The Elbert County tribune., 1904-01-07

ne felt himself falling falling from
an Unreasonable height-and woke,
What hideous dream" he
thought How weird-how awful
how real, would rather lie awake
the whole night through than dream
Just such another. wonder what the
time is?''
He felt for his watch and the
matches. and struck light. Just half
past three-no more. AS he restored
the articles again to their places. he
thought he heard faint sounds OF
movement in the next room.
Evidently am not the only rest.
less person he said to himself as he
lay down again. Il have companion
in misfortune Tomorrow morning
we shall be able to compare expert
ences. Suppose / were to knock at
the wall and speak to him? But then
might disturb someone else and
alarm them. That would never do. !
expect II must have been the cucum-
Der that gave me the nightmare !
hope | sha'n't have another such
dream; II do I'll never touch cucum-
Der any more as long as | live" His
eyes closed, and in few moments his
deep and regular breathing showed
that he had again fallen asleep.
And again he dreamt. and the
dream was as follows:
He was lying in his bed, or at least.
SO he thought. and. after while, IT
seemed to him that II became very
hard and narrow, so that he had no
room to move in 1t. 1t was also very
dark He tried to turn over upon his
side, but found, as in the other dream
that he could stir neither hand nor
foot And what appeared to him a
long time, he began to hear sounds
over his head. Sometimes In one
place. sometimes in another. and at
the same time he began to experience
a difficulty in breathing And still the
one hammering-of some one ham.
niaring nails
The sound of some one hammering
nails into a coffin,
And with that. all at once, the awful
truth broke upon him. He was dead.
and they were mailing him up in his
coflin-dead,
His heart stopped beating as he
grasped the full horror of the situa-
tion.
They were burying him alivei oh,
harrible,-horrible,
In vain he tried to burst the bonds
of the insensibility in which he was
held. In vain he made frenzied ef-
forts to cry aloud. The most frantic
endeavors were unavailing. He was
IL.
smallest movement. Then II seemed
as though some one were trying 20
raise the lid of the coffin. There was
faint. crealSing sound-a faint glim
mer OF light was perceptible overhead
II increased and widenedi Oh, joyi
He was sayed-saved, The coffn-lid
was raised little by little-higher and
higher-in another moment he should
be freei
1t was done. He saw face bend
ing over him--a familiar face-Ae
face of an old friend. Already he hail
ed him in his heart as his benefactor.
his deliverer. Then-what were those
words he heard? Words he had heard
before-when was It?
You can ruin me whenever S,u
pitdotf but HoW sou ait III my pSN-
er!"
The lid was clapped down again,
leaving him in utter darkness. The
hammering began again. He made
one last tremendous effort and woke
Woke to find himself sitting bolt
upright, with the perspiration stream.
ing from him. Woke to find the man.
whose voice even now seemed to ring
in his ears as he bent over the open
coffin, standing beside his bed, in the
faint, grey light of morning.
What brings you here?" gasped
Mr.. Burritt. as soon as he had realized
the fact that the terrible ordeal he
had Just passed through was only a
dream.
II couldn't sleep" was the response,
''and | couldn't lie still any longer
SO ! came to see whether you were
awake
ITO be continued)