The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-09-23

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walls. notwithstanding the harm Of il, I
would grope around for the hammer
and pound on the door, only to choke
more and to hear the muffled thuds or
the responses from the outside.
"Two feet from light and air and
love and life and utterly shut OF from
them all. 1t was horrible to think Of.
and lam sure thousand times worse
than if ! had been entombed in q mine
ten thousand feet deep or had been
buried in the sands Of o desert a hum
dred miles from water and green trees.
Slowly 1 felt my strength going, and
at last could not so much as respond,
even at long intervals, to the knocking
on the outside, and sank to the floor
with my head against the cold steel
wall between the light OF the world
and the darkness Of death. As I lay
there painting heard the dull thud Of
the beating on the outside, and it sDon
came as beating of time, or rather
eternity; o measure Of music to soothe
me to sleep, and sank into semi-con-
sciousness and seemed to be dreaming.
"You know, they say that when q
man is dying under unnatural or vio-
lent circumstances all his past life
comes back TO him, even in minute de.
tail. 1t did not quite appear to me
that all my life was passing in review
before me in my dungeon, but it did
seem as if the youth of my life had
come back to me, and / thought I was
once again in that little telegraph sta
ton on the Missouri River catching
the clickity-click click of the instru-
ment on my table, and which always
seemed to me as important as ships
deck is to an admiral. 1 seemed to
be hearing the calls Of operators all
along the line, but gave no response,
and then the scene changed, rs it does
so suddenly and unaccountably in
dreams, and was at my instrument in
the bank listening with all q lovers
eagerness for the first call of Kate
Vernon's over the wire l had put up
for her.
"It was very faint and far off, and I
think I must have smiled as 1 bent my
ear closer to the instrument to catch
the sound, having in mind my sweet
heart at the other end of the wire es-
saying her first attempt in handling
the lightning. For a moment it was
vague enough, with its modest little
clickety. click click, but all at once it
seemed to say something to me. l
could not distinguish at first, but
presently it took form and I could
catch the cali I had taught her. 1t
was the letter X, repeated over and
over again. Just as all operators do
when they want some other operator
who is not at his desk to respond
promptly. Then it was the clickety-
click-clic of the letters that formed
my name, and smiled to think that
as child learning to talk says man.
ma first, so Kate was saying first in
this new language of the wires that
she was learning the name of hef
teacher.
"But there was something more
than dream in the sensations I was
experiencing. 1 could feel that it was
something more than o dream. I
knew that some sound must be shaping
my dream for me, and without know
ing what l was doing and with an odd
feeling of the very peculiar key We
had put on our instruments I took up
the hammer and sounded my cali to
Kate, in response to what 1 was hearing.
Instantly the cali was repeated and
my name followed. Now l seemed to
throw off the nightmare, and I reused
myself. Striking with the hammer Oh
the door called to Kate by name, and
then distinct enough, though mutiled,
I heard the clickety-click- click on the
outer door, and Kate was telling me in
the mysterious manual of Morse, Il
message of courage and hope.
"And what wonderful strength is
hope. Now that l had established
communication with the outside world,
l took great courage Immediately,
though l did not understand just what
or how was going to do to be saved,
for 1 confess that was not very clear
headed at this time. I thought only
of telegraphing to st. Louis for the
combination, and had actually sig
nailed to Kate to do 30 at once, and I
would try to keep mp until word was
received, when to my indignation, she
laughed at me over the wires, that is
the door plate, and told me to telegraph
right then and there to her what the
combination was and she would do the
rest.
"How plain and simple that was,
and I had never thought of it. Neither
had / thought of telegraphing TO her
from my prison, and it was only be-
cause she was woman that she ever
thought of sending word through that
dull door to me with hammer. She
has since told me that some men never
will learn anything unless it is ham
mered into them, and I never say Q
word. Anyway, when three minutes
after had told her what the combin-
alton was, the door opened and fell
forward into the fresh air of the world
of sunshine. Kate caught me in her
arms, and it was her voice I heard