The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1892-02-05
Headquarters

there. They had undoubtedly ooa-
clutied that had gone down. a:.d II
they missed me would search every.
where but in the right place. It might
be days before tho particular SPOT in
which l lay would be visited. and in
that case it would be too late. Starva.
tion would do for me, even ii the injury
had received did not. In my anguisl,
shrickcd aloud, but was duly con.
scious all the time that nobody could
hear me. Visitors and custodians alike
mast have departed hours before; aud
even il my cries were heard from the
streets below nobody would attribute
them to their real source.
To the feeling Of acute anguish suc
ceeded one of blank despair. I no longs,
speculatel on the possibility Of being
discovered. dead or alive. There was a
dull leaden feeling at my chest. and |
found myself repeating mechanically
old rhymes and jingles and sayim, the
alphabet backward, as once learned &c
doin seeking relief from insomnia. Yet
at the same time l was conscious that
my whole life was passing in review W.
fore me, as they say it does when one i:
drowning or being hanged. remeiu
bered that saying. too, and without any
cessation of tho review wondered il
my doubled consciousness if vert
undergoing the sensations of a alrowning
man, or of one being hanged, and wished
could put them down on paper for tile
horofik of f1,<. ,.ock ~
What struck me as singular was tina,
the clocks kept on striking twelve. TIL.
second time they did this thought mus,
have lost consciousness for an entire day
and that this was the second midnight
But when the third stroke Of twelv.
came from half dozen clocks. l knew
it could not be two Gays since hac
fallen.
Thought first that l had become de
mented; and then it occurred to me tina,
If l We're could not reason about it it
that fashion, SO the clocks tllelnselvc.
must be crazy. This theory satisfied IN.
until the striking began again. When
went off in another fantastic speculation
My friends had discovered that WA.
missing, and We're having the bells r,ns
to keep my spirits up.
Oh. tho long. long. weary hours /,
spent i'll waiting for u glimpse Of day.
light. l had no hope that daylight
would bring me any relief, hut the pros
pect of staying wl>eroit was endless mid
night seemed r,endurable. ! groaned
and wept and dug my nails into the
palms of my hands until il seemed as il
the blood would come; but l did uot
even feel any sense of pain.
1t must have been after tho clocks had
struck midnight dozen times or mort
II kept no exact accountant l saw
in the distance at what seemed to bs the
farther end of the cathedral roof two
faint glimmers Of light. Presently there
were two more and then two more,
until there was regular procession Of
them. tried to shout, but had become
SO weak with cold and suffering that !
could not raise my voice above wais.
per.
The lights nevertheless approached,
growing gradually stronger, until
could see that they were horne by sever.
al black-robed figures who were march.
ing beside IL coffin. AS the procession
moved slowly toward me began tc
wonder what it meant. and whethe,
funerals took place at midnight on the
roof of Milan cathedral. Then spec,..
lated moment on the propriety of dis.
turbing the obsequies even in my cx.
treme need. Suddenly it dawned upon
me that this'was my own funeral, and !
knew that w;ts either dead or had rons
mad. In the supreme anguish of this
discovery all memory Of past suffering
was blottcd out. and Ientered on a new
period OF the most exquisite torture
Fortunately. it was of brief duration.
As the foremost of the moving figures
reached me felt grasp OH my arm
and n voice called i'll my ear:
"Wake UP, father; it's time to be
going down. guess you must have had
your yoke turned"
1t was my daughter, and beside hel
were the rest of the party, flushed with
their ramble on the roof. l straightcnetl
out my cramped limbs, which must have
gone to sleep about the time did. and
pulled out my watch. had been t.,ers
just fifteen minutes.
ldon't mean to be understood that my
hair really did turn gray in that night
of horror on Milan cathedral. In the
first place there is not much of it and
what there is has been tolerably gray fol
some years. Put do mean to say that
1 am no longer incrctlulous as to the
possibility of such capillary change az
the story books tell about. am quite
sure that if any man or woman really
had just such an experience as thought
l had, his or her hair would turn gray
provided of course he or she had any
hair that was not gray already.-True
Flag.
Overreaclled HIMSELF
A shoe manufacturer of New Eng
land, becoming dissatisfied with the ef
fnrfs of his SalasanafA Sfartad 0s,s,,. fkaf