The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-03-08
he held it over his head while with the
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Field Syndicate, Station w.


other he balanced the trestle.
Never, SO long as breath remains in this
body, will the memory of that face leave
me- Like demon it lit up with a sar
donical grin; the acme of revenge was
written in every lineament; an unnat-
ural glare cleaned from the distorted eye
balls; foam oozed from the corners of his
ghastly mouth; he seemed no more man,
but devil.
"Ha ha! har' he screamed, GIVE
got you-now the time to square old
scores By the gods, you We but min
ute to live; so if you've any prayers to say,
you'd d better be quick
Rooted to the spot, and with hair stand
ing on end, l essayed to beg him for my
life, but the words choked in my throat
and refused utteracne In vain | attempted
to call to the workmen on the opposite side
of the tower for help-my lips refused to
do their duty. With the desperation of
despair sprang forward, hoping to reach
the window, when the uplifted screw fell
with crushing force upon my right should
er, missing my head, at which it was lev
elled. At the same instant the trestle
tipped, and with my footing gone, [ wildly
flung my arms about.
Oh, the agony of that moment! Within
the fraction of second of time, there
passed in review before me every action OF
my whole life. No single one, however
trivial, failed to start up in exact rotation
as they had been enacted. Every thought
that had ever passed through my brain
stood before me in bold relief Apleasure,
Heavenly in intensity, attended the recol-
lection of every good deed done, and an
agony as bitter succeeded each thought,
word or deed which had not been in accord
with morality.
At last. after an eternity oftime crowded
into one second, the latest actions OF my
life passed in review, and as they passed
away my consciousness returned. Twas
but an instant of time, but who can meas
ure the distance traversed by thought in
that one instant? Slowly, like one awak-
ening from the influence of powerful
opiate, | began to think, uncertain if alive
or dead.
[ soon began to realize that [ hung sus-
pended in mid Lair, and discovered that in
my fall l had caught by the waistband of
my overalls to spike which had been left
by my workmep. Still my lips refused to
utter sound of alarm. Above me stood
Wilson. No relenting look, but the same
fiendish hatred beamed down upon me.
He'll lent him its attributes at that hour to
exult over me, with all its attendant hor
rors
Too far below the easement to reach it,
1 hung suspended by that brittle thread.
Presently the blood commenced rushing to
my head, and then slowly the band COM
menced to rip, stitch at first, then, as if
gathering strength, two and three at a
time. A few more breakings of the thread,
and knew that would be dashed to the
hard pavement one hundred and fifty feet
below.
All this time which occupied but few
seconds, yet which appeared of endless
duration, | had been offering to God my
prayers for the reception Of my SOUL
Another break, and my life hung on one
thread Casting one more look above, my
eyes, burning with pain, and almost blinded
by the rushing Of blood, rested upon that
same dreadful face. [ once again prayed
to God and closed my eyes. The last
thread had parted, and DOWNTOWN
down-until my brain whirled, and it
seemed as if the reverberations of ten
thousand belching cannons were rolling
through my head, and my eyes were start
ing from their sockets-then a stiffness
the seraphic music of Heavenly choristers-
struck my ears, and then I was-awakened
to find that I had been dreaming, and
fallen from my chair.
But the evidence Of the agony [ ex-
perienced that night remains with me still,
and for long time could not dispel the
remembrance of that demoniac face, as it
looked in malicious exultation down on me,
and even at this late day | never recur to
the experience of that night without a
shudder.