The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-12-11
A NIGHT OF HORROR.
Thrilling Experience on the Roof
Of q Cathedral

Thrilling Experience on the Roof
Of a Cathedral
Have you never read of persons
hair turning gray in a single night2
OF course YOU have. The old story
books are full of such tales. j can re-
member dozens of them, stories reclS-
ing with gore and dank with dungeons
and grewsome with ghosts or other un-
canny things. The heroine and some
times the hero goes to bed at night
with hair as black as the ravens wing
and along in the night come the hor-
rors, whatever they are, and in tho
morning the raven hair has turned q
snowy white.
/ can remem ber, too, that / never
used to take any stock in such stories
/ used to hear them read and get mp
quite respcctable thrill at the most
horrible portions, especially when the
candle hicl1ered awhile with u ghostly
light and then went out, leaving every
body in total darkness Just as a deep
groan was heard or a long shuddcring
sigh like the wind through the weep
ing willows in graveyard. Oh, yes!
/ was quite susceptible TO touching
passages like those; and u sed to hurry
up to bed and tuck my head under the
clothes and shiver with the most timid
of them. But somehow or other ! could
not accept the hair-turning part of the
story. / knew that hair, black or
white, could stand on end, but that
good head of black hair would bleach
itself out between dark and daylight
was little too much to swallow.
know better now. l have had n lit
tie experience of my own which-but
perhaps it is best to tell the story just
as it occurred
1t was on the roof OF the cathedral
at Milan We had climbed the stairs
in the late afternoon of Il beautiful
spring day after paying the custodian
the insignificant price he asked for ali
the glories visible from the elevated
position. We looked through the tele-
scope-for another fee-and had each
assured the others that we saw Mount
Blanc perfectly well, without for n
moment believing what the others said
or convincing them that we told the
truth And we had ended our climbs
by ascending to the highest point under
the lantern-if it is a lantern-by the
cork-screw staircase, which will scarce
ly permit any but the thinnest persons
to pass when one is going up and the
other coming down
We were party of four, and when
the roof was reached the youngest pro-
posed ramble over that portion of the
structure. To this all but myself as
sented. i was tired and proposed to
rest awhile at the foot of the tower
stairs, where the others We're to pick
me mp on their return, so that we
might all descend together. This was
satisfactory and off they started.
For time i was quite comfortable
and paid no attention to the passage of
time, but l suddenly noticed that it
was getting dark and that my COM
panions had not returned. / called to
them first in a moderate tone of voice,
then more loudly, but received no
answer. Fearing that they would be
belated on the roof / started in search
of them | walked the entire length of
the ridge of the main roof and peered
down all the side passages in the gath
ering dusk, but caught no glimpse of
my companions. Then descended to
the roof of the aisle and made a search
there, which was also fruitless. / be-
came alarmed as the light failed and
ran from one point to another, calling
out as | ran, until found to my great
distress that / had lost my way. /
could see far below me the lights of
the great city and hear the distant
rumbling of the carriages as they
drove past on the stony streets But /
was as effectually lost for the moment
as if / had been in the heart of an
African jungle without a compass and
no Stanley on the alert to hunt me up.
In the excitement and despair which
the consciousness of this fact produced
rushed about so wildly that | slipped
and fell on a long flight of stone steps
wet with the dew which had begun to
fall. l was not conscious of any Sc
rious injury from the fall. but when
brought up at the foot of the stairs and
tried to regain my footing l found to
my despair and horror that I was ut
terly unable to move my limbs was
paralyzed
The mental agony i suffered is in
Yet curiously enough I
spent the first moments in speculating
as to the exact nature of the injury /
had sustained. Had / broken my back
or simply injured my spinal cord? /
tried to recall what had heard nv
doctor friends say about injuries of
similar character, but could not seem
to remember anything definite. The
words 1.-The fifth pair flashed into my
mind and appeared to connect them
selves in some way with my condition;
but whether it was the fifth pair of
nerves or ribs or of something else /
could not make out / could not un-
lerstand either how | could have been
so seriously injured without any sensi-
Ole shock; but that my power of loco
motion was gone there was no doubt
could move my hand, and began to
specufate on the number of things one
could do with ones hands alone. This
occupied me for what seemed to be an
lour; but as the train of thought was
interrupted by clock striking the
hour of midnight / concluded il must
have been much longer and wondered
] had not heard the preceding hours.
Suddenly the full horror of my con-
dition flashed upon me. was not
only doomed to remain where / was,
helpless and alone, during the long,
chilly hours of the night, but there was
no certainty that ] would ever get