The Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1903-1909, 1905-11-07
Mr. rnprritt was getting sleepy at

last No d0uDt IL was submitting
which he had eaten at dinner that
had upset his digestion and filled his
mind with all these morbid fancies.
There was nothing like Indigestion
for making one see everything in
bad light.
Then he slept, and as he slept he
dreamed a dream.
He thought he was lying on the
edge of a precipice-a precipice which
went sheer down many hundreds of
feet. But although he occupied such
a dangerous position he felt no uneasi-
ness at first, only little gentle sur
prise as to what he was doing there,
and a little wonder as to what was
going to happen. 80
Then a hand came up and out of the
abyss and grasped him, drawing him
nearer and nearer to the giddy verge
of the precipice, and he felt himself
dragged slowly but surely to destruc
ton. In vain he clutched at the grass
and stones and projections OF the
cliff: ne was still drawn on, until, at
last he was poised upon the very
edge and could look down into the
depths of the chasm beneath For
| few seconds-during which he seemed
| to experience a lifetime of agony-he
| remained in that awful position. Then
he 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. ~ 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 it must have been the cucum
Der that gave me the nightmare, |
hope | sha'nt 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 a while, it
seemed to him that it became very
hard and narrow, so that he had no
room to move in it. 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
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
sound went on-the sound of some
one hammering-of some one ham
mering 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
coffin-dead!
His heart stopped beating as he
grasped the full horror of the stua-
ton. ..4 ... .. -.
They were burying him alive! Oh,
horrible! -horrible!
In vain he tried to burst the bonds
of the insensibility in which he was
held. In vain he made frenzied eff
forts to cry aloud The most frantic
endeavors were unavailing He was
unable to utter sound or produce the
smallest movement. Then it seemed
as though some one were trying to
raise the Lid of the coffin. There was
a faint, creaking sound-a faint glim4
mer of light was perceptible overhead.
1t increased and widened Oh joy!
He was sayed-saYed! The coffin-lid
was raised little by Iittle-higher and
higher-in another moment he should
be free s@4.45
1t was done. He saw a face bend
ing over him-a familiar faca-tha
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 you
please, but now you are in my DOW
er!"