Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-11-26

interrupted BY d clock striking tho
hour OF midnight concluded it 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 thero was
no certainty that would ever get
away alive. My friends would never
dream that was there They had un.
doubtedly concluded that had gone
down.. and II they missed me would
search everywhere but in the right
place. 1t might be days before the
particular spot in which lay would
be visited, and in that case itwould be
too late. Starvation would do for me,
even II tho injury | had received did
not In my anguish 1shrielcd aloud,
but was duly conscious all the time
that nobody could hear me. Visitors
and custodians alike must have de-
parted hourG before; and even if my
cries were heard from tho streets be-
low nobody would attribute them to
their real source.
To the feeling of acute anguish sue
ceedcd one of blank despair. / no
longer speculated on the possibility of
being discovered dead or alive. There
was dull leaden feeling at my chest
and found myself repeating mechan-
ically old rhymes and jingles and say
ing the alphabet backward, as ! once
learned to do in sceking relief from in
somnia. Yet at the same time was
conscious that my whole life was pass
ing in review before me MS they suy 1t
does when one is drowning or being
hanged. l remembered that saying,
too and without any cessation of the
review I wondered in my double con
sciousness If l were undergoing the
sensations of drowning man or of
one being hanged, and wished I
could put them down on paper for the
benefit of the rest of mankind, What
struck me as singular was that the
clocks kept on striking twelve. The
second time they did this | thought 4
must have lost consciousness for an en-
tire day and that this was the second
midnight. But when the third stroke
Of twelve came from half dozen
clocks / knew it could not be two days
since | had fallen. thought first that
had become demented; and then it
occurred to me that il were i could
not reason about it in that fashion so
the clocks themselves must be crazy.
This theory satisfied me until the
striking began again, when | went off
in another fantastic speculation. My
friends had discovered that was miss
ing and were having the bells rung to
keep my spirits up.
Oh! the long, long, weary hours
spent in waiting for a glimpse of day.
light. I had no hope that daylight
would bring me any relief, but the
prospect of staying where it was end
lessly midnight seemed uncomfortable.
groaned and wept and dug my nails
into the palms of my hands until il
seemed as if the blood would come
but did not even feel any sense Of
pain.
1t must have been after the clocks
had struck midnight dozen times OF
more-I kept no exact account-that
saw in the distance at what seemed tc
be the farther end of the cathedral
roof two faint glimmers of light. Pres
emily there were two more, and ther
| two more, until there was regular
procession of them. tried to shout
but had become so weak with cold anc
suffering that | could not raise my
voice above q whisper. The light
nevertheless approached, growins
gradually stronger until ! could SET
that they were borne by several black
robed figures who were marching be
side coffin. As the procession moved
slowly towards me began TO wondc
what it meant and whether funerals
took place at midnight on the roof O.
Milan cathedral. Then spcculated |
moment on the propriety of distur bine
the obscquies even in my extreme
need. Suddenly it dawned on me tina
this was my own funeral, and l knew
that was either dead or had gone mad
| In the supreme aiiegish of this discovery
all memory of past suffering was
blotted out and | entered on, new
period of the most exquisite torture
| Fortunately it was of brief duration
| As the foremost of the moving figure
reached me felt grasp on my arm
and voice called in my ear:
awake up, father; it's time to be go
ing down. l guess you must have hat
your yoke turned"
1t was my daughter, and beside he
were the rest of the party, flushed will
their ramble on the roof. i straight
ened out my cramped limbs, which
must have gone to sleep about the tim
ibid, and pulled out my watch. 'ha'
been there just fifteen minutes
II don't mean to be understood tina
my hair really did turn gray in tina
night of horror on Milan cathedral
In the first place there is net much n
| it and what there is has been tolerabl.
gray for some years. But do meal
to say that am no longer incredulou
as to the possibility of such capillar,
change as the story books tell about.
am quite sure that if any man o
woman really had just such an expe
ricnce as | thought had his or he
hair would turn gray provided, o
course, he or she had any hair that wa
not gray already.-Detroit Free Press
| Tho Eox md Grauea