Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-12-02


about the time had got myself hid
away in the shadow the big door
swung to, and could hear old Jock
turn the combination out of joint.
| yelled out, but it was too late, even
if the old man + ears had been sharp,
and found myself in the disagree
able prediCament of being shut up
in my own SAT" and ne NiSIhl" means
of escape. At first II struck mo as
ludiCrOuS. Then IT hrculur serious,
and III Il few moments | had gone to
thinking AZ those pUupl" think who
arc confronted with tremendous
moments III their lives. soon de
Cidcd that my only hope of getting
out was through Miss Vernon, who,
when she returned, would naturally
inquire for me- and in this way old
Jock would in time discover that he
} had shut me up III the vault How
long II would be until Miss Vernon
returned or what chance Of the old
man still being there when she
| came now began to demand discus
|
or two | stood still in the thick
darkness and listened to my heart
beating Then remembered that
we always kept Il hammer in u pi-
| ECOnhOlr near the door, and, cropping
around, found ii and at once began
to pound on the door. ImmcdhatC-
| ~ Il response came, but of course !
did not know who WAS giving it,
though evidently tn" boy, as the
old man could scarcely have heard.
This gave me hope at once, and
set up regular tattoo ON the door
with my hammer. to all of which
came the responses from the out
side, but ii was not getting mo out
of my prison, and continent was
| becoming irkSOme.
For the first time now l heard
faintly the sound of human voices
| calling to me, but it was as if they
were miles away, and l could not
distinguish whose they were,
though l thought knew Hates. !
answered back, but the place was
SO thick and heavy that my voice
frightened me. and l used the ham
mer instead of calling. Up to this
time l had not thoroughly realized
what my entOmbmcnt meant, but
now it came upon me that the only
man i'll town except myself who
knew the combination had gone
away for vacation to the SeaShOre
and that with the door alright, or
practically so, could not live
very great while in the vault, Ger
tainly not long enough to hear from
either the clerk on vacation or from
the people from whom we had
bought the safe in st. Louis. In
deed, if | stood il for two hours |
felt / would be doing we'll, for my
pounding had filled the little mir |
had with dust, and it was nearly
suffocating mo. The pounding from
the outside Increased the dust, too,
and, while l could prevent myself
from doing it and did stop, the very
fact Of my stopping made those on
the outside pound harder, rs if to
encourage mo when, as they
thought, l was losing hope.
This thought came 10 me with
shock So great that almost collaps-
cd. / caught ut the sides Of the
vault in the inky darkness, and for
n minute l became dcathly sick
Following this came almost n frenzy
to yell and howl and claw ut the
door and scratch my face and teal
at my hair. | had heard of people
acting 80 and gong mad when
lost in caves and such places, and
felt it coming on me i'll that dread
full hole. To add To the horrors of
my situation. the air was growing
rapidly woIse, and could not stand
up i'll the vault without feeling of
the most profound nausea. 1t was
the nausea of despair, if anybody
ever has analysed just what that is.
AT Intervals, Notwithstanding the
harm of it, | would grope around
for the hammer and pound on the
door, only to choke more and to
hear the mui1led thuds of the re-
sponsrs from the outside.
1.-TWO feet from light and air and
love and life and utterly shut of
fl ON them all. 1t WAS horrible to
think of, and am sure thousand
times worse than if had been bur
led Ill the sands of n deScl Il hun
drcd miles from water and green
trees. Slowly felt my strength 60
ing. and AT last could not SO much
rs respond, even at long intervals,
to tho knocking on the outside, and
l sank TO the floor with my head
against the cold steel wall between
the light of the world and the dark
ness of death. As lay there pant
| ing | heard the duh thud of the beat
ing on the outside, and il soon came
as n beating of time, or rather eter-
nifty, IL measure of music 10 soothe
me to sleep, and l sank away into
semiconsciousness and seemed to be
dreaming.
"You know they say that when a
man is dying under unnatural or
violent circumstances all his past
life comes back to him, even in mi
mute detail. 1t did not quite appear
to me that all my life was passing
III review before me III my dun
GeOn, but it did seem az if the yOut h
of my life had come back to me, and
thought | was once again III that
| little telegraph station on the Mis-
somi river catching the clickety