Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-03-08

at which the llGlueuLS Icau dbOu'
occurred. I wished to so over the
seven hills on which the city had been
built; wished to see the Forum, the
home of the vestal virgins, the spot
where Castor and P0l!uX appeared
marked now by the ruins of their
temple; l wished to see the Coliseum
the triumphaI arches, the Pantheon
Above all. I desired to go down into
the catacombs where the early Chris
tians secretly deposited their dead.
The time finally came when l reach.
ed the object of my desires. l visited
Rome. On the steamer crossing the
Atlantic and later steaming over the
Mediterranean l met Marian Cham
bers, and, sitting on deck moonlight
nights with her, l caught from her a
fever-the fever of love. BY the time
we reached Gibraltar l was down, and
during the whole voyage from there
to Naples l was very i'll with this irri-
tating disease. l was cured on the
homeopathic principal that like cures
like. The love of the girl given III
gradually increased doses put me in
! normal condition.
BY the time We reached Rome l was
ready to enjoy the sights l had count
ed on seeing ever since l began to
study Latin. And now | had a loved
companion to visit them with me. The
catacombs that had interested me
most | reserved till the last. Marian
and l had a fancy for slipping
away from those we Travelled with
and going sightseeing together. One
morning we took carriage, drove out
on the Appian way and stopped at the
entrance of those subterranean pas
sages l had long wished to explore.
We were in time to join a party
about to descend, We're each given a
wax taper, and a monk in a white
cowl, who was to pilot US, led us
down a stone staircase at the bottom
of which were the catacombs.
We followed the taper light process
sion for awhile, but finally-at the
time would not tell how it happened,
but now l am an old married man
will admit that / was never happy for
half an hour at a time without kiss
from my Marian, and l led her away
from the others for the purpose OF
taking one. AS soon as this object
had been accomplished we started on
after the others. Immediately We
came to a split in the passage, and the
party had gone so far that we could
not tell which Of the two avenues they
/ had taken. Making choice of the left
hand passage, we ran as fast as we
could, only to find new splits and
We were lost.
People have been lost before in these
underground burial places and have
narrated their experiences In ouI
case there is something different from
any of them. l had box of matches
in my pocket that l carried for cigal
/ lighters. We also had two tapers. A.
/ soon as l realized that we were lost
/ put out both the tapers, and, being il
/ a small open space where was Chris
( tian's skeleton in a sarcophagus, we
/ sat down on the latter to think.
What would be the result of our thu
/ being lost underground? We woult
not be missed by the party we haC
/ joined, for we knew not one of them
Parties We're going through the cata
combs every day, but would they hap
/ pen to come our way? Besides, W,
might starve before we were discov
| cred. There was nothing whateve
/ for us to subsist on. We might try t,
find our way out, but there were man.
miles of these subterranean passages
and we were liable to wander farthe
from the entrance. The result of on
deliberations was to remain where w
were.
I will pass over some twenty hours
of our captivity without attempting
to describe our feelings. The mos
hopeless part of it was that on
friends did not know where we were
! We passed most of the time in the
dark, for l wished to save our taper'
and matches for any opportunity tina
might occur. While sitting on the sar
cophagus something ran ON my foot
l scratched a match, and its fame re
vealed the two glistening eyes of ;
rat.
l at once lighted a taper, and while
Marian held it tried to catch the rat
If he would serve no other purpose WI
might need to eat him | didn't have
much trouble getting my hands OF
him. l think he knew we were los
there and was willing to help us out
Then an idea occurred to me. Serb
bling a note on a letter | had in my
pocket, stating that we were lost in thu
catacombs, l held the rat while Mar
ian tied the note with a strip torn from
her handkerchief around the little fel
lows neck. Then we put him down. II,
gave us the most knowing look in thu
world and ran away
Half an hour later felt the rat run
ming over my feet. | lit a taper anC
saw that he was without either thu
note or the strip by which it had beer
fastened to him. This gave us hope
that it had been removed by a human
being. Ten minutes later, l heard ;
halloO. ! replied. and after numbe
Of calls we could see the dim light o
tapers, then Il party coming to searcl
for US. They had received the mes
sage, but had not missed US when the
party we had started with returned.
We brought the RAT out with US. HI
sleeps at night in q cage and by day
goes where he likes.