Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-05-30

DlOou curullnE IN my veins. A Snrlil
cry. piercing. prolonged. and melan-
choly, 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
it humping against my ibis. Ag!ia-
aSain-tiIar wierd shrek, followed by
I c wbirr and flap Of wings. / breathed
again.
ut is an owl" l said TO myself.
ashamed OF my fears: "a poor, limo
! cent bird-a companion and watclar
a., of the dead. and therefore its voice IS
full of sorrowful lamentatiop,-but 1t
is harmless" and / crept on with in
creased caution. Suddenly oft of The
dense darkness there stared two large
yellow eyes, glittering with fiandisn
hunger and cruelty. For a L
was startled and stepped back; tie
creature few at Inc with the ferocity
of IA tiger cat! | fought with the cor
riblc thing In all directors; it wherlc'l
round my head, ii bounced toward my
face. it beat me with it's large wings
Wings that | could feel but not e q
tf.e yellow eyes alone sh0ne in the
thick gloom like the eyes Of some Vim
dictive demon, ] struck at il right
and left. The revolving cOmhaC lasted
SCme mompEtS-I grew sick anl iiZZy.
vet | bat;led OF rcckleSsly. At ,aSt,
thank heaven! the huge owl was VIII
qujshed; it flut1ered backwards aud
GowUwards, apparently exhausted.
giving one wild S"reCCh of hafit'ri
fairy. as its lamp-Iike eyes disappeared
il thP darkness. BrCathleSs. hut not
suOdued,-every ne"Ve in my body
q~uive:ipg witt, ex%c;tenent-I pursued
my way. as | thought, towards the
Stcne staircase, feeling the tir with
my outstrctched hands as | CROPPED
along. In a little while | met with an
obstruction. 1t was hard and cold-a
stone wall, srrcly! ! felt IL " and
down and found a hollow in 1t. Was
this the first step of the stairI | won
dcred. 1t seemed very Ligh; l touched
il cautiously. Suddenly I came in
contact with something soft and CLAM
my To the touch, like moss or we vel
Vet. lingering this with a kind OF
reDulsiOn, / soon traced out the OBJ
long shape of a coffin. CuriOusly
enough, l was not affected mGch by
this discovery. / found myself mUD0t-
onOusly counting the hits of raised
metal which served. as ! Judged. for
its characterization. Light pits length
wise-and the soft. wet stuff betwAe
-four bits ~acrOss-then q pang shot
through me, and l drew my hand
away quickly, as l considered-whOse
coffin was this? My fathers? Or was
l thus plucking, like a man in delir-
ium, at the fragments OF velvet on
that cumbrOus Oaken casket wherein
lay the ashes of my mothers per
ished beauty | reused myself from
the apathy into which | had fallen.
All the pains / had taken TO find my
way through the vault were wasted:
| was lost in the profound gloom and
knew not where TO turn. The horror
of my situation presented itself to me
with redoubled fierce. ! began to he
tormented with thirst. | fell on my
knees and grOaned aloud.
God Of infinite mercy ! 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 rue,
sweet angel, in that heaven where thy
spirit dwells at rest; plead for me and
save me. or let me die now and be tor
tuTed no morei'
/ uttered these words aloud, and the
sound of my wailing voice ringing
through the somber arches of the
vault was strange and full of fantas-
tic terror TO my ears. / knew b a
were my agony much further pro-
longed l should go mad. / dared not
picture to myself the frightful things
OF which a maniac might be capable
.L,, r- Ia utroh a nIana Of 1arEDaSS
and death, with moulding corpSes for
companions! i 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-
uuisite far-off floating voice Of cheer
was that / raised my head and lis
tened. entranced!
jug, jug. jug! lCdola, lodola!
trill HILL! sweet. sweet, sweet"
1t was a nightingale. Familiar, de-
licious, angel-throated bird! How i
blessed thee in that dark hour of de-
spairi How | praised God for thine
innocent existence. How / sprang up
and laughed and wept for joy, as, all
unconscious Of me, thou didst a
out a shower of pearly warblings on
the DTbdSl OI tue SDoLllth an litaf
emily messenger of consolation Even
now l think Of thee with tenderness;
for thy sweet sake all birds possess
me as their w~orshipper; humanity
has grown hideous In my sight. but
the singing-life OF the woods and hills
how pure, how fresh-the nearestg
thing to happiness on this side of
heaven!
A rush Of strength and courage in
vigorated me. \ new idea entered my
brain. | determined to follow the
voice of the nightingale. 1t sang on
sweetly. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / began
afresh my journeyings through the
darkness. / fancied that the bird
was perched on one Of the trees
outside the entrance of the vault, and
IL | tried 10 get within closer hearing
of its voice. / should most likely be
thus guided TO the very staircase L
had been so painfully seeking. L
stumbled along slowly. i felt feeble,
and my limbs shook under me. This
time nothing impeded my progress;
the nightingale's liquid notes tioated
nnarar aud naarpr and hone almost