Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-12-03


asleep, with the whistle in my hand
and my feet pressed against the panels
of the door I had set myself to guard.
How deep that sleep was or how long /
can only judge from the state Of emo
tion in which l found myself when !
suddenly woke. was sitting there still,
but my usually calm frame was in vi
olent tremble and found it difficult to
stir, much more to speak. Some one or
something was at my door.
An instant and my powerful nature
would have asserted itself, but before
this could happen-Hannah having con
fessed to me afterward that she had put
a few harmless grains Of morphine into
my tea-the stealthy step drew nearer
and heard the quiet, almost noiseless,
insertion of key into the lock and the
quick turn which made me prisoner.
This, with the indignation it caused,
brought me quickly to myself. So the
door had key after all, and this was the
use it was reserved for. Rising quickly
to my feet, l shouted out the names Of
Loreen, Lucetta and William, but re-
ceived no other response than the rapid
withdrawal Of feet down the corridor.
Then ! felt for the whistle, which had
somehow slipped from my hand, but
failed TO find it in the darkness, nor
when went to search for the matches
to relight the candle 1 had left standing
on table near by could by any means
succeed in lighting one, so that l found
myself shut up in my room, with no
means Of communicating with the world
outside and with no ligat to render the
situation tolerable. This was having the
tables turned upon me with vengeance
and in way for which I could not ac-
count l could understand why they
had locked me in the room and why
they had not needed my cry Of indigna-
tion and appeal, but 1 could not COM
prehend how my whistle came to be
gone nor why the matches which were
plentiful enough in the safe refused one
and all to perform their duty.
On these points I must be satisfied
before / proceeded to invent some way
out of my difficulties. So, dropping on
my knees by the chair in which I had
been sitting, began quiet search for
the petty object upon which, neverthe-
less, hung not my safety perhaps, but all
chances of success in an undertaking
which was every moment growing more
serious. I did not find it, but I did find
where it had gone. In the floor near the
door my hand encountered after awhile
a hole which had been covered up by q
rug which l distinctly remembered
having pushed aside with my feet when
| took my seat there. 1t was not large,
but it was deep, SO deep that my hand
failed to reach to the bottom Of it, and
into this hole by some freak Of chance
Il have noticed in my short but event
full life that chance, or rather let me
call it Providence, for there can be no
such thing as chance, frequently seems
to lend itself to the cause we are fight
ing against-had slipped the small whis-
tie l had so indiscreetly taken into my
hand. The mystery of the matches was
less easy of solution; so let it 60 after
moment of indecisive thought and
bent my energies once again to listen,
when suddenly and without the least
warning there rose from somewhere in
the house a cry so wild and unearthly
that l started up appalled,, and for a
moment could not tell whether this was
some fearful dream was laboring un-
der or a still more fearful reality.
A rushing of feet in the distance and
an involuntary murmur of voices soon
satisfied me, however, on this score, and
drawing upon every energy possessed
again l listened for a renewal Of the
cry which was yet curdling my blood.
But none came, and presently all was
as still as if no sound had arisen to dis
turb the midnight, though every fiber
in my body told me that the event /
had feared-the event of which hardly
dare mention the character even to my
self-had taken place, and that l, who
was sent there to forestall it, was not
only prisoner i'll my room, but prls-
oner through my own folly and my In
ordinate love of tea.
Tie anger with which contemplated
this and the remorse felt at the conse-
ouences which had befallen the lnno-
cent made ME very wide awake indeed,
and after an Intellectual effort to make
nv voice heard from the window and
various other small attempts of which
I am not proud enough to relate l called
my usual philosophy to my aid and said
that since all this had happened and l
was shut up there and had to await
events like any other weak and defense
less woman 1 might as we'll do it with
calmness and in a way to win my own
approval ut least. The dupe Of William
and his sisters, I would not be the dupe
of my own fears or even Of my own re-
grets.
The consequence was renewed equa-
nimity and gentle brooding over the
one event of the day which brought no
regret in its train The ride with MIR.
Trohm and the acquaintanceship which
it had led to were topics upon which
could rest with great soothing effect
through the weary hours stretching be-
tween ME and daylight. Then of Mr.
Trohm let me think as far as modesty
would permit, since shame, trouble and
horror lay i'll other directions into which
my now vividly aroused thoughts might
stray
Whether the almost deathly quiet
into which the house had now fallen OF
the comforting nature of my medita'
tions held inexorably to the topic l had
chosen acted as soporific upon me
cannot tell, but greatly as l dislike tc
admit it, feeling sure that you will ex.
los. III