The Cairo bulletin., 1907-12-05
TH s'IsIE1 " sE,y was
THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
or ETHAN ALLEN DOE

so tDal l might Steep. 90 ldi 9S
recall there was nothing unusual ~
my going TO bed, nor were my reflec-
tions in the brief period that elapsed
before slumber such as to presage any
strange illness or cataleptic seizure.
/ had eaten heartily OF lobster and
I cheese shortly before bed time, but 40
perfect had my digestion always been
| that had no fears Of strange dreams
4 To go to bed upon live lobster III
4 his full armament of claws and
/ squeezers might have discomforted me,
/ but to go TO bed, rs the saying IL, upon
1 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 tho
soberest logic and calm judgment II,
therefore, TO follow me through this
grim narrative shall threaten to I'M.
seat the reason or shock unduly the
nervous system, I beg yon will take
warning thus early, that no untoward
results may come to you through this
strange tale.
I must have been taken off In my
sleep, so II seemed when ] returned
again to consciousness. But what hor-
rible dread oppressed me as my senses
gradually resumed their functions! 4
feeling of closeness, of shutinness, Of
breathless darkness too deep TO pene-
tlate. ] could not cry out, for my
throat was dry and my vocal chords
We're paralyzed A terror too vast
and awful for words overcame me-
blind, unreasoning, instructive dread
For. through the dim shadows of my
halfformed thoughts came to me the
awful. startling, predominating. unget
awayfromable TRUTH had been bur
led alive.
1t is a solemn thing 20 wake and
discover this to be the case. It is
SO revoking, so unthoughtful Of ones
friends. so lonesome, so unfathomable
SO intense To have gone 70 sleep To-
apparent health and strength, looking
forward ioyfully to the morrow; TO
nave been seized in slumber with some
catalepsy 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 | was thought to have been
Slowly l 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. ! felt my hair rising erect
from it's roots, and turning slowly
gray in this perpetual night Then
thought ] saw 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 reelected
| 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. I
! 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 shlvering and silent, wondering
I how long | might survive.
Suddenly, strangest of all. felt the
wrapplngs about me move. ] felt a
thin current of air strike me. cooling
my hot forehead and appearing TO
come through some aperture in my
I inclosure. ] felt a slight pressure
upon me, up and down, as II a hand
gently passed over me-. What awful
complication was thls7 Was my
resting place being desecrated by
shouls in search Of gain? SIN the
hand stroked me up and down. ! was
sure it was a hand now for | felt
( the pressure of fingers. Yet l lay
there helpless. unable to move, un-
able even to turn over. ] felt my
hair turning from gray to pure white.
I It was the climax Of my suffering. !
( felt / could withstand no more. In a
1 few minutes ! would 90 mad.
i But hush, in the darkness there
was a voice. oh. the music OF 70.
The sweet, delirious unforgetable mel
ody Of # l shall never forget II
said:
Yves only Is minutes fun Roches-
ter. boss. II you gifts OF there You bet
TOR git up now and dress yourself We
Only stors Eve minutcsi"
II vas IN August. ! remember. And
had bern in Lower =