Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-07-25

An hour passed The wind began to
rise. At first Christian felt nothing Of Il
as he stood in his deep tomb. He could
hear its thin hiss over the mouth Of the
shaft, and that was all But presently tho
hiss decpened TO a sough- Christieh hao
often heard OF the winds sob. IL was re
ality, and no metaphor, as he Listened to
the wind now. The wind began TO de-
scend With great swoop it came down
the shaft, licked the wallis gathered voice
from the echoing water at the bottom,
struggled for escape roared like a Gagged
beast and was once more sucked up to the
surface with noise like the breaking Of a
huge wave over n reef The tumult of the
wind in the shaft was hard to bear, but
when it was gone 1t was the silence that
seemed to be deafening.
Sometimes the gusts were laden with the
smoke of burning gorse. 1t came from the
fire that Danny had kindled on the head of
the Poolvash. Would the fire reach the pit
encircle 1t, descend in itH
Then the rain began to fall Christian
knew this by the quick monotonous patter
overhead. But no rain touched him. 1t
was being driven aslant by the wind and
fell only against the uppermost part Of the
walls of the shaft. Sometimes soft thin
shower fell over him. twas like the spray
from a cataract except that the volume of
water from which 1t came was above and
not beneath him.
Christian had begun to contemplate
measures for escape. That unexpected soft
ness of the rock which had at first appalled,
him began now to give him some painful
glimmerings of hope. If the sides of the
shaft had been uniformly of the gray slate
rock of the district, the ledge he had laid
hold of would not have crumbled in his
hand. Being soft, there must be vein Of
sandstone running across the shaft. Chris
tian's bewildered memory recalled what he
must have heard many times of the rift Of
redstone which lay under the headland
south of Peel. If this vein were but deep
enough, his safety was assured. He could
cut inches into it with knife, and so per
haps after infinite pain and labor reach
the surface. Steadying himself with one
hand, Christian felt in his pockets for his
knife. 1t was not therel Now death in
deed was certain. Despair began to take
hold of him.
He was icy cold and feverishly hot at in
tervals. His clothes were wet. The water
still dripped from them and fell at inter
walls into the hidden tarn beneath in hol-
low drops.
But not so soon is hope conquered when
it is hope of life. Not to hope now would
have been not to fear. Christian remem-
bered that he had pair Of small scissors
to q buttonhook. When search
g. b;oI koh hoI foJ4 t,xk
and spurned it for resembling the knife
to the touch of his nervous fingers. Now
1t was his sole instrument He found it
again, opened, and with this paltry helr
he set himself to his work of escape from
this dark, deep tunnel that stood upright
The night was wearing on. Hour after
hour passed. The wind dropped. The
rain ceased to patter overhead. Christian
toiled on, step over step. Resting some
times on the largest and flrmest Of the pro-
jecting lodges, he looked up at the s'.y.
Its leaden gray had changed to dark / lie
studded with stars. The moon arose and
shone little way down his prison, light
ing all the rest. He knew it must be early
One star, large full globe of
light, twinkled directly above him. His
eye was fascinated by that star He sat
long and watched it. He turned again and
again in his toilsome journey to look at it.
Was it symbol of hope2 Pshawl Chris
tian twisted back to his work When he
looked for the star again, 1t was gone. 1t
had moved beyond his ken. It had passed
out of range of his narrow spot of heaven.
Somehow it had been mute companion.
heart sank yet lower in his
cheerless solitude.
Still he toiled on. His strength was far
spent. The moon died of, and the stars
went out one after one. Then deep, i'm
Denetrable cloud of darkness overspread
5he little sky above Christian knew it
must be the darkness that precedes the
lawn. He had reached ledge of rock
wider than any that were beneath it.
Clearly enough wooden rafter had lain
along it.
Christian rested and looked up. At that
he heard the light patter of four
little feet overhead, and poor stray sheep,
b lamb Of last springs flock, bleated down
jhe shaft The melancholy call of the lost
,reature in that dismal place touched
Christian deeply. What was it that made
he tears start to his eyes and his whole
'oul shake with a new agony? The out
waste in the night had touched an old scar
n Christians heart and made the wound
bleed afresh. Was it strange that in that
lour his thoughts turned involuntarily to
little Ruby CregeenP The darling child,
,aressed by the salt breath of the sea, and
With the Sunlight dancing in her eyes
I'D glistening on her ruby lips had she
hen anything in common with the little
vanderer that sent up her pitiful cry into
he nightp Too much, too much, for the
nan who heard 1t, and he was buried in a
living grave, with the tombstones Of dead
oys rising everywhere around, with the
Ire that had for years been kept close
'urning now most of all Oh, these dead
oys, they want the deepest gravel
Christian turned again to his weary
ask 10 live was duty, and live he
must. His fingers were chilled to the bone.
lis clothes still clung like damp cerements
o his body The mcager blades of the
cissors were worn short They could not
asst long. Christian rose to his feet on the
edge of rock and plunged the scissors into
he blank wall above him. All, what fresh
disaster was thisp His hand went deep
nto soft earth. The vein of rock had fin
shed and all that was above it must be
oose, uncertain mold
He gasped at the discovery A minute
ince life had looked very dear. Must he
abandon his hope of it after allp He
,aused and reflected AS nearly as he
'ould remember, he had made 90 inches in
he rock. Hence he must be fully 35 feet
rom the water and ten from the surface
only ten feet, and then-freedomi Yet
,hese ten seemed to represent an impossi-
,ility. 10 ascend by holes dug deep in the
loft earth was n perilous enterprise. A
great clod of soil might at any moment
give way above or beneath him, and then
le would be plunged once more into the
,it. Ii he fell from the side of the shaft,
Il I,n ~