The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-03-12

/ thoughts were confused-a tumble.
! Now l would think of Lucia, of heI
fright at my absence, and what she
would do in hunting for me. Again J
would dwell upon the horrible death l
would suffer when the life was being
crushed out of me by an iron mass
probably weighing several tons. Then
hope came to me at remembering
that the clock would not be allowed to
the weight had killed me. l wondered
if when it came so low that l could
brace myself against 1t would be able
| to support its great weight till it was
wound up.
1t was past noon, as / have said
when l went into my prison. When
| the hour of was struck the weight
might have been from ten to twenty
feet above me, though l had no means
except sight of judging the distance.
! 1t occurred to me that there would be
a special hour for winding, and this
would be at o'clock in the evening.
The crisis for me was due in about an
hour.
That hour was the longest, the most
horrible, of my life. l sat down on the
floor, looking up at the coming mass
descending so slowly that could not
standing on my feet could touch it
with my fingers. 1 held them there
and could feel it move. When it came
little lower placed my palms under
1t to see if / could hold it up. The
only way l could tell If it was sinking
In spite Of me was by the slowly chang
ing position of my hands. knew that
they were giving way under the weight
and lost hope of saving myself by this
means.
Slowly came the weight till when l
stood erect 1t touched the top of my
head. Then l was obliged to stoop,
then get down on my knees. Lastly
/ sat on the floor. Surely the clock
weight would not be permitted to sink
to the floor before being wound, for
this would necessitate the stopping of
the clock. If l could be spared two
4cct Oy lying OA NY SAuC VIII lily
knees drawn up might live.
And to this position l was reduced.
I felt the bottom of the weight press
ing against my side till finally / lost
consciousness.
But not for long. The pressure was
wheels, the click of cogs, up in the
tower. The clock was being wound
was spared for twenty-four hours
Soon after the hour of 10 sounded
heard click at the door, which was
thrown open, and the glare of lamp
showed me number of excited faces.
"Foundr was shouted joyfully, and
Lucia, pushing forward, tainted In my
arms.
Shutting me up in the clock tower
had had peculiar effect on the luna
tic who had done the deed. He kept
a man passing the church and told
him that the devil in human form had
been following him to drag him down
to hell. But he had tricked Satan.
having put him under the weight in
the clock tower, and he had doubtless
by this time been crushed The listen
er broke away from him, but, think
ing there might be reality in his story.
returned and, meeting a searching
party, had led them to the tower.
l brought my bride straight back to
America, where we have contented
ourselves since our memorable eXpe-
rience. She Is full of reverence for
holy things and considers my being
shut up in clock tower a punishment
upon us both for our heathenish be-
havior In poslng about in a building
dedicated for worship. consider it
a lesson for hosts Of foreigners who
do that very thing. While pious peo-
pie are kneeling at an altar tourists
are staring over their shoulders to get
a view of a famous painting. While
praises are being sung to the great
Creator these same tourists are strain
ing their voices to tell one another
about the antiquities.
At any rate, we will never do it
again. I have had trouble enough get
ting rid Of the results of my last trip.
Lying awake at night, the deep toned
strokes of town clock take me back
to that frightful bell tower, and /
feel the ceiling over my bed is coming
H. l. 4.