The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-08-07

80 w hOAN Va ~
The place was very still. Iseem to hear,
as 1 did then, the dropping of the sands
in an hourglass somewhere near me, the
bleating of a lamb for it's mother, COM
ing, as it seemed, through an open
window. l became aware of the soft
opening and closing of a door. Some
body entered and stood by my side. One
finger was placed upon my forehead,
and the person drew a string down my
body to the extreme tips of my toes.
Then there flashed over me a frightful
idea. 1 was being measured for my cof-
fin. The people around me supposed me
"How had such a condition come to
pass? Had l fallen into the trance while
with strangers? Where was Rao? Where
was Cautley? I knew not. I could re-
member nothing of time or place pre-
vious to the attack. Now my suffer-
ings began in truth. I felt my hands
were neatly folded upon my breast and
my limbs Strengthened after the man.
ner of a corpse. The door was opened
again. I heard a low cry, and two warm
arms were placed under my head. 1t
was Mary. Oh, it was my wifei The
glorious sense Of relief which rushed
over me l cannot find words to de-
scribe. If my wife were by my side,
my friend and servant could not be far
away. With all my strength l streve to
speak to her-to open my eyes. 1t was
as if every muscle were held down in a
band of iron and my tongue were para
lyzed. But the worst was yet to m
Mary laid her warm cheek against my
brow and murmured strange, self CON-
demning words into my ear. I wanted
to shrek out that it was not, could not
be true, and then this man entered. He
spoke of me as one dead, and from his
conversation with my wife l knew that
horrid thing she had whispered was SO
indeed-that he had stolen her love
from me and there was a guilty under
standing between them. How he laugh
ed at Mary's fears, ridiculed her re-
morse! Nay, more, he even dared talk
of their future happiness together.
while knowing 1 could hear, that every
word ate through my heart, that he was
sending me to the most awful fate hu-
man being could suffer-the supremest
of mental torture. At that moment I
would gladly have damned my soul for
power to look once into his raven face
ere l laid him dead at my feet. Look
well at him, Peter, this Judas who be-
trayed his friend"
81 pray you let me speak one word in
my own Defense" stammered Cautley.
"Silence!'' cried Wayling, turning
Oh him like a mailman, all the loathing
he had depressed spreading over his face.
"When you might speak, you did not.
and you cannot now"
Cautley shrank from him, and his
head fell upon his knees in an attitude
of despair.
"No one else suspected was not ac-
tually dead, P" continued Wayling. 1.-THE
preparations for my burial in the ceme-
terry of that French village were hurried
as much as possible. Where was Rao
Singh meanwhile? Had his fealty been
purchased? I could not think so. Nay,
l felt sure some treachery kept him
from my side. An interval followed of
which l can recall nothing. From sheer
terror my senses must have left me dur
ing the burial. Suddenly I came back
to life and the power of motion. This
knew by slightly moving one of my fin
gers up and down. There was a quick
ening through all my nerves. The beat
ing of my heart sounded like the strokes
of a chisel. I remembered all, and at
once the question came, Where am /!
The awful uncertainty of that moment
made my flesh prickly and cold. Where
was l? I opened my eyes at length.
Darkness enveloped me, a silence that
could be felt. There are degrees of still
ness, but the absolute silence Of the
grave has no parallel in life. After a
convulsive effort / lifted my hand very
slowly until it struck the lid Of the
coffin. Oh, that moment! / cannot FIND
words to describe my sensations. Sweat
burst from every pore. My agony was
intolerable. Merciful God, to feel that,
though living, I was as really dead a!
the bones rotting in the next gravel A
nailed down coffin lid and six feet O.
clay separated me from the green earth
1 could fancy the leaves f1uttering il
the sunlight, children playing perhaps
within a few feet from where 1 lay.
"Oh, it was madness! / shrieked, ant
the sound was terrific in the marrow
coffin, but I knew with an agonizinl
helplessness it did not pierce beyond it
Then l grew frantic, yelled madly, con
%tinuously, called on God, tore at m,
graveclothes, beat my hands against tn
sides of my coffin, and with u strength
born of my need and despair tried t
force the lid. 1t gave way little by lit
tie with a grating sound, and PRESENT.
a handful of damp earth fell upon IN
= face. Then l saw there was no escape
!. not any. / must die. smother, like
i, rat in a hole. The agony l suffered wa
infinite, unt~ranslatable. The pressur
: on my chest--oh, l seem to feel it now
= suffocating, dying by inches! At last
heard a faint sound. As we'll as I coul
l shrieked again and waited, with wha
suspense you can dimly imagine. Th
sound became more distinct-a voice
1t seemed an eternity before the coffi
lid was torn back, and I felt myse
lifted, carried up, up-it seemed to N
j. into the ether of a new world. When
recovered, Rae Singh was bending owe
me, the stars were above, life about m,
a The delight was O much. Iswooned.
!, Peter had found himself creepin
nearer and nearer the edge of his cha,
4 as Wayling's narrative proceeded. A
= the last words, as the speaker sank baC
gasping, he bounded impulsively to h
" aldo an1 cauubt hic hand toaro roShir