Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1912-05-21

IOWeu tne temperature " tno WALL
and room to be increased at will
am giving all these details of 6
perfectly natural invention, producing
with few painted branches, the su
pernatural illusion of an equatorial
forest blazing under the tropical sun
so that no one may doubt the present
balance OF my brain or feel entitled
to say that am mad or lying or tina,
take him for fool
now return to the facts where |
left them. When the ceiling lit up
and the forest became visible around
US, the viscount's stupefaction was
| immense. That impenetrable forest
with its innumerable trunks and
branches, threw him into a terrible
state OF CONSERVATION. He passed his
hands over his forehead, as though to
drive away dream; his eyes
blinked; and, for a moment, he for.
got to listen.
I have already said that the sight
OF the forest did not surprise me at
all; and therefore I listened for the
two Of us to what was happening
next door. Lastly, my attention was
especially attracted, not so much to
the scene, as to the mirrors that pro-
duced it. These mirrors were broken
in parts. Yes, they were marked and
scratched; they had been starred"
In spite of their solidity; and this
proved to me that the torture cham.
Der In which we now were had al.
ready served purpose.
Yes, some wretch, whose feet were
not bare like those OF the victims OF
the rosy hours Of Mazenderan, had
certainly fallen into this mortal illu.
sion" and, mad with rage, had kicked
against those mirrors which, never
theless, continued. to reflect his az
ony. And the branch Of the tree on
which he had put an end to his own
sufferings was arranged in such a
way that, before dying, he had seen,
for his last consolation, thousand
men writhing in his company.
Yes. Joseph Buquet had undoubted.
ly been through all this! Were we
to die as he had done? I did not
think SO, for I knew that We had
few hours before US and that could
employ them to better purpose than
Joseph Buquet was able to do. After
all, l was thoroughly acquainted with
most Of Erik's tricks; and now or
never was the time to turn my knowl.
edge to account.
To begin with, gave up every idea
OF returning to the passage that had
brought us to that accursed chamber.
l did not trouble about the possibility
of working the inside stone that
closed the passage; and this for the
simple reason that to do so was out
of the question. We had dropped
from too great height into the tor.
ture-chamber; there was no furniture
to help us reach that passage; not
even the branch of the iron tree, not
even each others shoulders were OF
any avail.
There was only one possible outlet,
that opening into the Louis-PhiIippe
room in which Erik and Christine
Daae were. But, though this outlet
looked like an ordinary door on Chris
tines side, it was absolutely invisible
to us. We must therefore try to open
1t without even knowing where it was.
When / was quite sure that there
was no hope for us from Christine
Daaes side, when l had heard the
monster dragging the poor girl from
the Louis-Philippe room lest she
should interfere with our fortunes, l
resolved to set to work without delay.
But l had first to calm NJ. de Chag-
ny, who was already walking about
like mailman. uttering incoherent
cries. The snatches of conversation
which he had caught between Chris
tine and the monster had contributed
not little to drive him beside him
self: add to that the shock OF the
magic forest and the scorching heat
which was beginning to make the
stream down his tenn
pies and you will have no difficulty in
his state of mind. He
shouted Christine's name, brandished |
his pistol, knocked his forehead |
against the glass in his endeavors to
run down the glades of the Elusive
forest. In short. the torture was BE-
ginning to work its spell upon brain
unprepared for It.
l did my best to induce the poor
viscount to listen to reason. made
him touch the mirrors and the iron
tree and the branches and explained
to him, by optical laws, all the lumi-
nous imagery by which We were sur.
and of which we need net al.
low ourselves to be the victims, like
ordinary, ignorant people.
1--WE are in room, a little room;
that is what you must keep saying to
yourself. And we shall leave the
room as soon as we have found the
door,"
And l promised him that, II he let
me act, without disturbing me by
shouting and walking up and down.
would discover the trick Of the door
In less than an hours time.
Then he lay fiat on the floor, as
one does in a wood, and declared that
he would wait until found the door
IF the forest, as there was nothing
better to do! And he added that.
rom where he was. the view was
,plendid!" The torture was working.
n spite of all that had said.
Myself, forgetting the forest,
tackled glass panel and began to
inger 1t in every direction, hunting
or the weak point on which to press
n order to turn the door in accord.
lnca with Erik'a sYstem OF niYota, |