Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-17

readily, completely and absolutely pass for the
| earthly remains Of DR.. Septimius Clegg."
Wirt's lips fell apart and he fixed his dear
eyes upon my face with a most painful look.
''In that old oaken chest standing there, so
quantity and curiously carved, which you, as q
boy, used to beg me to let you look into, lie
the remains of a human body. They have
never been articulated. 1 shall now proceed to
| arrange them. skeleton-wise, by means Of cat
gut. and at the proper moment shall wrap
them in my long gown. set them in this easy
chair and make my escape"
"Escape?" gasped Writ; why, dearest father
what can you be thinking ola man SO well
known as you are
''Yes, yes, my dear boy" continued. "you're
right; but don't be alarmed have hiding
place where shall be safe from all intrusion
| believe me. To your grandfsther's scientific
acumen am indebted for the discovery of this
strange and mysterious abiding place. While
coming over the pages of your great grand
| fathers journal DR.. Septimius Clegg the second
came upon this passage 1t is dated June g.
| ITO. and reads as follows: Crowds of gap
toothed old crones and frightened children
have been visiting one Of my farms situate in
the parish of Poquonock. Western Windsor
during the last few days to inspect sinking Of
the ground. which the old women solemnly as
| sert portends the near-at-hand destruction Of
the world. About half an acre has settled sew
have had no reports of seismic undulations
| am forced to the conclusion that this subsi-
dence IL the result of the action Of water
| charged with carbonic acid gas upon the lime
| stone which abounds in this region uniting
with the limestone and carrying it away in the
| form Of carbonate Of lime. This action would
naturally produce large assures and caverns
and the weight of the superimposed earth
might very easily crush in such cav
| lty, with the results above mentioned.
ha y,lasv IN %ha ,,,la.c
this trespassing ceases This curious memoir
andum passed quite out of my father IS thoughts
until one day while sinking well on this farm
he came upon bed Of calcareous tufa in which
were contained fossil remains of eyeless craw-
hsh, positive evidence OF the existence OF lime
| stone caverns in the immediate neighborhood.
Now more than was he convinced that
this subsistence of the half acre of land described
by Septimius the first marked the presence of
vast cavern. and without making known the
object of his survey he set about the task of
effectlng an entrance to the subterranean cham
Der. As he was aided by a single workman, q
trusted Overseer, long since dead, the fact of
the existence of this cave persisted from human
knowledge with the death of my father. For
reasons of his own he destroyed all records of
its existence and its whereabouts. | say all.
but one scrap escaped his notice, diagram of
| stone wall upon two stones of which were
chiseled rude marks Of a cross. While rum
maging i'll the cellar of this laboratory l came
upon these crosses a. | found to my delight that
| the stones were removable. A low narrow pas
sage led me in the cavern which is about fifty
feet square. His love of the curious and &C.
centric had moved Septimius the second to fit
the chamber up as a sort of philosopher re-
treat. with an antique lamp. table, bookcase,
couch, &c. Here l found the record Of his
discovery of the cavern as have briefly related
it to you. but more wonderful yet, while CROP
ing my way about came upon the body of an
Indian chief stretched full length upon a rocky
shelf From the symbols embroidered upon
his buckskin clothing 1 at once recognized the
dead chieftain to be none other than the famous
Coggerynossett, who had disappeared 80 mys-
teriously hundred years before snatched up
to heaven bv the Great Spirit, 80 the legend
runs. The truth burst upon me- not only had
this cavern been known to the Indians, but its
atmosphere possessed the rare virtue of pre-
venting putrefaction and there lay Coggery-
nessett in the very attitude in which he had
been placed by his braves a hundred years
back. Since my discovery Of this rocky
chamber, quarter of q century ago, have
made many tests Of its wonderful powers by
suspending the carcasses of animals upon its
walls and within its silent depths. like Septimius
the second have passed many hours of deep
and restful meditation. Thither shall betake
myself. my dear Writ, when Yokel fires the lab
| oratory."
And how long shall you remain there,
| father?' he inquired with slight tremor in his
voice.
Only few days, my boy" said I: "justlong
enough to give Yokel an opportunity to betray
his infamous purposes"
As soon as Writ had left the laboratory
| began the task Of articulating the human bones
lying in the oaken chest, making use of cat-gut
| to hold the largest bones in position and of
glue to fix the carpal and phalangeal bones
into their relative positions. Luckily the teeth
! bore a marked resemblance to mine, but it was
| necessary for me to remove the left upper
cuspid, which had lost, and to file round
indentation in the corners Of the right cuspid
and bicuspid to initiate circular aperture for
the stem of a pipe made there while was
| student in Germany.
The next day had everything in readiness
and only awaited the arrival Of the drugged
coffee to put the skeleton in position. l had
not long to wait. for the third day the poisoned
beverage was set before me and ir a short half
hour 1 heard the cracking of the flames and
saw ominous wrcaths of smoke make their way
through the crevices between the window
sashes. Setting the skeleton in my easy chair
l placed several jars of infiammable chemicals
by Its side, SO to have the combustion as
complete as possible, and. lifting the trap door
leading into the cellar, disappeared from the
face OF the earth.