The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1894-01-13
THE MAN IN THE BELL,

1sNSiA o1IOhC We Eiu DulIeu
showed US that the clappcr of the bell
we were at was muffied. Some one
mad been buried that morning, and it
had been prepared, of course, to ring
a mournful note.
We did not know of this, but the
remedy was easy. Jack" said nv
companion, "step up to the loft and
cut OIL the hat" for the way we had of
mufliing was by tying n piece of an old
hat or OF cloth (the former was pre-
ferred) to one side of tho clapper.
which deadened every second toll.
complied, and mounting into the
beitryl, crept rs usual into tho bell,
where l began to cut away. The hat
4 been tied on in some more csTsEa
plicated manner than usual, and [ was
perhaps three or four minutes in get
ting it of; during which time my
companion below was hastily called
~away-by a message from his sweet
heart, | believe-but that is not matte
rial 10 my story.
The person who called him was a
brother of the club who, knowing that
the time had come for ringing for
service, and not thinking that my one
was above, began to pull. AT this mo-
ment ! was just getting out when l
felt tue bell moving. l guessed the
reason at once. IT was q moment of
terror, but by q hasty and almost con-
vulsive effort succeeded in jumping
down and throwing myself on the flat
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 a
couple of feet of the floor of lath. At
that time l certainly va moi so bulky
as am now, but rs l lay it was with
in an inch of my face. / had not lain
myself down n second, when the ring
ing began. IL was u dreadful scnsa-
ton.
over me swung q great 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 1 would be
p%recipitated TO the distance OF about
fifty feet upon a loft, which would, in
all probability, have sunk under the
impulse of my fall and sen me TO lie
dashed to atoms upon the marble floor
of the chanccl, a hundred feet below.
This was my first terror, but the
ringing had not continued a minute
before a more awful and immediate
dread came on me. The deafening
sound of the bell smotc into my ears
with q thunder which made me fear
their drums would crack; there wal
not a fiber of my body it did not thrill
through. 1t entered my very soul;
thought and reflection were almost
utterly banished; l only retained the
sensation Of agonizing terror.
Every moment l 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. II was in vain l said TO myself
that it could come no nearer at any
future swing than it did at first; every
time il descended ! endeavored to
shrink into the very floor TO avoid be-
ing buried under the down-sweeping
mass. and then, rejecting on the dan
ger of pressing too weishtily on my
frail support, would cover up again
as far as l dared. =
AT first my fears were matter of
fact. was afraid the pullcys above
would give way and let the bell plunge
on me. Al another time the POSSIBLE
ity of the clapper being shot out in
body. as l had seen a ramrod glide
through q door, fitted across my mind.
The dread, also, as / have already
mentioned, of the crazy floor tor
mentcd me; but these soon gave way
to fears not more unfoundcd, but more
visionary, and, of course, more ire
mcndous.
The roaring of the bell confused my
intellect, and my fancy soon began to
teen with all sorts of strange and ter
rifying ideas. The bell pcaling above
and opening its jaws with n hideous
clamor seemed to me at one time u
raving monster raging TO dcvour me;
at another a whirlpool ready TO suck
me into lis believing abyss. AS l
ya.ed on it, it assumed all shapes. 1t
was Il dying eagle, or rather Il roc of
the Arabian storytcllcrs, c!apping its
wings and screaming over me.
AS | looked upward into it, it would
appear sometimes to lengthen into in
definite extent OF 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 tabled
animal wanting to complete the pct
urc. eyes inilamGl, b~loodshot
and glaring. invested tae supposed
monster Will. a full proportion of un-
holy light.
Ii would be endless were l TO merely
hint at. all tho fancies that possessed
my mind. Every object that was hid
,ous and roaring presented itself to
ny imagination. Ioften thought that
was in n hurricane ut sea, and that
the vessel in which | was embarked
tossed under mo with the most furious
yehemcncc. The air, set in motion
by the swinging OF tho bell, blew over
me, nearly with The violence and more
Than tho thunder of 4 tempest, andthe
floor seemed 10 reel under me, rs ull-
der a drunken man. But the most
awful of ali the ideas that seized on
me were drawn from the supernatural.
In the vast cavcrn of the bell hid
eous faces appeared and glared down
ON me with terrifying frowns or with
grinning mockury stiff more appalling.
found was becoming dclirlous and
trembled lest reason should utterly de-
scrt mo. / feared lest, when utterly
deprived of my senses, I should rise
to do which / was every moment
tempted by that strange feeling which
calls on n man whose head is dizzy
from standing on the battlement of u
lofty castle 10 prccipitatc himself from
t,and then death woul4 be instant
sa .ss.sssss:~