Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-05-17
A NIGHTS VIGIL.

l determined to pass n night in '''t.
chamber of horrors" at Nine Tussat:n
in Baker street. On an appointed r,'.
ing was conducted to the "chanhcr' o..
one of the officials and h.. '"nc
And in what II stu im3g'r" ;
long, vaultcd chamhcr 'tGrd in &".i
gloom, save that here AMI ILrrran cl.'i &c
bulb lamp-tcchnically known rs n "lru.l'
lamp'-just sutficod to make the dar.urs
visible All around me We're the counter
felt prcsentments of men and women
whose crimes have shocked this or some
past generation. The very sofa l was sit.
ting upon. q common piece of furniture,
covered with red chintz, had been used rs
q bed by Florence Dennis on the night be.
fore she met her death, and right opposite
me, trim and neat and dapper, as he ap.
pearcd in the dock at Southend, was the
murderer James Canham Read. Then, as
my eyes begai. to get used to the gloom,
fresh shapes, sdeous and sinister, began
to reveal themselves. Burke the Edin-
burgh stranger, and Hare, his aCcOmplice;
Franz Muller, who murdered Mr.. Briggs
in railway carriage on the North London
line in July, 1864; John Lee, the Bahbi.
combe murderer, who survived three sep.
aratc atteslpts to hang him, and who is
row spending a lifetime III penal scrviiudc;
Mrs. Hcrmann, her black drcss hidden by
long white sheet (put on at night to PRO
tcct it from injury l was uitcrward in.
formed). These, and many other infamous
wretches, l could make out from my place
of vantage.
But both ends of the long room were
shrOudcd in darkness, and rising from my
seat l started upon tour Of inspection.
AS 1 did so u neighboring church clock
chimed the half hour. l listened with n
feeling akin to thankfulncss. The clear,
mellow tones inspired me with courage. l
felt, why / cannot say, a strange sense oil
companionship.
Almost the first object which attracted
my attention was a small grated window,
Immediately opposite where l had been
sitting. Icrosscd over and pcercd in, and
found myself looking into the kitchen OF
Dinham Villa, and the open grave OF
Dccming's victims, the murderer himself
standing spade in hand, by the yawnina
hole 1t was fcarsome sight--too awful
ly realistic for my ncrvcs-and l hurried
off to where a 'panic light Shed a round
blOtch of white on tho stone floor.
the scene and very thankful l was to sec
him. "Eh, miss, but you are a plucky
one, =" was his greeting. l laughed and said
what was quite true in the abstract
that there was nothing to inspire terror in
q lot of wax figures. "Maybc, maybe, j.
he returned with shake of the head, "but
1 ha' seen strong big men rs wouldn't ha'
staid down here all night, not for n g5C
note" "Wcll, am not getting anything
like that" l answered. To which he made
no reply, but walked away mutterina
something about "plenty o pluck" AT
the foot of the fight of stone stairs which
led to the upper regions he stopped and
called to me that he would be back al
midnight and every hour thereafter, O
piece of information 1 was exceedingly
grateful for.
But how long the hours seemed between
those periodical visits AT first l consult.
ed my watch every few minutes, but had
to discontinue this practice as il made
the time seem so much slower in passing.
l could not, however shut my ears to the
Ginning of a nearby church clock, and
found myself longing involuntarily fol
dawn and freedom.
Shortly before / o'clock / had q fine
fright. was sitting on the sofa previous.
ly mentioned, and, l fancy, must have
dozed off, when l was startled nearly out
Of my wits by hearings harsh voice OK.
claim: "Eh! Get out! Help! Murderl
Help" / started to my feet, every nerve
in my body tingling. What had happencdi
Was some terrible tragedy being enacted
in the silence and darkness of the night
There was minute Of absolute silence,
and then again came the agonizcd cry:
"Help! Murder! Help" This was too
much, and incontinently fled toward the
stairway, intent upon escaping to the up.
per air. Just at that moment however,
l heard the slow, measured tread Of the
Waterman, and with his advent the mys.
tory was explained The voice proceeded
from parrot domicilcd in one of the up
stairs rooms. He must have been sudden
ly awakened out of u bad dream, and rs
promptly gone to sleep again. for l heard
no more of him until just before L took
my departure at 6 n. IN.
My next interruption was of more
pleasurablo kind Exactly at 2 o'clock a
bird began singing and kept it up fol
fully half an hour. l thought l had never
heard such exquisite music. 1t flooded the
whole building with melody, and for the
time forgot WEAKNESS and my grewsome