and then dragged at it; but the
snow on the deck would not let it open far,
md as there was room for me to squeezs
through did not stop to scrape the obstruc-
ton away.
A fight of steps sank into the darkness of
the interior, and a cold, strange smell iloated
up, with something of a dry eacthiness OF
favor and nnngling Of leather and timber,
/ fell back pace to let as much Of this smell
exhala nc would before ventrred into an at
mosphere shat had been dramatically bottled
~, +ba ico in thot cebi, einca the bGrr whom
this little door was last closed. Superstition
was active III me again, and, when peered
into the blackness at the bottom of the hatch,
| felt as might a schoolboy on the threshold
M, ne a ,,,risb,nort
T n,t M, foot on tbo ladder and descended
,,ort. .1o,yi,, ir,lood
On roocLin,, tbo bo+to,, 7 ,.o,,,oirod s+,,1
inc, close oooinst tba ladder strivipr tn sea
info what manner of nlace I was arrived
The Glare Of the ,vbitennss of fine doc,,s and
rocks hunr unon nv eves lilo n hind of
blindness CHARGED with fires of several colors.
and I could not obtain the faintest rlimpse of
any part of this interior outside the sphere Of
the little suuare of hazy hpht which Law upou
tho deck Mt tho foot of tha steDs The dark
ness indeed WAS so deem that T concluded
this was no more than a narrow well. formed
| of bulkheads and that the cabin was beyond.
and led to by a door in the bullthead.
To test this conjecture extended nv arms
in n ,t,opinr posture and stepped a pace for
ward. feeling to right and left. till. having
gone five or SIX PAGES from the ladder, my
fingers touched something cold, and feeling
it, | passed nv hand down what instantly
knew. by the projection of the nose and the
rourhness of hair on the upper lin. to be q
human face.
A little reflection might have prepared me
for this, but | had not reflected at least in
this direction. and was therefore not pre-
pared. and the horrible thrill of that black
chill contact went in an arony through ms
nerves and hurst into violent perspiration.
hacked AWAY with all nv hair astir. and
then Shot up the ladder as if the devil had
been behind me: and when | reached the deck
tremblcd SO violently that | had to lean
against the Communion lest nv knees should
give way.
The companion door was small. and being
scarce more thon aiar. | was not surprised
That only n very faint light entered by it
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