The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1912-06-28
the ancient relic.

the ancient relic.
There was little to examine. but l
tramped about nervously, tapping the
walls, and convincing myself OF their
solldity. and. finally, tired by this use
less exercise, seated myself In the
chair. Il was like being buried in a
tomb, not a sound reaching my
strained ears, but at last the spirit Of
depression vanished, and my mind be-
gan to grapple with the problems con-
fronting me.
Heaven alone knows how long re-
mained there motionless, my mind
elsewhere, drifting idly backward to
the old home, reviewing the years Of
war that had transformed me from
boy to man as though by some magic.
The silence and loneliness caused
me to become restless. could not
entirely throw off the sense of being
buried alive in this dismal hole. l
wondered IL there was any way Of es-
cape, If that secret door was not
locked and unlocked only from with
out. A desire to ascertain led me to
take candle in hand, and climb the
circular staircase, examining the wall
as / passed upward. The interior Of
the chimney revealed nothing. While
l felt convinced there must also be a
false fireplace on the first floor, so as
to carry out the deception, the dim
candle light made no revealment Of its
position. could Judge very nearly
where 1t should appear, and / sound
ed the wall thereabout carefully both
above and below without result. Nor
did any noise reach me to disclose a
thinness Of partition.
Convinced of the solidity of the wall
at this spot, / continued higher until
I came to the end of the passage. To
my surprise the conditions here were
practically the same. Had l not en-
tered at this point could never have
been convinced that there was an
opening. From within it defied dis
covery for nothing confronted my
eyes but mortared stone. was sealed
in helplessly, but for the assistance
Of friends without; no effort on my
part could ever bring release.
Yet | went over the rough surface
again before retracing my steps down
to the room below. All this must
have taken fully an hour of time, and
the strain of disappointment left me
tired, as though l had done a days
work. l can hardly conceive that
slept, and yet l certainly lost con-
sciousness, for when l aroused myself
l was in pitch darkness.
l felt dazed, bewildered, but as my
hand felt the edge of the table COM
pretended where l was, and what had
occurred. Cropping about, found flint
and steel, and that last candle, which
forced into the candlestick. The tiny
yellow fame was like a message from
the gods. How l watched it, every
nerve tingling, as it burned lower and
lower. Would it last until help came,
or was l destined to remain pinned up
in the darkness of this ghastly grave?
Why, | must have been there for
hours-hours. The burning out of the
candles proved that. Surely I could
doubt no longer this was a trick,
cowardly, cruel trick! If help had
been coming it would have reached me
before this. The day must have passed,
and much of the night Grant and his
party would have marched away long
before this On the road to Philadel-
phia. What could have occurred, then,
to prevent Peter or the girl from set
ting me free? Could they have been
forced into accompanying the SOL
diers? Could they have forgotten?
Could they deliberately leave me there
to die?
My brain whirled with incipient mad
ness, as such questions haunted me