St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1891-06-27

Wenh On Tor Lhe next dreary hour. Juli;
at length ceased weeping and lay il
thought, only an occasional sigh betray
ing her wakefulness. Again the clocl
struck, ''ting, ting, ting;" but it had no
reached the final stroke when Julia
springing lightly from the bed, flung
herself upon an immense chest at tht
further end of the room.
"Oh, Mary!" she cried, ''Y,;ck! quick
He is here! can not hold the lid-ht
will get out! Quick! quick!'
! There was indeed some living thing
( inside the chest; for, in spite of Julia.
weight, the lid was lifted, and then, a.
the instinct of selfRreservation over
came my terror, Rprapg to her assist
ance. Whom or whet1ad we caught
Imagine yourself holding Ryn the lie
of a showman's box, with beacon
strictor writhing beneath; or keeping q
cage top in its plase by your weight
alone, with a hyena struggling to tea,
his way out and devour you. But we
were not long in suspense. Horrid
execrations, half German, half English,
chilled our very hearts, and we knew
that there, in the midnight, only the lid
OF an old chest was between ourselves
and Hans Schmidt. At times it started
up, and once or twice his fingers were
caught in the opening. Then, finding
our combined weight too much for his
strength, it would become evident that
he was endeavoring to force out an end
of the chest But he could not work to
advantage. Cramped within such linn
its, his giant power muscle was not
wholly available; he could neither kick
nor strike with full force, and hence his
chief hope rested upon his ability to lift
us up lid and all. Even then, ID the abb
solute terror that might have been sup
posed to possess her, queer feeling of
exultation sprang up in Julia's heart.
81 was right, Mary" she cried; ''they
won't think me fool now, will they?
! shan't be ashamed to see Harry Irv.
ingr'
Poor Julia! Under the circum-
stances, the idea was really ludicrous;
but nature will everywhere assert her
Belt, and Julia hated coward Thumpl
thump! thump! Lid, and side, and end
alternately felt the cramped but pow
erful blows. Then came the ift-the
steady, straining, desperate lift; and
Julia cheered me when the cover shook,
and rose, and trembled. er
''He can't get out. Mary, we are safe;
only keep your full weight on the lid;
and don't be nervous either; it's almost
morning."
She knew it was not one o'clock. But
one o'clock came. How ] wished it was
five! And two o'clock came, and three;
and we hoped that our prisoner had
finally yielded to a fate which must
now appear inevitable. A small aper-
ture at one end of the chest, where
there was fracture in the wood, sup
piled him with air; and hence we could
not hope that he would become weak
through suffocation. He was evidently
resting from the very necessity of the
case, for his exertions had been pro-
digious. There was a faint streak of
morning in the sky; and there, upon the
chest, we sat and watched for the
CLEAN to broaden.
Suddenly there was a tremendous
struggle beneath us, as if the rufian
had concentrated all his energies in
final effort. At my end of the chest
there was crash, and Immediately the
Germans feet protruded through the
aperture that they had forced in the
board So horrible now appeared our
position that uttered scream, such
as do not think ever at any other
time have had the power to initiate. /
did not know that l was about to
scream, SO terrible was the fright of
which this was the involuntary out
burst
To get off the lid, in order to defeat
the movement through the chest-end,
would have instantly been our destruc-
ton; therefore, still bearing our weight
on the cover, we caught at the project
ing feet. In doing this, however, we
partially lost our balance, and sudden
bracing up of the muscular shape below
SO far forced open the lid, that the head,
arms and shoulders of Hans Schmidt
were thrust forth, and, with fearful
clutch, seized Julia by the throat. Hor-
rified by the spectacle, threw myself
forward, bearing down with all my
might upon his head, as lay partially
upon the chest.
Just then a heavy crash was heard at
the door below, the foot-tramps spring
ing toward us as if some person were
tearing up the staircase with the full
conviction that this was an hour Of
need. The dim daybreak hardly re-
vealcd its identity, as he rushed into
our room, but had faint perception
that young Harry Irving had come to
us in our peril. Some time during the
morning found myself in bed, with
Julia and several of the neighboring
women standing about me. Julia
clasped me in her arms and cried, she
was SO rejoiced that the fright had not
killed me.
4 "We are safe, Mary" she said.
''Harry Irving was near the house all
night. He returned after seeming to
go home. It was not right, he said to
himself, for us to remain alone here
all night, especially as our father was
known to have money in the house So
he kept out of sight, but remained
near. The least scream he would have
heard as he at last heard yours; but /
am glad you did not scream before, for
now we have had an experience, and
know what we can do. 1t was tedious;
but don't wish to be thought afraid
of my own shadow, and I'm glad we
had to hold the chest down a good
while" .
Hans Schmidt had evidently decided
upon the chest as safer hiding place
than that in which Julia first discovered
him. Upon the very morning on which
Henry Iruinr Sfr1nnfd and secured The