Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1904-09-15

watching me from some concealed
hole and was, inficting this punish
ment upon me for the pleasure of
seeing me suffer? 1t made my blood
boil to think of such a thing.
l was beginning to regain
strength and courage when new
dread presented itself. As | lay OF
the floor of the cell was Mortified
to see the roof slowly but surely
descending upon me. 1t was mat
ter of but a few minutes when my
life would I've crushed out by that
great weight of stone. had heard
of similar means being emplo"ed to
punish criminals i'll the Italian
prisons and it had always made me
| faint and sick to think of such a
thing.
Down it came, slowly, but not for
moment staying its deadly ap-
proach. l could touch it now with
nv hand as | stood up. | fell on
my knees TO pray. When again
stood upright my head struck the
still descending roof. l endeavored
to stand straight, using all my
might to resist the downward pres
sure, but in vain. Again | fell upon
m knees. The weight reached my
! head and pressed me farther down.
! | was now lying on my face. The
air felt hot and unbearable. turned
! on nv back and with my hands and
knees tried to push back or It leas,
stop the farther descent of that
awful wall.
As did so | thought | could hear
chuckling noise which sounded
like laughter. At length, in hope
less despair, Ia iii a"I a.":"!.od
the end. My bod was pressed geH"y
against the floor. The weight on
nv chest was so great that | could
not breathe. | made a violent Ct
fort to scream, then moaned family.
and that was all | was conscious OF.
That was not the end, however,
The bright sun shining into my
place of torture and imprisonment
reused me to consciousness and
brought back the awful remem-
brance of the evening before. The
roof had been raised to its original
position and there was nothing to
sLo" that it had ever moved. My
head throbbed with fever and a
burning thirst parched my throat
, and mouth. | cried aloud for some
one to bring me water, but there
was no answer.
Then | rose and flung myself
with all my weak. strength against
the boltcd door, but it gave not an
inch. | staggered to the seat and
fell upon it, with my face agairs!
the stones, in order to gain some
slight relief from the GOODNESS. |
placed my tongue and lips against
the stone, but it gave only momen-
tary relief.
Hank! What was that: Surely
it was the sound of running water.
What other torture would they offer
me? | wondered. How close the wa
ter sounded. | turned my head and
saw, to my delight, streams of pure
water flowing from the holes Of
which | have already spoken. |
flung myself to the ground with a
cry and commenced to lap up the
water which was fast covering the
floor. The fend. 1t was not water,
but some fiery liquid which scorched
and shriveled up the skin of my
mouth. | flung myself back on the
seat and resolved not to move again,
but patiently await death.
But the water still kept on flow
ing. What did it mean: 1t was
creeping slowly up to the bench.
Was drowning in this fiery liquid
to end my sufTerings at last? Well.
| would lie still and let its mission
be accomplished without a struggle.
But this was impossible. The in
stinct of self preservation was still
strong within me, and | stood up.
The water was now UP to my waist
and rising. What would be the use
of prolonging life by swimming in
this liquid? | might as well give up
at once and die. Still | struck out
with my arms and tried to keep my
head above the liquid. In my feeble
state it was hard work.
] tried to float. Ny head sank.
and again | put forth my little
strength and managed to keep on
the surface for a short time. Their
| felt that | couldn't hold out any