The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-05-07
WI HIN AN ACE
CHAPTER I.
The Day After Death.

CeilnS III ana out OF the deserted
mouse from whence it had been driven,
uncertain to go or stay, giving me the
talntest hint of my identity, to leave
me again in darkness, yet returning
each time with greater confidence,
until it finally stays to feebly spread
Itself from heart to brain, and l
realize that l am L!
Next l try to move. though it costs
me an effort. My body feels as if
swollen to an enormous size. There
Is not space for it in this TRANCE
abode. am oppressed for space. l
strive to make elbow-room. What is
this? | lack room. | stretch out nv
stl11ened arms, and come in conta@t
wlth-great God! 1t is my colin. l
am ali there now! From all nv pores
the cold sweat is bursting. NV brain
is on hre as recollection rusl.es upon
me-the gallows, my death-agony,
and the appalling conviction that |
have been cut down to soon and
buried alive!
In my wild anguish l fight out
madly with both hands. But, strange,
fight the air! There is no lid. then,
to my coffin! l writhe myself into a
sitting posture. and there dawns for
me a glimmer OF nope.
Cautiously l begin to feel about me,
growing every moment more mystifcd,
Tor my hand comes in contact with a
wooden surface, on which the coffin
evidently stands. Though I am in nv
coffin, l certainly am not in my grave!
Where. then, am l?
"A ray of light shoots suddenly from
oehlnd me across the gloom. reveal
Ing one side OF the rough deal shell in
which l sit a strip of the table on
which 1t rests. and facing me Il door.
| follow with my tortured eyeballs the
beam. and see hat it is the moon
shining through a small window.
There is a door and a window, then.
IN my mysterious abiding place! The
hope leaps instantly into my vigorous
being, and with it the determination
to escape. | feel strongly about this
second life of mine, that it is a divine
gilt direct from the hands of Gou. 10
have to yield it up now would be to
die ten thousand deaths. NV
other life l risked on a forlorn hope,
and lost. There was justice in it. I
knew the penalty, and had counted
the costs. l suffered death in its most
degrading, most awful form, and have
therefore paid in full. l have salts
fed the law; therefore this life I hold
is all my own, and to the last drop of
my blood | will protect and defend it.
This is my view Of the case, but as the
Russian government would assuredlv
take a different one, the sooner
| get my precious self out of Ibis. and
hidden away from its ken, the better.
Still sitting up in my coffin. I try by
successive efforts Of my confused brain
to guess at my situation.
Presently l begin to scramble out of
the coffin, and feel my way to the edge
Of the table next the door. will try
it first though Tam sure it will be lock-
ed. Idrop my stitfened legs to the floor.
Just as | thought; 1t is fast. The
window, then, or-God knows what.
Blindly, and clinging to it for sup
port-fOr now thai | am in motion |
reel like a drunken mani make the
1alf circuit of the table, reach the
window, and seek with my shaken
fingers for button or hasp, and there
is a rush of cool night air on my brow.
1t revfVes me somewhat and now for
1T! l set my teeth and raise myself
with my hands by the frame. thrust
ing out my head and part of my Shout
ders. Then | pause to gather up my
forces. Something taps my crown.
making nv heart lean tn NV mouth
1t is only the swaying Dough of a tree!
Another violent effort and my shoul-
ders stick fast!
| strain every sinew. There is a
cracking and crunching which | mag
inc to be my shoulder-blades, and I
prcipitate forward, carrying the win.
dow frame with q crash to the ground,
where l lie, cut, bruised and painting;
expecting each moment to hear the
stir of aroused and excited humanity.
Yet strange inconsistency of human
nature, in spite of my sufferings and
my supreme anxiety. the ludicrous-
ness of my situation strikes me, and I
shake with hysterical laughter. as l
picture the sensation | would create if
found. A dog banks. l lie motionless
and await the issue. in fact. at this
moment if the whole legion of the
Russian police were on my track, and
a step would save me l could not take
it. | have, however, one source of
oongratulation. that a corpse being
beyond suspicion-least of all a hanged
one-a disturbed household would
scarcely be likely to seek for a possible