The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-06-21
DR.. Kingsbury's Letter

he presented himself to the horror
stricken youth as one entire mass of burn
ing Kissing fire from ,..foat to feet. 1t
then gathered the folds and closely en-
yeloping itself, it walked away with meas
ured step and with signs of the deepest
anguish and most consummate misery-a
human being undergoing the penal fires
of the damned with eternal flames ever
preying upon its vitals, always consuming
but get never consumed. Filled with the
intensest horror and the profoundest
amazement, the young man FASTENED to
retrace his steps toward the entrance and
to entreat for his liberty He found a
warder at the gate, with giant proper
tlons, and with the most diabolcal face
Approaching him the young man said Il
beg you to allow me to pass through the
gateway for l am greatly hurried"
mo" was the abrupt, stern reply. After
short pause, which appeared an age to
the earnest and alarmed youth, from the
silence and solemnity of death that
reigned supreme, the awful figure added
There is not the most distant hope OF
release to those who have been once doom
ed to this place. If you had looked above
the door, ere you entered, you would have
seen inscribed in the red letters of death
ABANDON HOPE, ALL YE WHO EN-
TER HERE" The young man with ex-
IRENE trepidation and anxiety exclaimed
But l ought to be set at liberty. My
curiosity alone led me hither. l am still
in the flesh have never died | have
never been damned to hell. l am an
inhabtant of the ball in space called
earth. / have never been damned to
durance vile in this place of horror, Of
desolat1on and of woe. How then can
you be so unjust as to offer to detain
me? Let me so then, | beg, / implore you. :
''On one condition only" said the grim
warder--''mark me well-on but one con-
dition will set you at liberty. Swear to
me here and now, on your most sacred
honor and in the presence of His Divine
Majesty your Maker, that you will return
hither to this very spot, at the expiration
of twelve month from this day"
Burning with awe and anxiety to regain
his liberty in so much peril and on any
terms, he pledged his solemn word that
he would be faithful to the hour OF meet
ing. The very excessive agitation of his
spirits, at this moment awakened him
from his dream. He felt great throb OF
pleasurabe emotion, a deep glow of
ecstatic delight animated his entire form
at the conviction that after all it was
only a dream. Yet still through the long
drawn hours of the night those dreadful
words rang again and again in his cars
Swear to me that you viii return hith-
er to this very spot-at the expiration of
twelve months
When the morning came he told his par
ents of his most extraordinary, most aw-
full dream. They seemed surprised at its
singularity, but failed to discover any
warning voice in it. He soon gathered
around him some of his lght-hearted
thoughtless, needless boon companions, and
entertained them with rehearsal of his
last nights adventures. 1t was better
than a gay, adventurous comedy, and
they all made merry over it then, as they
did often afterward. They relished it bet
ter than a giddy crowd now enjoys trav-
cling show or a silly, debauched carnival
display. But in spite of the hiarity of
reckless companions and the testing way
with which our hero was wont to relate
his marvellous dream. thc-o v-as Turk
ing, a profound fear, clear sense of
oppression he could not shake of entirely
IA sort of unbroken nightmare horror
upon him. He, however, took no warning,
ceased not his abandoned life of reyelry
and song. But the handwriting continued
upon the wall.
Month after month passed away, until
nearly twelve months had elapsed since
the fateful night he dreamed so strange
ly. The oppression and melancholy of the
young man had deepened and increased
with the passing days. His heart tainted
within him whenever the stern, awful
oath was recalled" Swear to me that you
viii return hither to this very spot-at
the expiration of twelve months" 1t
hung over him in ominous words and the
shadows deepened as the sorrows intensi-