The Columbus journal., 1890-04-16
in TRAP.
y ALBERT n. SaODRlCKEn

"A
~ ALBERT n. NlODRlCKEn
On a cold, unpleasant winter morn
ing, . messenger from the firm o.
Knox Il Knowles, handed q note to tn,
chief of police, which informed him tina
q burglary had been committed on thu
previous night, and asking for . proper
investigation and detection of the Grim
inal or criminals.
As this was q daily occurrence the
chief did not pay much attention; how
| ever, in the afternoon he instructed me
to visit the place and look into the mat
ter.
1t WAS q pretty good distance from
the bureau, and although the snow
fell in thick flakes and somewhat i'm.
peded my advance, 1 arrived at the
place in question, in the evening.
Assuming . stern police countenance
I ascended the fight of stairs.
The last step Was very broad and
projected far into the building. Above
the massive door was Q window at
which 1 observed q face at the moment
/ entered to ring the bell; but it
quickly disappeared, in order, !
thought, to open the door. 1 waited
for q half minute, and upon looking up
again I discerned the face again; and
then, suddenly, before I could move or
call, o dark mass whistled down ut my
side, which Obscured me entirely and
deprived me of my senses, 70 that.
half terrified and half ~paralyzed, I sank
down, or rather was pressed against the
wall, for there was no space left sufi-
cient to fall down.
How long / remained in this uncom-
Portable position I do not recollect, but
l know that it seemed to HE like an
eternity, and I realized that 1 was
caught like q rat in a trap.
The trap-for such l presumed it TO
be-was q space three feet long. two
feet wide and twelve feet high, and not
q ray of light penetrated it.
As soon as my feve.ish excitement
had somewhat abated and I was able to
think, / arrived at the conjecture that
the sliding. lion door, which, in some
business houses in Berlin, is placed be-
fore the inner door every night upon
closing, had been let down at the same
moment l was about to ring.
In spite of my misfortune 1 felt CON
tented that the outer iron door did not
come down upon my head, fer if i.
had it would have killed me immedi-
ately.
commenced to call for help in a
stentorian voice: but the thick, suffocat-
ing atmosphere rendered INV cries hol-
low and feeble, and the outer and inner
door would not permit their escape.
Suddenly q ray of hope animated me
the door-bell! Feverish and excited
my fingers searched for and finally
found it.
Convulsively I commenced tearing
and pulling at the handle, as if the en-
tire city was c~onvulsed in a revolt.
They must hear me-" 1 murmured,
like an obstinate child. who generally
will not tolerate the least refusal Of his
wishes.
A feeble sound reached my ears-no
question the bell worked in the Office.
1 paused-nobody came.
I commenced ringing again: but, alas,
it was useless.
With hardly enough room to execute
my design, I began to kick and ham,
mer the door, but the iron only softly
tingled as if deriding my efforts.
My limbs ached terribly. and l en-
desvored to change my position; in
fact, l succeeded in the attempt, which
rendered my position a little more com
Portable.
OF course / could only endure this
attitude for Q short time, and. accord
ingly, I presently put my feet in one
corner, my back towards the opposite
wall, and thus, half reclining, half
erect I was enabled to tolerate the tor.
ture . little longer.
Oh, how l envied the imprisoned lion
or leopard at that moment, for their
cage was q yeritabls palace compared
with mine.
Then I asked MYSELF, did not the
man who lowered the iron door notice
me at all? Why did he disappear from
the window? Surely he must have
taken me for q burglar"
However, at that moment, no man
born of q woman could have experienced
. more fervent hope that such might he
the case, for l argued that they would
appear soon and capture me.
But the minutes rolled into hours,
until I thought that it must he about
IL O'Clock.
In order to occupy my mind. for I
could not sleep. / rang the bell yehe-
mently and tried to produce Is much
noise IS possible, but my efforts in
vain.
Palmer and palmer was the prospect
to be immured in this tomb until morn.
ing-what then? Tomorrow would be
Sunday; and, of course, nobody would
appear at the Office.
And now. kind reader, ! am ashamed
to tell you that l began to weep: yes, to
weep bitterly-all the tomfoolery l had
committed; all the applesI had stolen
in my youth; all the lies / had told to
my mother; every glass Of beer I had
consumed in excess, every girl l had
kissed without her permission, appeared
before me like furies and demanded re-
venge.
longed for sleep, insensibility; yes,
even death; but no help, 1 was des-
tined to drink the bitter cup to the
dregs.
Bnt listen. what is that? There is
an alarm on the street.
NY heart pulsstsd stronger.
Perhaps, I thought, they will arrest
me.
How thankful / would have been if I
could have occupied the dirtiest and
darkest prison cell In company with the
most loathsome tramp.
heard the noise of galloping horses,
but alas, it Was the fire Department.
For several hours all was silence;
then the pedestrians began to take their
walk and carriages rolled by. The
hustle of life on the streets had begun,
and therefore. I concluded that It was
morn.
At last! but alas! it was dayi
repeated the ringing of the bell,
until my benumbed fingers refused to
work.
But, 8, during the night, not . soul
responded to my cries, 1 concluded that
the turmoil in tine streets stif10 my