New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-20

below, from when t,,n S'oAcnius '"'ii -''N'
The DRAGGING Shutting noise now began again.
| T, oame o97te close to me- so close that leiD
I had only to put out my hand to touch inc
fr,nisp The thing passed, and all the time the
dnii drip as of some heavy drops, fell into tne
water below. 1t was awful. All this-time was
sitting mn. and holding my gun by its barrei,
s ssSsHs q, o use IL il were attacked. AS the
sound naesed ME at the closest | put out tne
pun inyountarily but IL touched nothing ana
I shnddered at the thought that there was ho
| floor over which the weight could be drawn;
must be dreaming some terribly viva uTee soIt
i T SHg Sn mGS Ss myself as It %as no The
with the cold 1t was terrific in It's oreauiui
And now the sounds altered. The noises mad
reached tho companion-ladder S Sg Ia st"irs
crealxed Bump, thump the thing was uIia s,s
up the steps with many pauses, ana aU m n", 40
seemed to have reached the deck. a lons P ause
now followed. The silence grew densc sround d:
dreaded the stillnesS-the silence tab maui ltselI
be heard almost more than SOUNDS W nac new new
horror would that awful quiet Drlns loI.n "hae
terror was still brooding in the depIns Oh 1nae
cljnginp Observation-Disclosures that could De Ielt
The absolute silence was oroken-horrloly
broLen-by a dull drip from the stars ana tnen
t;nct Int fhc steps were louder. They came
n nnT,o nv head-the old boards creaked,
and the weight was dragged right over NE. 1
cOuld
and two distinct raps followed by third heavier
one Sounded so clearly above me that IL seemed
almost as if it was something striking the rotten
woodwork of the berth over my neau. Ine
sounds we're horribly suggestive Of the elbows
and head of n body being dropped on the deck
And now, as if the horrors had not been enough,
n fresh rhastliness was added So close were
tbe rams above me that involuntarily moved, as
If had been struck by what caused them. as l
did So | felt something drop onto my head ana
slowly tricle over my forehead u was 700 noe
M
Wild cry / stepped forward, and instantly Tell
between en- the joists into the rank water below
The shock was acute Had been asleep b AND
reused me up. 1 found myself completely
Immersed in water, and, for n moment, was
absolutely incapable of thinking As 1t was
nitcb.dark and my head had gone under,
conld NOT tell whether was above water or not,
as felt the bottom and struggled and sPhshed
onto nv legs IL was only by degrees L knew
/ must be standing with my head out OF the
fonI mixture because / was able TO breathe
easily although the wet running down from my
hair dribbled into my mouth as stood shiVering
II was astonishing how q physical discomfort
ovcrcamc a mental terror. Nothing could be
more miserable than my present position, ana
NV efforts were at once directed to getung OUT
| ~ tbis dreadful place But let any one who
| has eyer had the ill-luck TO fall out OF PED IN
| his boyhood try and recollect MS sehsa'iohs 9
The bewidering realization that nc Is nor III Deu,
! that he does not know where he Is, which way 10
| co or what 20 do TO get back again; everything
he touches seems strange, and one piece OF Iurnl-
| ture much the same AS any other; wen re,
| member such an accident, and how, having rolled
| under the bed before | was wide awake could
NOT for the life OF me understand why could
not get up. what ~ was Ligt hepI .ne %. 49, ~,
and kept going round and round In circle under
nv led Tor long time, and should prooaoy
| have been doing II until dayngnL hhu not my
| sighs and proans awOlSe my brother, who slept
| In the same room, and who came TO my help.
H. then. one is so utterly at fault in o room
every inch OF which one knows intimately, now
| much more hopeless was my position at the bottom
| OF this old vessel, half immersed IN water, ana
| totally without any clue which could help me
| 10 Get out | had not the least idea whch
was tho shin's stern or which her stem, and
every movement made with my feet only served
| 20 unsteady me, rs the bottom was all covered
! with slime and uneven with the great tlmbcrs
| " Ne first thought on recovering my wits wns 70
| stretch nv arms up over my head, and was re-
| licved 20 find that could easily reach the loists
| above me / was always fairly good at gym
nnstics, and / had not much difficulty IN draw
| INK myself up and sitting on the josh aIthougn
| the weight Of my wet clothes added 10 my
exertions considerably. Having SO lar spcceeoeu,
| below. The smell was abominable, never
dislikcd myself so much, and l severeo with
As could not get any wctter.. determined
| Ia 90 on deck somehow, but where wns the
| cornpanion-ladder? | had nothing to GUIDE me;
Stnnge 20 say the reality OF my n,o
| almost made me forget the mysterious phenomena
| | had been listening 10. But now. MS l lookeu
| round, my attention was caught Dy luminous 9s
patch which quivcred and hlckered on my, rlgn.
! nc what distance from me could not tell' III
was like the light from n glOw-worm, only Iatger
and changing in shape; sometimes elonsateu nHe
q ambcnt oval, and then ~ would swny one way
| or another as IL caught in draught oil ar
| While | was looking at IL and wondering what
could cause it, heard the steps over my heaa
| they passed above me, ana theh seeneu "
grow louder on my left creeping dread
| again came over me. If only | could get out OF
| this horrible place but where were the stars 1
listened. The football seemed TO be coming down
| some steps: then the cOmpaniOn-adder must nc
| on my left But IL | moved that WY should
meet the thing. whatever IL was, that was coming
down ] shuddercd at the thought However, En-.
| made M my mind Stretching out my hand very
carefully, felt for the next joist reached It, ana
orawled across l stopped 10 lister. inc Steps
were coming nearer. Myy hearing had now De-
| come acute; | could almost tell the exact place
Of each football IL came closer-closer-quite
close, surely-on the very ioist on which L was
sitting | thought | could feel the 1oist culver,
| and invountnrily moved my hand 10 prevent the
| heavy tread falling on IT, The steps passed on,
grew fainter, and ceased, they drew near the
pale hmbent light. One thing | noticed with
curious horror, and that was, that although the
| thing must have passed between me and the light,
| vet IL was never for a moment obscurcd, which
il must have been had any body or substance
passed between, and yet | was certain that the
steps went directly from me TO it.
| It. was all horribly mysterious; and what had
become OF the other sound-thc thing that WAS
being draggedP An irresistible shuddcr passed
over me; but / determined TO pursue my way
until | came 10 something IL would never do
10 sit still and shver there.
After many narrow escapes OF falling again,
| reached bulkhead, and cautiously feeling along
il, came 10 an opening 10 was the companions
ladder BY this time 10y hands, by feeling over the
joiSts, had become dry again. / felt along the
step TO be quite sure that IL was the stairs. and
| in so doing / touched something wet sticky,
clammy Oh. horror what was il? A cold
SILVER shook me nearly off the iOlst. and i felt
an unuitcrablc sense OF repulsion 10 going on.
However the frcshcr air which came down the
companion revived me, and. conquering my dread,
| clambered onto the STEP IL did not take long
20 get upstairs and stand on the deck again.
| think | never in all my life experienced such
n sense OF iOv rs | did on being out OF that dis
gushing hole. Ii was true | was soaking wet and
the light wind cut through me like n knife but
these were things l could understand, and were
matter of common experience. What had gone
through might only be u question OF nerves. and
had no tangible or visible terror: but 1t was