Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1904-07-27

/ of torture had been removed. Could
it be possible that the duke was
watching me from some concealed
hole ard was inficting this punish
ment upon me for the pleasure of
seeing me suffer? 1t made my blood
boil to think of such thing.
l vGs beginning to regain
strength and courage when a new
dread presented itself. As | lay on
the floor of the cell l was Mortified
to see the roof slowly but surely
descending upon me. 1t was a mat
ter of but few minutes when my
life would be crushed out by that
great weight of stone. | had heard
of similar means being employed to
punish criminals in 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
a moment staying its deadly ap-
| proach. | could touch it now with
my hand as | stood up. l fell on
| my knees to pray. When l 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 l fell upon
my knees. The weight reached my
head and pressed me farther down.
l was now lying on my face. The
air felt hot and unbearable. l turned
on my back and with my hands and
| knees tried to push back or at least
! stop the farther descent of that
awful wall.
As did so thought 1 could hear
a chuckling noise which sounded
like laughter. At length, in hope
less despair, lay still and awaited
the end. My body was pressed gently
against the floor. The weight on
my chest was so great that | could
not breathe. | made a violent eff
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 cy2ning before. The
roof had been raised to its original
position and there was nothing to
show 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 agains;
the bolted door, but il gave not an
inch. | staggered to the seat az
fell upon it, with my face again.
the stones, in order to gain SOM
slight relief from the GOODNESS. !
placed my tongue and lips against
the stone, but it gave only momen,
/ tary relief.
| 'Hark. What was that? Surely
it was the sound of running water.
What other torture would they oHci
me? | wondered. How close the Wa
ter sounded. | turned my head and
saw, to my delight, streams Of purc
water flowing from the holes o.
which | have already spoken. !
flung myself to the ground with "a
cry and commenced to lap up the
water which was fast covering Tx
floor. The fend. 1t was not water.
but some fiery liquid which scorched
and shriyeled 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 sufferings at last? Well,
| would lie still and let its mission
be accomplished without 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.