The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-02-20

mad. the echos rang with the
piercing shrieks / could not restraint!
Silent at last through sheer exhaustion
glared about me. The moonbeam had
vanished; in. its place lay shaft of
pale gray light, by which | could easily
distinguish the whole length of the stair
case and the closed gateway st its sum-
nit. Irushed up the ascent with the
severiSh haste of a madman-I grasped
the iron grating with both hands and
shook it fiercely. 1t was firm as rock,
locked fast. | called for help. Utter
silence answered me. ! peered through
the closely-twisted bars. / saw the
grass. the dropping boughs of trees, and
straight before my line OF vision, little
piece of the blessed sky, opal-tinted and
family blushing with the consciousness
of its approaching sunrise. / drank in
the sweet fresh air; long trailing
branch of the wild grape vine hung
near me; its leaves were covered thickly
with dew. / squeezed one hand through
the grating and gathered few of these
green morsels of coolness-I ate them
greedily. They seemed to me more de-
licious than anything | had ever tasted;
they relieved the burning fever of my
parched throat and tongue. The glimpse
of the trees and the sky sOothed and
Gained me- There was a gentle twit-
tering of awaking birds; my nightingale
had ceased singing.
l began to recover slowly from my
nervous terrors, and leaning against the
gloomy arch of my CLEARINGHOUSE took
courage to glance backward down the
steep stairway up which had sprung
with such furious precipitation. Some
thing white lay in a corner on the sew
enth step from the top. Curious to see
what it was, descended cautiously, and
with some reluctance; il was the half of
thick waXen taper such as are used in
the Catholic ritual at the burial of the
lead. No doubt It had been thrown
down there by some careless acolyte, to
save himself the trouble of carrying it
after the service had ended. l looked at
it meditatively. If only had light!
[ plunged my hands half abstractediy in
to the pockets of my trousers-some-
thing jingled! TrHly they had buried
me in haste. My purse, small bunch of
keys, my card caSe-One by one l drew
them out and examined them supposedly
they looked so familiar, and withal
80 strange! l searched again; and this
time found something of real value to
one in my condition. small box Of
wax vestas. Now had they left me my
cigar case? No, that was gone. 1t was
valuable silver One-no doubt the
monk, who attended my supposed last
moments, had taken it together with
my watch and chain, to my wife. Well,
could not smoke, but could strike a
= light. And there was the funeral
taper ready for use. The sun had not
vet risen. 1 must certainly wait till
broad day before l could hope to
attract by my shouts any stray
person who might pass through the GEN.
etery. Meanwhile, fantastic idea sug-
gested itself l would go and look at
my own coffin! Why not? 1t would be
novel experience. The sense of fear had
entirely deserted me; the possession Of
that box of matches was sufficient to en-
dow me with absolute hardihoOd. l
picked up the church-candle and lit it; it
gave at first a feeble flicker, but after
wards burnt with a clear and steady
flame. Shading it with one hand from
the draught, | gave a parting glance at
the fair daylight that peeped smilingly
in through my prison door, and then
went DOWNTOWN again into the dismal
place where had passed the night in
such indescribable agony.
To be Continued.