Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1903-10-21
AMONG DEAD MEN
Was it q dream


As opened my eyes a strange
spectacle presented itself. In front
of me was scaffold supporting &
guillotine. A man was pinioned
with his neck resting on the block
the tall executioner standing ready
to pull the cord and liberate the
shining blade that hung aloft.
Around were grouped a priest and
state officials dressed in French cos
tunes of the last century, and the
pale moon shed its somber light over
all. In moment | rccollectcd that
must be in the chamber of horrors
of Pauls waxwork exhibition.
| was spending a week in town,
sightseeing. The preceding day had
been very fatiguing one, but | had
promised myself an evening at the
waxworks, and | had made arrange
ments for every other night during
my short stay, so | went.
There is nothing so firing as an
exhibition, no matter what its char
acter may be, and after walking up
and down long galleries and climb
ing and descending stairs for several
hours | was completely dead beat"
Consequently when | found large
block of wood-an executioner's
block, | have since ascertained it to
have benin a secluded corner of
the chamber of horrors, / sat down
to rest.
| must have Immediately fallen
asleep and escaped the notice of the
attendants when they closed the
building for the night. When l
awoke, the chamber was as still as
tomb, and bright moonlight,
streaming in through the tall win
dow, gave the place a weird and UNI
earthly appearance as it fell on the
hideous throng Of The worlds great
criminals.
| rose from my seat and glanced
around. | am not a supcrstitious
man, nor am | particularly nervous,
but a queer sensation swept over me.
Perhaps the night air was chilly.
Perhaps had taken cold. | must
get out of the place somehow.
The moon was now hidden behind
a bank of clouds, and the place be-
came quite dark. stretched out
my hand, and it touched something.
Ugh Cold, like the flesh of a dead
mani 1t was the face of one of
that murderous crew.
What fool was They were
only wax figures; that was all, of
course. tried to laugh at my abb
'urd situation, but the attempt was
4 failure and left me more uncom-
Portable than ever. Perhaps they
we're smiling at me in the darkness.
Absurd How could wax figures
smile?
And yet suppose that the spirits
If these evil men and women haunt
ID their counterfeit presentmcnts. .
living criminals, it was said, could
lot resist returning to the scenes {
# their crimes, and these mute stat !,
les were clothed in the very gar !.
nents in which the crimes had been !.
ommitted-garments from which Il
he guilty stains had never been Z
Tashed II
What was that? =
had taken hold of something y
lade of cold metal. Horrorl l felt v
to be one of the knives with which =
lurder had been committed. l was =,
eharng like an idiot. l knew it, v
nd | told myself so. But it was v
0 use. | could not help wishing ]
ere anywhere else. A vault or a
'ypt would be cheerful compared -
it'll this horrible place. The very .,
r seemed to smell of crime. l crept -
'rward until | came to some steps. ~
erhaps this was the way out. " "
ent up and reached out into the 20
lrkness. e
A handl A foot A body kneel- >.
g! Great heavens ] had ascend o.
the scaffold-was the one soil =; "a
ry living being present at that ~
'ful mute mummery going on in r.
G darkness of the night. q,
"This sort of thing leads to mad ~ ~
S." told myself as | crawed ~ ~
edward down the stairs. But what "a -,
Is to be done? | must get out OIL
mellow or my nerves would not
md the strain.
Never until now had realized ~;
W weak ones intellect really is. int
anybody had told me few hours IN
fore that ! had so much dormant Gid
becllity III me ! should have been an
lignant. | am, moreover, an i'm N,
native man, and imagination is a cd
rse on such occasions. 90
However, determined that | mo
uld not give way in this manner. III,
vancing in another direction, | "
S stopped by a wooden wall or
'tition. Just then the moon came oar
for a few moments, and | saw tn
It | was looking into a prisoners ;de
*. al
There, close in front of me, stood fro
ae. Of the men and. women whs tut