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

SlN, piercing. pfOlOnSeu, ana melaN-
cnoly, echoed through the hollow
arches of my tomb. a cold perspira-
ton broke out all over my body--my
heart beat so loudly that could hear
1t humping against my ibis. Aglin-
again-tlat wierd Shrek. followed by
whirr and flap of wings. brcathcd
again.
1T is an OWL" l said to myself.
ashamed of my fears; "a poor, limo.
cent bird-a companion and waite ,,r
or tho dead. and therefore its voice Is
full of sorrOwful lamentatfon.-but n
~ harmless,'-and crept ON witt, in
creased caution. Suddenly out of the
dense darkness there stared two large
yellow eyes. glittcring with fien,isn
hunger and cruelty. For molncn; L
was startled and stepped back; tie
creature flew at me with the felnrity
at Il tiger cat! l fought with tile .,or-
rlblr thing in all directions; it wheeled
round my head. 1t pounced toward :,,y
face. ii beat me With its large wings
wings that ! could feel but not 500.
the yellow eyes alone s!,one in the
thick gloom like the eyes of some vim.
dictive demon! struck at it right
and left. The revolving conba, lasted
S,'mc monaEtS--l grew sick anl .iiZzy.
yet | batlcd on rccklcssly. At ,ast,
thank heaven! the huge owl WAS VAN
qrisncd; ii iluttcrcu backwards aud
'lowhwards. apparently exhausted.
giving one wild Screcch of hntiiri
fury. as it's lamp-like eyes disappeared
il. The darkness. Bruathlcss but not
subducd,-evely ne",e in my body
lliive:ns with eXc;temcnt-I pursued
my way. as ] thought. towards the
stone staircase. feeling the ,ir with
my nutstrctched hands as l yropr,i
along. In Il little Willie met with an
obstruction. 1t was hard and cold-a
stone wall s;rcly! felt it up :nd
down and found a hollow in it. Was
this the first step of the stair? l wOll-
dcrcd. 1t seemed very ligh; touched
it cautiously. Suddenly l came in
contact With something soft and clam
vet. lingering this with q kind of
rcrulsion, soon traced out the OBJ.
long shape of a coffin. Curiously
enough. was not affected nrch by
this discovery. found myself mupot-
onously counting the bits nf raised
metal which served. as Judged for
its ornamentation. Li.:!t pits lcnglh-
wise-and the soft. wet stuff between
-four bits across-then a pang shot
through me. and | drew my hand
away quickly, as l considered-whose |
coffin was this? My fathers: or was |
! thus plucking. like IL man in delir- |
iunl. al the fragments of velvet on |
that cumbrouS oakcn caSket wherein !
lay tie ashes of my mothers per- |
iSNcd beauty? l reused myself :.om
the APATHY into which ! had fallen |
All the pains | had taken to find my /
WAY through the vault were wasted: /
was lost i'll the profound gloom and ,
Knew not where to turn. The horror
of my situation presented itself To me
with rcdoublcd force. began to be .
tormented with thirst. | fell on my /
knees and groaned aloud.
God of infinite mcTcy!" l cried.
Savior of the world! BY the souls
of the sacred dead whom thou hast in
thy holy keeping. have pity upon me.
o my mother! if, indeed, thine earth
~ remains are near me-think of me.
sweet angel, i'll that heaven where thy
spirit dwellS at rest; plead for me and
save me. or let me die now and be tor
tnred no more"
uttered these words aloud, and the
sound of my waiting voice ringing
through the somber arches of the
vault was strange and full of fantas-
tic terror to my ears. l knew that
were my agony much further pro-
longcd should go mad. l dared not
picture to myself the frightful things
of which Il maniac might be capable
shut up i'll such a place of darkness
and death. with moulding corpses for
remained on my knees.
my face buried in my hands. ! forced
myself into comparative calmness and
strove to preserve the equilibrium of
my distracted mind. Hush! What eX-
quisite far-off floating voice of cheer
was that | raised my head and lis
tened. cntlslnced!
jug, jug. jug! lcdola, lodola!
trill-lil-lil! sweet, sweet, sweet"
1t was n nightingale. Familiar. de-
licious. angel-throated bird! How !
blessed thee in that dark hour of de-
spair! How praised God for thine
innocent existence. How sprans up
and laughed and wept for joy. as. all
of me, thou didst shake
out IL shower of pcarly warbings on
The breast of the soothed air! Ilenv-
enly messenger of consolation Even
for thy sweet sake all birds possess
iil' iiiCll
has grown hidcous in my sight, but
The Singing-life of the woods and hills
how pure. how frcsll--the nearest?
thing TO happiness on this side of
heaven!
y rush of strength and courage ill.,
visora1ed me. y new idea entered my
brain. determined To follow the
voice of the nightingale. II sang on
swe.tly. encouragingly-nn began
lfrcsh my journeyings through tile
darkness. l fancicd that the bird
was pcrched OH one of the trees
outside the entrance of the vault, ana
If tried TO get within closer hearing
Of its voice. | should most likely be
thus guided to the very staircase
had been SO painfully seeking.
stumbled along slowly. l felt feeble.
and my limbs shook under me. This
time nothing impeded my progress;
the nightingale's liquid notes iloated
nearer and nearer. and hope. almost
n q CT ni |