Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-11-20
THOUGHT HE WAS
BURIED ALIVE
THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
OF ETHAN ALLEN DOE


I remember going to bed. | have a
clear rccy lection Of getting bctw sen
the sheets and o.asging my thoaghts
SO that ! might s'aep. SO far as /
recall there was nothing unusual in
my going to bed nor were my rehec-
tons in the brief rcriod that elapsed
before slu,aber such as to presage any
strange Illness or cataleptic seizure
| had eaten h artiiy of lobster and
heese shortly before bed time, but SO
rerfect had my digestion always been
that ! had no fears of strange dreams
To go to bed upon a live lobster in
his full armament of claws and
squeezers might have disconnected me,
but to go to bed, as the saying is. upon
a dead one and cooked, gave me no
gloomy forebodings whatsoever.
The incidents | am about to relate
are enough to shake the stoutest cour-
age and disturb the very depth Of the
soberest logic and aim judgment If.
therefore, to follow me through tIs
grim narrative shall threaten to un.
seat the reason or shock unduly the
nervous system, ! beg YOU will take
warning thus early that no untoward
results may come to you through this
strange tale,
| must have been taken off in NY
sleep, so it seemed when I returned
again to consciousness. But what hos
F. rible dread oppressed me as my sens ea
graduallysre ed their functions, A
feeling Of clGssness, of shut-inness, oi
br athlcss dal Eness too deep to pene
trate. could MT cry o0t for ny
throat was dry and my vocal chor7g
were para.yzed. A terror too vas
and awful for words overcame NE
blind, unreasoniay. instructive drea5
For, through the d1l shadows Of M
half-formed thoughts Cat1e to me tho
awful, startling rred1nliLatng un"c
awayfromaDle truth had b3ea bu;
led alive.
1t is a solemn thing to wake ana
discover this to be the case, 1t K
so revoding, so unth0ughtful Of ones
friends, so lonesome, so unfathomablc
so intense. To have gone to sleep in
apparent health and strength, looking
forward ioyfully to the morrow. to
have been seized in slumber with some
catalersy SO closely resembling disso
luton as to be indistinguishable, to
have had untruthful eulogies pro.
nounced and then to have been con.
signed to earth in this narrow box, to
wake betimes and SILVER with mortal
terror.
Gradually regained the use of my
limbs, although my voice remained as
dead as l was thought to have been.
Slowly drew one hand UP by my side,
for the narrowness of my cell for.
babe outstretching it. felt about my
head-there was the smooth hardness
and polished surface that could mean
but one thing Above me | felt and
| encountered the same hard, polished,
stubborn, immovable, wooden OBJ
stacle. l felt my hair rising erect
from it's roots, and turning slowly
gray in this perpetual night Then
l thought l saw a reflection of my
countenance in the shadows above me,
and | remembered that there was
usually glass just above the upper
part of the body and that my Inca
ments might be dimly reflected
therein
The thoughts that came to me in
this horrible time ! shall never be
able accurately to set down. They
flashed like lightning upon me and as
quickly forsook me. They charged me
in columns, battalions, armies, myri-
ads, torturing me with their infinite
variety and their acute clearness
felt if could only cry out-shriek in
the hope that my tones might pene-
trate the earth above met would af-
ford me some relief. But my voice
remained useless to me, and lay
there shivering and silent, wondering
how long might survive.
Suddenly, strangest of ALL felt the
wrappings about me move. felt a
thin current Of air strike me, cooling
my. hot forehead and appearing to
come through some aperture in my
Enclosure. felt slight pressure
upon me, up and down. as if hand
gently passed over me. What awful
complication was this? Was my
resting place being desecrated by
ghouls in search of gain? Still the
hand stroked me up and down. ! was
sure it was a hand now for | felt
the pressure of fingers. Yet lay
there helpless, unable to move, un-
able even to turn over. felt my
hair turning from gray to pure white.
1t was the climax of my suffering.
felt / could withstand no more. In a
few minutes would 60 mad,
But hush! In the darkness there
was a voice. oh, the music Of it.,
the sweet, delirious unforgetable mel
ody of it l shall never forget. 1t
said
Yves only Is minutes fun Roches-
ter boss. If you gifts off there you bet
ter git up now and dress yourself. We