Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-09-14

thought came to me. A loud crash
causel q feeling Of sickening fear to
creep over me. 1t seemed to me that
two railway trains had come together
with terrible violenc, in a dark tun.
mel, and that l was one OF the injured
passengers stretched at full length be.
meath the debri, of the wrecked coach.
In an agony Of anxiety to escape death,
! put out my, hands to +, sch FOR some-
me in and held ms vise-like. With a
convulsive start I attempted to sit up.
My forehead struck against asolid sur.
face. There could be no doubt of it; |
was completely imprisoned by The
walls of rock from the top and sides Of
the fallen tunnel. The gloom was i'm.
pene rable, and the air began to be.
come vi.iated by poisonous gases from
the engines. l was sci ed with a mt of
choking, while alternating fla hes OF
cola and heat shot through my body.
Suddenly my dream was over. I came
f.lly to my senses. The terrible truth
dawned upon me that I had been buried
alive. and m, hair stitfened and q cold
sweat distilled on my brow and ran
trucking into my eve.
AT last the tit had passed over. NV
muscles were unlocked again. l could
move and l could speak, for |
cried out first in dull, husky, mutied
tones which froze my very soul:
Buried alive, buried alive::" l
groanel. "Oh, merciful heaven, I am
buried alive"
set my blood in circulation, and Icould
feel the warm liquid coursing gently
and soOthingly along my limbs, warm.
ing and strengthening me, and ena.
bling me to collect my scattered
thoughts and consider calmly the wv
flu position that l was in, for now it
seemed to me in reality that the air
was fast becoming uni reathable, and
that in afew moments | hould strangle
to death. Until that moment my heart
had been still, my blood had chilled in
my veins, and there had been no need
OF air; but now that | was alive again,
now that I could feel my heart rise
and fall and catch the faint throb of
my awakened heart. 1 would need air,
and at once. too, and enough Of it to
Keep m, blood sufficiently purified to
support life.
And now another terror seized upon
me. 1t was fear of freezing, fear of
being overtaken by that insidious de-
sire for sleep. caused by intense cold,
a sleep which knows no awakening.
But while l lay there suffering all
these torments my mind continued to
get her strength, and I was at last en-
abled to quiet down and ask myself the
question. rs there absolutely no
ing tomb? Must 1 lie here till true and
veritable death comes upon me?:"
Gradually my mind cleared up, and
with n hand locked in the other, I
began to make a test of my knowledge
concerning modes of burial, and after
q few moments reflection I reached
the conclusion that beyond all doubt I
was buried in a ive-year concession.
This thought almost set me in delirium
again. for had my burial been effected,
as in the trenches of Potter's Field at
Nantes, whore l had noticed that as
lnterments were constantly taking
place, the ends of the last collins were
always left quite uncovered until fresh
bu.ials occurred, there would have
been some slight hope of escape for
me. In that case, it would only have
been necessary for me to burst off one
OF the boards of my coffin; while, If I
was. as l had every reason to believe,
buried in a zeal grave, there was at
tnat moment a thick bed of earth be-
tween me and the outer world. 1 had
read somewhere that it was quite com
mon in Paris to dig graves six feet
deep. How could l ever hope to burst
through such mass. If Ieven succeed
ed in bursting the lid of my coffin, would
not the earth sift down upon me, filing
my eyes ana mouth-a terrible sutfoca-
ton, q drowning in mud? Every way
my thoughts turned, death in some
form OF other met them. However, 1
began to make a careful survey of my
narrow house, feeling every inch of ii.
1t was so large and roomy that l could
move my arms with perfect ease.
There was no crevice in the lid, and
the boards of the sides, although
planed, were firm and solid.
l raised my arm to examine the other
end, and there l felt a knot, which,
after l had worked at it for some time,
became SO loose that l was able to push
it out. Thrusting one finger through
the opening, l could feel q wet, heavy,
.ayey soil.
ITO BE coNrINuEnl
SUeDulNG A BULLY.