The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-09-22

DaCk, though L mad SAID g00d-Dye 10
him as ] went out, nor was there any
one in the bank, and as i sat q moment
at my own desk noticed paper that
had been left there by mistake. got
up at once to put it where it belonged
in the safe, and as / went into the
vault / did not observe that all the
books had been put away, though /
could hear old Jock, in the little room
back, telling his boy about sweeping
out.
"Tbe paper belonged in pigeon
hole far back in the vault and high up,
so that was compelled to go up step
ladder we keep there, and about the
time had got myself hid away in the
shadow of the big outer door swung 10
and could hear old Jock turn the COM
bination out of joint. ! yelled out,
but 1t was too late, even If the old
mans ears had been sharp, and found
myself in the dissgreeable predicament
of being shut up In my own safe and
no visible means Of escape. At first it
struck me as ludicrous; then it became
serious, and in few moments had
gone 10 thinking as those people think
who are confronted with tremendous
moments in their lives. soon decided
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
in the vault. How long it would be
until Miss Vernon returned, or what
chance of the old man still being there
when she came now began TO de-
mand discussion in my brain, and
for minute or two stood still in the
thick darkness and listened to my
heart beating. Then l remembered
that we always kept hammer in a
pigeonhole near the door, and cropping
around found it and at once began TO
pound on the door. Immediately re-
spouse came, but. of course, did not
know who was giving it, though evi.
IDENTIFY the 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 outside. But it was not getting out
of my prison, and confinement was be-
coming irksome.
"For the first time now L heard
family the sound of human voices call
ing to me, but 1t were as if they were
miles away, and l could not distinguish
whose they were, though thought l
knew Hates. l answered back, but
the place was 80 thick and heavy that
my voice frightened me, and l used the
hammar instead of calling. Up to this
time l had thoroughly realized what
my entombment meant, but now it
came upon me that the only man in
town except myself who knew the com.
bination had gone away for a vacation
to the seashore, and that with the door
alright, or practically 30, could not
live very great while in the vault.
Certainly 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. Indeed, if l stood it
for two hours, felt would be doing
well, for my pounding had filled the air
l had with dust, and it was nearly suf-
locating me. 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 as if to encourage me,
when, as they thought, / was losing
hope.
"This thought came to me with
shock 80 great that almost collapsed. I
caught at the sides of the vault in the
inky darkness and for minute be-
came deathly sick. Following this
came almost frenzy to yell and howl
and claw at the door and scratch at my
face and tear at my hair. had heard
of people doing that way and going
mad when lost in caves and such
places, and felt it coming on me in
that dreadful hole. To add to the hor-
rors of my situation, the air was grow
ing rapidly worse and l could not stand
up in the vault without feeling of the
most profound nausea. 1t was the nau-
sea of despair, if anybody has ever
analysed just what that is. At inter-
walls, Notwithstanding the harm of it,
l would grope around for the hammer
and pound on the door, only to choke
more and to hear the muflled thuds or
the responses from the outside.
1.-TWO feet from light and air and
love and life and utterly shut off from
them all. 1t was horrible to think OF,
and l am sure thousand times worse
than if had been entombed in mine
ten thousand feet deep or had been
buried in the sands of desert hun
dred miles from water and green trees.
Slowly felt my strength going, and at
last could not 30 much as respond,
even at long intervals, TO the 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 darkness of death. AS lay there
painting heard the dull thud of the
beating on the outside, and it soon
came as beating of time, or rather
eternity; measure of music to soothe
me to sleep, and l sank into semi-con-
seriousness and seemed TO be dreaming.
"You know, they say that when a
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 be-
fore me in my dungeon, but it did seem