Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1896-01-16
NIGHT IN A DUNGEON.

OF the lir'lo hair covered trunk up in the
attic perhaps tho reason it had escaped
notice VS. Rat tho trunk was lined with
paper o@ nearly the same color. However
that may be, none of US had ever seen it
before, and when on that rainy afternoon
Ne werr all gathered in the sitting room
Aunt arriet opened it.
~ J. IN your great grandfather's hand
writinc" she said, and of course we all
crowded around to sec it. :" Your great
Frandfat her was a Frenchman, and of
course this IS written in French. This
brougl forth number Of disappointed ex
ciamat ions. but when Aunt Harriet add
ed, And Il you wish I will translate it as
go along" the faces of the group bright
ened, ana all settled themselves coInforta-
bly, to bear what Great grandfather D'Al-
mar had to tell.
- II looks as if it were q story of an adj
venture which befell him, said Aunt
Harriet turning the yellow leaves over
1ei>urvly l did not know that anything
ever happened to him. He was supposed
20 have been buried in his books all tho
time But now for the manuscript If
am a little slow in reading, you will
know HAT it Is because | cannot under
stand g.Audfathcr> French:
II MS by a piece q i'll luck that I at
las fell INTO the dukes hands. He had
dong :, r. nt TO do me some harm in pay
me- be trick l nlavcd him in nun
nin- Ell with the woman he loved, but fer
10 years lad avoided lin ard escaped
his vengeance. At last. however, | WAS
shared i.e two Of the dukes retainer~,
and borg blindfolded, WAS conveyed
whittier snow not. for when he haHdage
We REM, I'd I was being led through
Iarra $50: .0ll, and my conductors N9e-e
making o. to thrust me into a narrow
GunEeoa sAIch one of them unlocked. Ii
was of I1, avail To reason with the men.
Thev wr-' under the dukes orders and
aaara u, . obey him.
S4fa., closed the door upon me and
YuShs,. re bolts in place with crash,
ard VS. alone. The dungeon was en-
Sir j. r' OF stone, with bat one small
md :ly barred window. near the
roof Ite only piece Of furniture in the
ruvm was :, small stone bench, upon which
I sc..,.7i myself 10 think over the sudden
rirega. aice which had placed me in this
zstrat - and unpleasant position.
l knew the duke TO be a stern, hard
man, and he would not spare one who had
wrongea him, as he considered had done.
htrrv was not to be looked for Ny only
salvation lay in escape. If / failed to es-
cape, my poor wife and children at home
y llld net know what bad become of me.
Eov long sat there lost in thought l do
not know, but sense of hunger first
caused me to raise my head and examine
nly prison TO discover If any food had been
LEFT for me.
No bit of anything was to be seen. In
fac, tie cell was bare Of everything ex-
cept the bench on which 1 sat, and that
was merely a projection from the stone
wall. had always been accustomed to
have ( cd things 70 eat when I wanted
them, md the thought of being without
food f4r any length Of time was not very
pleasant. In fact. I had never been with
out ray regular three meals a day.
There seemed no possible way of escape,
and all I could hope for was clemency from
The duke. l thought he would hardly dare
kin Ine in his own house. He might per
haPs tay 10 starye me TO death But IT
these thoughts I cliuched my hands and
shut my toe:h fr:uly together | would
not give up without d struggle
The moonlight commenced 10 shine in
ahrcl-, the bars Of The window. first in
sick little sss.cakS. and then ~ the moon
rose higher in y blaze Of white light. There
was some companionship in this and it
cheered me little, and as the feeling Of
hunger had almost passed away | deter
1iued to make myself as comfortable as
possible with the limited resources within
reach. Removing my coat, ! rolled it up
30 form u pillow, and then after Offering
1p my customary prayer l lay down upon
the stone bench, and in a few minutes, like
a tired schoolboy, I was lost in a deep and
&dreamless sleep.
How long slept I cannot say, but after
time ! awoke with a sensation as if
were choking. The sensation did not cease
when l left my improvised bed. 1t seemed
rather 10 increase. Why this should be
could lot discover, until as I again sat on
Abe bench l perceived peculiar vapors IS
suing, as listened, from the stone sides OF
my prison. On closer examination l found
In the walls at each end of my cell num-
Der Of small holes, which were without
doubt con nscted with fiPes on the outside
of HE H..l
\ sudden horrible suspicion assailed me.
Vas tie duke trying to externinate me
with the fumes of some deadly gas? | tried
~ reach up and stop the holes with my
Hands. by standing on tiptoe l could just
reach Lwo, but was forced TO withdraw my
hands immediately as a stream Of steam
was forced against them. Almost suffo-
Gated with the fumes, l rushed to the
bench, and mounting it managed to grasp
the iron bars of the window and pull my
head up to breathe some Of the fresh air,
This was not an easy task, but by forcing
an arm out and around bar l managed
to cling there where l could breathe the
pure air.
Hanging in this way gradually became
insensible, and when l regained conscious
ness l found, to my great delight, that the
instrument of torture had been removed.
Could it be possible that the duke was
watching me from some concealed hole
and was INJECTING this punishment upon
NE for the pleasure of seeing me sufTori
1t made my blood boil to think of such a
thing
was beginning to regain strength and
-courasc. WHOM q new Gread presented il