Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-05-30
the interior


A Dagger Roughly Painted in Red.
| For Il time l believe l was indeed
| mad; the echoes rang with the pierre
| ing shrieks | could not restrain. ST.
/ lent at last through sheer exhaustion
! glared about me. The moonbeam
had vanished; in it's place lay Shaft
| of pale gray light. by which l could
easily distinguish the whole interior Of
| the staircase and the closed gateway
mt its summit. rushed up the ascent
with the feverish haste of Il mndman,
l grasped the iron grating with both
hands and shook it ticrccly. 1t was
firm as Il rock. locked fast. l called
for help. Utter silence answered me.
| pecred through the closcly-twisted
bars. saw the grass. the dropping
boughs of trees. and straight before
my line of vision. a little piece of the
blessed Sky, opal-tinted and family
blushing with the consciousness of it's
approaching sunrise. l drank i'm the
sweet fresh air: Il long trailing branch
of the wild grape vine hung near me;
its leaves We're covered thicllly with
dew. i squeezed one hand through
the grating and gathered Il few OF
these green morselS of coolness: / ate
them grcedily. They seemed to me
more delicious than anything had
ever tasted: they relieved the burning
fever of my parchcG throat and
tongue. The glimpse of the trees and
the sky Sootled and calmed me- There
was Il gentle twittering of awakening
birds: my nightingale had ceased sing
ing.
/ began to recover slowly from my
nervous terrors, and leaning against
the gloomy arch of my charnel-house
l took courage to glance backward
down the steep stairway up Which I
had sprung with such furious pre; "
tation. Something white lay i'll Il cor
ner on the seventh step from the top.
Curious to see what it was, descend
ed cautiously, and with some reluct-
ance; it was the half of a thick waxen
taper. such as are used in the Catholic
ritual at the burial of the dead. No
doubt it had been thrown down there
by some careless acolyte, to save him
self the trouble of carrying it after the
service had ended. l looked ut it med
itativcly. If ! only had a light! 1
plunged my hands half abstractedly
into the pockets of my trousers: some
thing jingled! Truly they had buried
me in haste. My purse, IL small bunch
drew them out and examined them
and withal so strange. I searched
again: and this time found something
of real value to one in my condition
a small box of wax vestas. Now had
they left me my cigar case? No. that
was gone. 1t was Il valuable silver
one; no doubt the monk. who attend
ed my supposed last moments. had
taken it, together with my watch and
chain. to my wife. Well. could not
smoke. but could strike Il light. And
there was the funeral taper ready for
use. The sun had not yet risen. I
must certainly wait till broad day be-
fore could hope to attract by my
shouts any stray person who might
pass through the cemetery. Mean
while. Il fantastic idea suggested it.
self. would so and look at my own
coffin! Ii would be novel cXperi-
cuce. The sense of fear mad entirely
deserted me; the possession of that
box of matches was sufficient TO ell
dow me With absolute hardihood.
picked up the church candle ant: iit Il:
ii gave ut first Il feeble hck"r, hnt
nftcrwnrd burnt with clear and
steady fame. Shading it with one
hand from the drnught. gave part
ing glance Mt the fair daylight that
pccped smilingly in through my pris-
on door. and then went downtown
again into the dismal place where
had passed the night in such indie
scribable agony.
ITO BE Continually
Then and Now.