Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-06-16

u was 50. ne knew " nv 10 was so, ne
racked his imagination in vain to con
lecture He examined the doors. A
simple circumstance convinced him
they had not been opened
A wisp Of straw, which he had care
lessly thrown against them The Preced-
ing day as he paced to and fro. re
mained where he had cast it, though il
must have been displaced by the slight
est motion Of either Of the doors. This
was evidence that could not be disputed
and it followed there must be some Sc
cret machinery in the walls by which q
person could enter, He inspected them
closely. They appeared to him one solid
and compact mass of iron; or joined, Il
joined they were, with such nice art
that no mark of division was percepti
ble Again and again he surveyed
theu-and the Hoor-and the roof
and that range of visionary windows,
rs he was now almost tempted to con.
slider them; he could discover nothing.
absolutely nothing. torelieve his doubt.
or satisfy his curiosity. Sometimes he
fancied that altogether the dungeon
had n more contracted appearance
ascribed to fancy. and the impression
naturally produced upon his mind by
the undenia bic disappearance of two OF
the windows
With intense anxiety, NivenZio looked
forward to the return of night; and as
it approached he resolved that nc
treacherous sleep should again betray
him Instead of seeking his bed OF
straw, he continued to walk up and
down his dungeon till daylight strain.
ing his eyes in every direction through
the darkness. to watch for any appear
ances that might explain these mys.
teries. While thus engaged, and as
nearly as he could judge Cby the time
that afterward elapsed before the
morning came I'M about two o'clock,
there was a slight tremulous motion OF
the floors. He stopped. The motion
lasted nearly a minute; but it was sc
extremely gentle, that he almost
doubted whether it was real or only
imaginary. He listened. Not a sound
could be heard. Presently, however,
ne felt rush of cold air blow upor
him; and dashing toward the quarter
bled over something which he judged
to be the water ever The rush o,
cold air was no longer perceptible; and
as Nivenzio stretched out his hands. he
found himself close to the walls He
remained motionless for considera bic
time; but nothing occurred during the
remainder of the night to excite his at
tention, though he watched with un.
abated vigilance
The first approaches of the morning
were visible through the grated win.
dows, breaking, with faint divisions OF
light, the darkn ess that still pervaded
every other part, long before Vivenzie
was abled to distinguish any objecf
ia his dungeon. Instinctively and fear
fully he turned his eyes, hot and in
famed with watching, toward them.
There were FOUR He could see only
four; but it might be some intervening
object prevented the fifth from becom-
ing perceptible; and he waited impa-
tiently to ascertain if it were so. AS
the light strengthened, however, and
penetrated every corner of the cell,
other objects of amazement struck his
sight. On the ground lay the broken
fragments of the pitcher he had used
the day before, and at a small distance
from them, nearer to the wall, stood
the one he had noticed the first night.
1t was filled with water, and beside it
was his food He was now certain that,
by some mechanical contrivance, an
opening was obtained through the iron
wall, and that through this opening
the current of air had found entrance.
But how Iioiselcssl ' : Eox Lad q fselther
almost waved at the time, he must have
heard it Again he examined that part
of the wall; but both to sight and
touch, it appeared one even and uni
form surface, while, to repeated and
violent blows, there was no reverberat-
ing sound indicative of hollowness.
This perplexing mystery had for a
time withdrawn his thoughts from the
windows; but now, directing his eyes
toward them, he saw that the fifth had
disappeared in the same manner as the
preceding two, without the least dis
tinguishable alteration of external APP
pearances. The remaining four looked
as the seven had originally looked; that
is, occupying, at irregular distances,
the top of the wall on that side of the
dungeon The tall folding-door too,
still seemed to stand beneath, in the
center of these four, as it had at first
stood in the center of the seven. But
he could no longer doubt, what, on the
preceding day, he fancied might be the
effect of visual deception. The dun
geon was smaller The roof had low
ered-and the opposite ends had con-
tracted the intermediate distance by
space equal, he thought, to that over
which the three windows had extended
He was bewildered in vain imaginings
to oaccount for these things. Some fright
full purpose-some devilish torture of
mind or body-some unheard-of device
for producing exquisite misery, lurlled
he was sure in what had taken place.
Oppressed with this belief, and dis
tracted more by the dreadful uncer-
teinty of whatever fate impended,
than he could be dismayed, he thought,
by the knowledge of the worst, he sat
ruminating, hour after hour, yielding
his fears in succession to every hag-
gard fancy. At last horrible suspic-
ion flashed suddenly across his mind,
and he started up with a frantic air
'Yesr' he exclaimed, looking wildly
round his dungeon, and shuddering as
he spoke-''Yesl it must be so! see it!
i feel the maddening truth like
scorching flames upon my brainl Eter-
nal God!-support me! it must be so!
Yes, yes, that is to be my fate! Yon
roof will descend!-these walls will
hem me round-and slowly, slowly
crush me in their iron arms! Lord Godl
look down upon me, and in mercy
strike me with instant deathl o fiend-
o devul-is this your revenge?'
He dashed himself upon the ground
in agony-tears burst from him, and
the sweat stood in large drops upon his
face-he sobbed aloud-he tore his hair
he rolled about like one suffering in
tolera BILE anguish of body, and would
have bitten the iron floor beneath him.
he breathed fearful curses upon Tolf,
and the next moment passionate pray
ers to Heaven for immediate death
Then the violence of his grief became
exhausted, and he lay STILL weeping
as child would weep. The twilight
of departing day shed its gloom around
him ere he rose from that posture OF
utter and hopeless sorrow. He had
taken no food. Not one drop of water
had cooled the fever of his parched lips.
Sleep had not visited his eyes for six
and-thirty hours. He was faint with
hunger; weary with watching and
with the excess of his emotions He
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