Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-04-23
Quick Love.

1nefe uIe more lOVe affairs INDUCED
by q sharing of danger than any other
one cause. AT 3 o'clock one afternoon
I vas introduced to a girl | had never
seen before. At 6 we were sitting hand
In hand enduring a frightful strain.
At 8 we were locked in each others
arms. At 10 we were lovers for life.
On that memorable afternoon / was
.sauntering through one of those cathe-
-drals abroad where the natives go to
pray and strangers go to stare when a
party of my fellow countrymen APP
preached, and one of them, whom I
knew, introduced me to the rest,
among them Miss Hilda Crane. / join
ed them, and together we gaped at
paintings and statues of sacred char
nook and Granny In the most unbecom-
ing manner. Seeing a man emerge
from a little door about four feet high,
which he closed with q bang, as / pass
ed 1t | took hold of the knob and saw
that the latch had not caught. Pulling
the door open and STOPPING, l looked
in. The chamber was dark, so to see
the better l entered. Miss Crane ap-
peared at the door and, bending, also
came in. The rest of the party passed
on. Miss Crane and l stood investi-
eating the chamber. 1t was very
small, rectangular, and the ceiling was
81 high that we could not estimate its
sdistance-in fact, we couldn't see 1t. l
put my hand up but could not reach
1t.
Suddenly the door, which had been
left slightly ajar, closed with a slam.
Then it was jerked as if to try wheth-
er the latch had caught, and we heard
footsteps retreating on the marble
floor. l put my hand against the door,
shouting at the same time. 1t was
fast, and there was nc answer to my
call. The man whom | had seer close
1t had doubtless returned, seer it open
and shut 1t.
So much for that stupid curiosity
which possesses sightseers.
For a moment we scarcely realized
our position, but / soon saw that I'M
less released we were likely to have a
terrible time before us, ending in In
sanity and death by starvation. My
companion presently became aware of
the same possible result and convul-
sively grasped my arm.
Our eyes soon became used to the
darkness, and we could dimly see the
walls. Looking up to discover where
any light could come. from, l saw a
luminous line in the shape of the rec
tangle forming the outline of the cell
ing. This puzzled me. 1t was lucky
I had something to puzzle me, for one
can't contemplate calamity and study
a problem at the same times l called
Miss Cranes attention to it as q diver
sion.
But how make our position known?
ehedoorwasee -thiek- and e-of
some substance OF the outside to re-
semble the cathedral's interior. l ham,
mered and kicked, but against a o n
resounding material. Then l shouted.
I listened intently for footsteps. but
failed to detect any sound whatever.
To allay SO far as possible my COM
panion's apprehension l told her that
1t was possible we might have to stay
where we were all night and we must
make the best of it. Her only reply
was a moan that froze my blood.
We heard the cathedral clock strike
6. Then, looking up, l was astonished
to notice that the ceiling had descend
ed. l judged that it was now about
twenty feet high, though it might have
been forty. At any rate, 1t was much
nearer than when I first looked up.
Tired of standing, we were sitting on
the floor. Miss Crane was suffering
from hysteria, and to quiet her l
held, her hand in a firm grip. She,
too, had noticed the descending cell
ing.
No pen could describe the horror of
seeing that something falling so slow
ly that the eye could not detect its mo-
,tion. l folded my companion in my
arms and held her cheek against mine.
We were united before an appalling
death. l begged her not to look up,
for every time she did so her glance
would be followed by a new and more
terrible hysteria.
Meanwhile the rectangle of light
faded, and we were In darkness. l
stood up and stretching forth my hand
could feel the ceiling. 1t seemed to be
of metal. Passing my fingers around
the line where 1t Joined the wall, !
discovered that there was a space be-
tween it and the wall. 1t must be
suspended.
l said nothing of its proximity to
my companion. She need not know
till the fatal moment came. The cell
ing settled till when l stood at my
full height it touched my head. Then
the clock struck 10.
A few minutes after this l heard
the click of ~cogwheels as though
some one were turning a crank. My
hand was resting on the ceiling at the
time, and l felt 1t rise. In a few mo-
ments 1t had passed beyond my reach.