The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1901-12-26
An Adventure
ir, China ~ ~
Copyright. 1901, by Authors Syndicate

an interview with the American min
ister and standing there he expert
ences sense of relief at the accom-
| plishment of his mission, at the same
time being unable to resist a feeling
of triumph. He feels that it is not
given to many to outwit eastern d.
plomacy and oriental craft.
| He has been chosen for this deli
cate and dangerous work chiefly on
| account of his ia sliliarity with the
| topography of the country, having, in
his college vacations, accompanied a
friend who was engaged in civil en-
cheering in China, while devoting
| his own researches to ancient manu-
scripts of eastern poetry.
| Walking slowly and thoughtfully
through the streets of the Imperial
| City, he recalls the anxious, wan
faces of the legationcrs, who had
waited with such patience for help in
their more than dangerous situation,
and now, just as they were beginning
to lose hope, and all seemed dark, he
| felt exultant over the fact that he
| had been the means of casting ray
of light on their gloom.
His eXultation, however, is destined
to be shortlived. He suddenly feels
himself caught from behind, a strong
grip upon his throat, and, though he
struggles valiantly, he soon finds re-
sistance to be useless. He feels that
death stares him in the face, but it
developed later that his nationality
preserved him from such danger.
1t seemed that the authorities had
become suspicious and desired to ex-
tort from him any knowledge that he
might possess. They had no wish to
kill him, as his disappearance might
excite inquiry. They had not yet lost
all sense of future danger.
They were averse to adopting any
ordinary means of torture, as it
might leave signs which would fortify
his subsequent complaint and cry for
vengeance.
Therefore, with oriental subtlety,
they apply the sleep torture.
The sleep torture! Could mind OF
man conceive a more excruciating ag-
! ony? The victim is suspended in a
strong silken net swung from the
ceiling by slender cord of silk. 1t
cffectually confines its tenant.
He is excessively wretched, for he
has inadequate room.
Attendants are in evidence whose
duty it is to prevent sleep. They are
not to permit a moments uncon-
seriousness.
For more than AS hours the prison
err has not slept. Beginning at this
time, one of the attendants who pos
sessed psychic powers. thus describes
his sensations:
The man Is In pain. His limbs ache He
is oppressed with WEAKNESS More than
| this a dreadful desire overcomes him, 1t
is a longing for sleep. He cries out TO ms
gods, but they do not answer. He wonders
| why this SUFFERING has come unon him.
lie grapp,ls with Il as w..h a mad ami
nal. Still there Is no relief
Now he passes out Of this condition for
! q llttle while T. becomes aware Of bodily
suffering more keen than all he has en-
| cured.
II comes first Just above the eyes. "What
! Il that pain?" he cries. A knife of molten
m-tsI is thrust INTO his skull. The point
! break and is imoedded there. 1t spreads
| IT. quicksilver. His nerves shout and pro-
| $3.50 bit rly. The knife tries regain its
| ga. !. thrusts its haft within the
| ind The man feels such agony that his
| aI.,uagc supplies no words. He cannot
..,a, nor die, he wonders If within his grasp
| fiend Las seized him.
| l cannot tell more for the man has no
thoHghts. The roiseless lips with which
E= brain would speak are closed, and on
them all comes a seal, coined with blood,
| Married with unknown signs.
.,o% the man thinks again Riding upon
k.s lids he sees faint spscks. They are
| So, al black like those of SCOT So soft
| tEsv are that pain is not. Yet they be-
! Wider and confuse. They increase to mil
...s. from out the upper lid in trooping
| ty2des lacy pour, and falling down con-
| ce&. ..s world. He thinks they come from
III 'es within his temples, whose fires
80 ceasingly this procession of gloom.
He pays for change, and answering his
| prayer change comes quickly. Each speck
| takes upon 1t a brighter hue, and in mo-
ment tinge of fire pervades them all.
| They burn with glowing flames and now
the eyes are scorched and scanned with
| scars.
His thoughts change so that he for
gets his visions. How he longs for
sleep.
Fires burn up his blood. The
room swings around him. No, It
is he who reels and turns. He thinks
that he stands upon one foot so
| that only the heel rests upon the
floor. The other foot is lost. and
some giant hand is twisting him
swiftly,
Now he flies faster and faster,
He remembers as a child how this
was once play Yet never did he
spin as now. He rocks and stapgers.
The walls of the room disappear. He
is in space, rushing through the
! starry sky. He calls upon the name
of strange gods. He cries that the
chain of the bear is wound around
him; that Orion's club is torn away:
that worlds and consultations are
swept with him.
The scenes before him are but as
strings of gold and blue, flowing from
his eyes as he turns.
His brain is more confused, for he
dreams that he is the plaything of a
| child; giant top. The sky-dwel1ing