The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-08-20
THE MAN in THE BELL.
Rlnel,gnor, Naaarlne. Mormbr. ls2L

BloeklSoods 1aqarins, NOreiabtr, 1921.
In my younger days bell-rineing was
much more in fashion among the young
men Of - than it is now. Some fifty
years ago about twenty Of US who dwelt
in the vicinity of the cathedral formed
q club, which used to ring every peal
that was called for.
One Sunday went with another into
the belfry to ring for noon prayers. but
the second stroke we had pulled showed
us that the clapper OF the bell We were
at was muflled. Some one had been
buried that morning and 1t had been
prepared, of course, to ringR mournful
motto.
We did not know Of this, but the
remedy was easy. "Jack, said my
companion, "step up to the lott and cut
OFF the hat" Tor the way we had Of
mufiiing was by tying piece Of an old
hat or OF cloth (the former was prefer
red) to one side OF the clapper which
deadened every second toll. i,
/ complied, and mounting into the
belfry crcpt as usual in to the bell,
where began TO cut away. The hat
had been tied onin some more compli-
Gated manner than usual, and / was
perhaps three or four minutes in get
ting it of, during which time my COM
panlon below was hastily called away
BY a message from his sweetheart, be-
lieye-but that is not material to my
story.
The person who called him was a
brother OF the club, who knowing that
the time had come for ringing for serv-
ice, and not thinking that anyone was
above, began to pull. Atthis moment
/ was Just getting out when the bell be-
gan to move. guessed the reason at
once. 1t was moment Of terror, but
by hasty and almost conyulsive effort
l succeeded in jumping down and
throwing myself on tho fat OF my back
under the bell.
The room in which it was was little
more than sufficient to curtain it, the
bottom of the bell coming within a
couple Of feet Of the floor OF lath. At
that time certainly was not so bulky
as l am now, but as | lay it was within
an inch OF my face. l had not lain
myself down second, when the ring
ing began. 1t was a dreadful situa-
ton.
Over me swung an immense mass OF
metal, one touch of which would have
crushed me to pieces; the floor under
me was principally composed OF crazy
laths, and if they gave away, was pre-
cipitated to the distance OF about fifty
feet upon loft, which would, in all
probability, have sunk under the i'm
pulse of my fall, and sent me- to. be
dashed to atoms upon the marble floor
of the chancel, hundred feet below.
This was my first terror, but the
ringing had not continued minute
before q more awful and immediate
dread came on me. The deatening
sound OF the bell smote into my ears
with a thunder which made me fear
their drums would crack; there was
not a fibre of my body it did not thrill
through. It entered my very soul. |
only retained the sensation Of agonizlng
terror.
Every moment I saw the bell sweep
within an inch OF my face, and my eyes
Il could not close them, though to
look at the object was bitter as death
followed it instinctively in its oscil-
lating progress until it came back
again. It was in vain said to myself
that it could come no nearer at any
future swing than it did at first; every
time it descended I endeavored to
shrink into the very floor to avoid be-
ing buried under the down.sweeping
mass, and then, rejecting on the danger
Of pressing too weightily on my trail
support, would cover up again as far as
l dared.
Atfirst my fears were mere matter OF
fact. was afraid the pulleys above
would give way and let the bell plunge
on me. At another time the possibilt-
tyof the clapper being shot out in some
sweep and dashing through my body,
Us had seon ramrod glide through a
door, fitted across my mind. The
dread also, as have already mention
cd, OF the crazy floor tormented me;
but these soon gave away to fears not
more unfounded but more visionary,
and, OF course, more tremendous.
The roaring Of tho bell confused my
intellect, and my fancy soon began TO
TEEN with all sorts OF strange and terri
flying ideas. The bell pealed above and
opening Its jaws with hideous clam
or seemed to me at ono time rayinc
monster raging to deyour me; at an
other raging whirlpool ready to suck
me into its believing abyss. AS |
gazed on it, II assumed all shapes. II
was flying eagle. or rather roc OF the
Arabian story tellers, clapping its wings
and screaming over me.
Az look upward into it, it would ap.
pear sometimes to lcngthen into in.
definite extent or DO twistod ut the end
into the spiral folds Of the tail OF fly
ing dragon. Nor was the flaming breath
or fiery glance OF that tabled animal
wanting to complete tho picture. My
owes, inllamed, bloodshot and glazing,
invested the supposed monster with a
full proportion of unholy light.
II would be endless were / TO merely
hint Of all the tancles that possessed my
mind. Every object that was hideous
and roaring presented itself TO myim-
agiuation. / often thought that l was
in kurtican at sea, and that the vessel
IN which / was embarked tossed under
me With the most furious vehemence,
The air, set in motion by the swinging
OF tho bell, blew over me, nearly with
tho violence and more than the thunder
OF tempest; and the floor seemed to
reel under me, as under drunken man.
But the most awful OF all the ideas that
seized on me wero drawn from the super