The Bessemer indicator., 1894-02-10
TERRORs OF ONE MIG HT.
HIDEoUs VISIONS FOLLOWED
BY BRAIN FEVER.
Awful Experisnco of Man Locked Up
In = Chnmber of Monstrosities Consc-
ausnces of Nap Taken at y Wax
Work Exhibition.

actor may be, and after walking up
and down long galleries and climb
ing and descending stairs for several
hours. | was completely dead beat"
Consequently, when | found a large
block OF wood, an eXecutioner's block
hdve since ascertained 1T to have
been, in secluded corner in the
Chafnber OF Horrors / sat down to
rest
l must have Immediately fallen
asleep and escaped the notice of the
attendants when they closed the
building for the night.
When | awoke the chamber was as
still as tomb. and tho bright moon
light streaming in through the tall
window gave the place weird and
unearthly appearance as it fell on
the hideous throng OF the worlds
great criminals.
What II fool l was, They were
only wax figures. That was all, of
course. | tried to laugh at my alb
surd situation, but the attempt was
failure, and left me more uncom-
Portable than ever. Perhaps they
were smiling at mo in the darkness.
Absurd How could wax figures
smile?
And yet, suppose that tho spirits
OF these evil men and women haunt
cd their "couutcrfcit prcsentmentsn
Living criminals, it is said, could
not resist returning TO tho scenes OF
their crimes, and these mute statues
were clothed in the very garments
in which the crimes had been com
mltted-garments from which the
guilty stains had never been washed.
What was that?
had taken hold of something
made of cold metal. Horror! | felt
:t to be one of the knives with which
the murder had been committed. ]
was behaving like an idiot. / knew
it, and told myself so, But it was
no use. / could not help wishing |
were anywhcrs else. A vault or q
crypt would be cheerful compared
with this horrible place. Tho very
air seemed to smell of crime. crcpt
forward until came to somo steps.
Perhaps this was the way out. |
went up and reached out into the
darkness.
A handl A foot! A body kneeling!
Great heavens! had ascendcd the
scaffold-was the one solitary living
being present at that awful mute
mummcry going on in the dark ness
Of the night.
This sort of thing leads to mad
ness" told myself, as | crawled
backward down the stairs. But what
was to be donc' must get out
somehow or my nerves would not
stand tEo strain.
However, determined that l
would not give way in this manner.
Advancing in another direction, l
was stopped by wooden wall or par
tition. just then the moon came ont
tor few moments, ard / saw that |
was looking into prisoners dock.
There, close in front of me. stool
some of the men and women who
during the present century had be-
como most notorious in crime. Their
features were, in IL number of cases.
familiar to me from old books ana re-
cent prints.
/ instantly recognized, among
others, Burke and Hare, tho former
of whom was convicted in 1929 of a
horrible series of murders on the evil
dence of his accompllce; james
Bloomfield Rush, tho Stantield Hall
murderer of 1918; Maria and George
Manning, the two atrocious crimi-
mails OF 1919; William Palmer, the
Rugeley prisoner of 1853; and Will
lam Fish. Catherine Wilson, Henry
Wainright, the Stauntons. LEROY
and Lipski of later dates.
One mans expression tlansfixed
me, held me spell bound and filled
mo with loathing and horror. Who
he was DO not know, but could rot
take my eyes from his face. And
when the place grew dark | saw ii
still standing out in the surrounding
gloom, with the suppressed grin OF
cruel and unrelenting iend.
hid my face in my hands.
threw myself on the floor. until the
vision slowly faded away leaving me
trembl ng in every limb. dare not
get up nor open my eyes for fear that
| should see it aga'n.
Suddenly peculiar sound OF jang
ling and crealling fell on my ears
What could it be? 1t seemed to come
from the corner OF the chamber where
the instruments OF torture were ar
ranged for exhibition. Tho thumb
Sorrows, tongue pincers, branding
irons, masks and cinctures, the gres-
sillon, the molticr, the cubitoire-
all seemed to my excited imagina
tion to be in movement and rattliug
one against the other.
Thoughts came to my mind Of all
tho unspeakable agonies that had
been inflicted by those diabolical in
vcntions. This place would kill me.
felt l was going mad. Let me get
free somehow. ! sprang to my feet
and rushed like maniac in the DARK
ness. striking wildly at everything in
my way in search of the door. Figure
after figure hurled to the ground us
it came in my path.
All at once felt strong arms close
around me. was struggling madly
for life with this terrible unseen [,
something that held me by the throat
and was strangling me in tho dark.
l now saw again that fearful face,
Was it that OF my antagonistP !
tried to cry out, but 1 was choking.
Gradually l relaxed my mold, and
everything became q blank.
.'Gou havo been very ill. George,
dear. but you arc better now"
looked around me. ] was in a
strange bedroom, and my sister Lucy
was bending over nc. | convinced
hor that it would 10 best for her to
explain at once sll that had hap
pened, for my terrible experience in
the dark chamber now came back to
me.
She said that the night-watchman,
thinking he heard sounds in tine
Chamber of Horrors. had descended