The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-09-03
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Have you nsysr read of 4 asson,ss
hair turning gray iii d Sing Night q
of course yoh hAaye. Ths old story;
hooks are full Of, such tails. I cad
remember dozens Of themstoris
reeking with gore and dank with
dungeons and gfewsome with ghosts
and other unca4ny things.
We were on the roof Of the cathe-
dral at Milan. We he'd climbed the
stairs in the late afternoon Of d
beautiful spring day after paying
the custodian the insignificant price
he asked for all the glories visible
from the elevated station. We had
looked through the telescope for an
other fee and had each assured the
others that we saw Mont Blanc per-
fectly well without for moment
believing what the others said or
convincing them that we told the
truth and had ended our climbs by
ascending to the highest point un-
der the lantern, if it is a lantern, by
the corkscrew staircase, which will
scarcely permit any but the thinnest
persons to pass when one is igping
up and the other coming down.
We were party Of four, and
when the roof was reacLed the
Youngest proposed ramble over
that portion Of the structure. To
this all but myself assented. I was
tired and proposed to rest awhile at
the foot of the tower stairs, where
the others were to pick me up on
their return, 80 that we might all
descend together. This was salts
factory, and off they started. \
For time I was quite comforta-
BILE and paid no attention to the
passage Of time, but I suddenly no.
ticed that it was getting dark and
that my companions had not re-
turned. / called to them first in
moderate tone Of voice, then more
loudly, but received no answer. II
Fearing that they would be be-
lated on the roof, I started in search
of them. I walked the entim length
Of the ridge Of the main roof and
peered down all the side PASSAGES in
the gathering dusk, but caught no
glimpse of my companions. Then I
descended to the roof Of the aisle
and made a search there, which was
also fruitless. I became alarmed as
the light failed and ran from one
point to another, calling out as-I
ran, until Ifound, to my great dis
tress, that I had lost my way. i.
could see far below mc the lights Of
the great city and hear the distant
rumbling of the carriages as they.
drove past on the stonystreets.
But I was as effectually lost for
the moment as if I had been in the
heart Of an African Jungle without
a compass and no Stanley on the
alert to hunt me up. In the excite
ment and despair which the con-
sciousness of this fact produced I
rushed about so wildly that / slipped
and fell on a long flight of stone
steps, wet with the dew which had
begun to fall. I was not conscious
of any serious injury from the fall,
but when I brought Dip at the foot
Of the stairs and tried to regain my
footing I found, tony despair and
horror, that 7 was utterly risabbilss risabbilss to
move my limbs Lwass psral1eaa pssr7aaliJ1ea.
The mental agony I suffered is.
1nconceivable. Y ct, cnriously enough.
| spent the first moments in specu-
lating as to the exact nature Of the
injury I had sustained. Had I bro
ken my back or simply injured my
spinal cord? I tried to recall what
l had heard my doctor friends say.
about injuries Of a similar charac-
ter, but could not seem to remember
anything definite. The words, 1ethe
fifth pair" fashed into my mind
and appeared ITO connect themselves
In some way with my condition, but
whether it was the fifth pair OF
nerves orribs or Of something else
1 could not make out.
l could not understand either.
how could have 55sSn 80 seriously
injured without any sensible shock,
but that my power Of locomotion
was gone there was no doubt. i
could move my hands, and I began
to speculate on The number Of things
one could do with one's handsalone.
This occupied me- for. what seemed
to be an hour, but as the train Of
thought was interrupted by q clock
striking the hour Of midnight Icon
cluded it must have been much lon
ger and wondered / had not heard
the preceding hours. 4
Suddenly the full horror Of my,
condition flashed upon me. was
not only doomed to remain where I
was, helpless and alone, during the