The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-08-01

line, with here and there a pointed ar
row. That is the clew to the catacombs.
So long as We follow that we arc safe"
We soon came upon the relics of the
dead. The galleries through which we
passed, about nine feet in height, were
walled on either side with human bones.
piled up as regularly as bales in whole
sale Diapers. and arranged with that ar
tistic taste which the French display in
all they do.
The walls of bones We're surmounted
by IA CHASTITY c0rnice of grinning skulls.
The mortal remains of millions of hui
man beings were here gathered from the
old cemeteries of Paris when necessity
compelled the dead to give way TO the
living.
The Cemetery of the lnnocents, that
of st. Medaro, of st. Laurent and 9th
ers have contributed their quota. Here
the bone of prelate and prince, duke and
peer, lay side by side with those of peas
ant and prolctarian, thief and rag pick
er. Equality and fraternity! These
words were fully realized in this gloomy
mausoleum.
All the skulls and bones are of a dark
mahogany color, for years and years
have passed since they We're clothed with
flesh.
AT intervals there are marble tablets,
with inscriptions in Latin, French,
Greek, Morse and other languages, gath
cred from the works of preachers and
poets, speaking of the vanity of human
pursuits, the worthlessness of wealth,
the certainty of death. the hope of i'm
mortality. At one point of u pilgrim
age we came to a chapel, with the altar
surrounded by the silent but eloquent
memorials of humanity. Miles of the
dead. How emphatic the lesson this
spectacle conveyed!
To the right and left innumerable gal
leries branched off, access being debarred
by iron chains drawn across the en-
frances.
had fingered IA little behind my party
to transcribe an inscription, the mar in
black keeping close to my side. He
seemed to have taken me under his pro-
lection and patronage.
81 can show you something these hire
ling guides know nothing about" he
said. for | alone know the secrets of the
Catacombs.'
He lifted one of the chains which
crossed the mouth of a side gallery from
the staples, and moving down the pass
age turned and said, Follow met'
have said that this mysterious being
had magnetized me. was certain of il
now, for though l was nxiously DESTROYS
of following my party | could not resist
his command.
He led me away down the passage, and
thence into other side passages, winding
and turning. l lifted my torch to the
ceiling, and saw to mydismay that there
were no black lines, no guiding arrows
on the roof. In this crisis my will began
to reassert itself.
Take me back to my party instantly"
Instead of doing so the stranger
snatched my candle from my hand, ex-
tinguished it with a breath-he carried
no light himself-and flung me from him
with such violence that I stumbled and
fell.
As | rose to my feet | heard his voice
in the distance calling out, Strange
things have happened in the Catacombs,
sir. Find your wa out of them if you
can. Goodnight
''Stay!" l exclaimed in agony. dc
not leave me here to perish, Save me,
if you have the heart of a man.
Il never listen to prayer or appeal y
he replied, with his hideous, sneering
laugh. Il am pitiless as death"
And the echoes gave back the awful
word-death! till Il more dreadful scene
followed.
was alone in darkness, abandoned to
a picture.
What was to be done? What could
be done in such Il terrible crisis? My
party would miss me, it is true, and a
search would be made for me; but a reg
iment of men might seek for days in
this maze of labyrinthine galleries with
out success. | must try and help my
self. | remembered that l had in my
pocket two boxes of waxed matches,
each one of which would burn ten or
twenty seconds. l lighted one, and by
its feeble light ascertained where | was.
l was in one of the galleries of the quar-
ries, and just beside me yawned a black
abyss of unknown depth, into which a
single unwary step might have precip-
itated me.
By keeping close to the wall could
| avoid this and similar pitfalls.
So l groped my way along. The pas
sage wound and turned. The horror Of
darkness was SO great that | sacrificed
another match; but it would not do to
be so lavish. To describe my sensations
would be utterly impossible. My brain
rceled, and | was on the very verge of
madness, if not past it, when | realized
the fact that | was lost in the Cat
acombs.
But Il few hours since l Was i'll the full
enjoyment of health and life, sharing the
gayeties Of Paris, anticipating no evil,
and now to die Of starvation in this hor-
rible cavern. l thought of home and its
dear ones, my comfortable house in Bed
ford square, my peaceful occupation
there, my books, my easel, my photo
graphic apparatus.
Why did the spirit of adventure tempt
me away from all the blessings that
Providence vouchsafed to me, to wander
in foreign lands? Then my whole life
passed in review before me, with its
many vicissitudes, its sins of omission
and commission, and the faces Of the
Inval a,1 Jcct coV,o 10 ,,aG ,.i+1 4bo cx,a;1a,