The National tribune., 1892-08-25
THE MAN IN THE BELL.
Thrilling Experience of Cathedral Bell
Ringer.
[Black,cood'S Mdgdztte.1

| Thrilling Experience of a Cathedral Bell
Ringer.
/ tBlack,coods Mdgdsi,e.1
c2SN my younger days bell-ringing was
| GY$) much more in fashion among the young
! SSIs9 men of - than it is now. Some so
| GAO years ago about 90 of us who dwelt i'll
GO the vicinity of the cathedral formed a
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 muffied.
! Some one had been buried that morning and it
| had been prepared, of course, to ring mourn
| full note
| We did not know of this, but the remedy
was easy. Jack" said my companion. "step
up to tho loft and cut off the hat for the way
We had of muffling was by tying piece of an
old hat or Of cloth (the former was preferred
! to one side of the clapper, which deadened every
| second toll.
1 complied, and mounting into the belfry,
| crept as usual into the bell, where / began to
| cut away. The hat had been tied on in some
! more complicated manner than usual, and
was perhaps three or four minutes in getting
it of, during which time my companion below
was hastily called away-by a message from
his sweetheart, / believe-but that is not ma
terial to my story.
the club who, knowing that the time had come
for ringing for service, and not thinking that
anyone was above, began to pull. At this mo-
ment was just getting out when | felt the
bell moving guessed the reason at once. It
was a moment of terror, but by hasty and
almost convulsive effort succeeded in jumping
down and throwing myself on the fiat of my
back under the bell.
The room in which it was was little more
than sufficient to contain it, the bottom of the
bell coming within couple of feet of the aoor
of sth. At that time l certainly was not so
bulky as ! am now, but as / lay it was within
an inch of my face. / had not lain myself
down second when the ringing began. 1t
was dreadful situation.
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 way
/ was precipitated to the distance of about
80 feet upon loft, which would, in all prob
ability, have sunk under the impulse Of my
fall, and sent me to be dashed to atoms upon
the marble foor Of the chancel, hundred feet
below.
This was my first terror, but the ringing had
not continued minute before more awful
and immediate dread came on me. The deaf
enng sound of the bell smote into my ears
with thunder which made me fear their
drums would crack there was not a fiber Of
| my very soul; thought and reflection were
almost utterly banished; l only retained the
| sensation of agonizng terror.
Every moment saw the bell sweep within
an inch of my face, and my eyes-I could not
close them, though to look at the object was
bitter as death-followed it instinctively in its
| oscillating progress until it came back again.
1t was in vain / said to myself that it could
come 10 nearer at any future swing than it did
at first; every time it descended / endeavored
to shrink into the very floor to avoid being
| buried under the down-sweeping mass, and
then, rejecting on the danger of pressing too
weightily on my frail support. would cover up
again as far as dared.
At first my fears were mere matter of. fact
/ was afraid the pulleys above me would give
way and let the bell plunge on me. At another
time the possibility of the clapper being shot
out in some sweep and dashing through my
body, as had seen ramrod glide through a
door, fitted across my mind. The dread, also,
| as / have already mentioned, of the crazy
| floor t0rmented me; but these soon gave way
| to fears not more unfounded but more vision.
| ary, and. of course more tremendous.
The roaring of the bell confused my intellect,
and my fancy sooG began to teem with all
sorts of strange and terrifying ideas. The bell
pealing above and opening its jaws with a
hideous clamor seemed to me at one time
| raving monster raging to devour me; at another
1
| abyss. As gazed on it, it assumed all shapes.
| 1t was flying eagle or rather q roc of the
| Arabian story tellers, clapping its wings and
| screaming over me.
As l looked upward into it, it would appear
| sometimes to lengthen into indefinite extent
or to be twisted at the end into the spiral folds
of the tail of flying dragon. Nor was the
| flaming breath or fiery glance Of that fabed
animal wanting to complete the picture. My
| eyes, inflamed, bloodshot and glaring inves ted
| the supposed monster with full proportion of
| unholy light.
| 1t would be endless were | to merely hint at
! ali the fancics that possessed my mind.
| Every object that was hideous and roaring
presented itself to my Imagination. often
thought that was in hurricane 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 the
bell, blew over me. nearly with the violence
aud more than the thunder of tempest; aud
the h0or seemed to reel under me as under a
drunken man. But the most awful OF all the
ideas that seized on me were drawn from the
supernatural.
In the vast cavern of the bell hideous faces
appeared and glared down OH me with terrfy-
ing frowns or with grinning mockery still
more appalling. / found / was becoming de-
lirious aud trembled lest reason should utterly
desert me. feared lest. when utterly deprived
OF my senses, l should rse-to do which was
every moment tempted by that strange feeling
which calls GU man whose head is dizzy from
| standing on the battlement of lofty castle, to
| precipitate himself from it-and then death
! would be instant and tremendous
When thought of this became desperate.
caught the floor with grasp which drove the
blood from my nails, aud yelled with the cry
of despair / called for help. / prayed, l
shouted, but ell the efforts of my voice were, of
| course. drowned in the bell. As it passed over
/ my mouth it occasionally echoed my cries,
which mixed not with its own sound, but pre-.
served their distinct character. Perhaps this
/, was but fancy. To me, l know, they then
sounded as il they were the shouting, bowling
or laughing of the fends with which my imagi.
nation had peopled the gloomy cave which
| swung over ME.
| In 20 minutes the ringing was DONE Half
of that time passed over me without power of
computatiop-th othcr half appeared an age.