Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1912-06-20
at our wedding"


"Ah, you seel You said. to hopI"
at our wedding. ingenious childI
The scorpion opens the ball.
But that will do! You
won't have the scorpionf Then ! turn
the grasshopper!"
Erik"
Enough"
/, was crying out in concert with
Christine. NJ. de Chagny was still
on his knees, praying.
Erik! / have turned the scorpion!"
oh, the second through which we
passed!
Waiting! Waiting to find ourselves
in fragments, amid the roar and the
ruins!
Feeling something crack beneath
our feet, hearing an appalling hiss
through the open trap-door, hiss IKE
the first sound Of a rocket!
1t came softly, at first, then louder,
then very loud. But 1t was not the
hiss of fire. It was more like the
hiss of water And now 1t became
gurgling sound: "Guggle! Guggle!"
We rushed to the trap-door. All our
thirst, which vanished when the ter
ror came, now returned with the lap
ping of the water.
The water rose in the cellar, above
the barrels, the powder-barTels-"Bar-
relsl Barrels! Any barrels
to sell?"--and we went down to 1t
with parched throats. It rose to our
chins, to our mouths. And We drank.
We stood on the floor of the cellar
and drank And we went up the stairs
again in the dark, step by step, went
up with the water.
The water came out Of the cellar
with US and spread over the floor of
the room. II this went on, the whole
house on the lake would be swamped.
The floor Of the torture-chamber had
itself become q regular little lake, in
which our feet splashed. Surely there
was water enough nowl Erik must
turn of the tap!
Erik! Erik! That is water enough
for the gunpowder! Turn on the tap!'
Turn of the scorpion!" ~.s,-.
! But Erik did not reply. We heard
nothing but the water rising: 1t was
hallway to our waists!
"Christine!" cried M. de Chagny.
Christine! The water IL up to our
knees!"
| But Christine did not reply. :.
We heard nothing but the water ris-
, ing.
No one, no one in the next room.
no one to turn the tap, no one to turn
the scorpionl
| We were all alone, in the dark, with
the dark water that seized US and
clasped US and froze US!
"ErikI Erik"
"Christine! Christine!"
BY this time, we had lost our foot.
hold and were spinning round in the
water, carried away by an irresistible
whirl. for the water turned with us
and dashed us against the dark mir
ror, which thrust us back again; and
our throats, raised above the whirl-
pool, roared aloud.
Were we to die here, drowned in
J the torture-chamber? had never
seen that. Erik. at the time OF the
rosy hours of Mazenderan, had never
shown me that through the little In
| visible window.
Erik! Erik" I cried. II saved
your life! Remember! You
4 were sentenced to death! But for
me, you would be dead now! I.
Erik"
We whirled around in the water
like SO much wreckage. But, sudden
ly, my straying hands seized the trunk
of the iron tree! l called M. de
Chagny, and we both hung to the
branch Of the iron tree.
And the water rose still higher.
"Oh! Oh! Can you remember?
How much space is there between
the branch Of the tree and the dome
shaped ceiling7 DO try to remember!
After all. the water may stop,
It must ind It's levell There.
think 1t Il stoppingI No. no:
oh, horrihlel Swiml Swim
for your lifei@ sssg
Our arms, became entangled In the
effort OF swtmmingi. we choked: we
fought ip the dark water: already We
could hardy breatHe the dark air
above the dark water, the air which
escaped, which We could hear escap-
ing through soms vsnt-holS OF other.
4 ron, let as turn and turn and turn
until we md the air hole and then
glue our mouths 70 .itle Al - .va
But l lost my strength; tried 70
lay hold OF the walls! oh, how those
glass wallis shipped from under my
cropping fnEefsl We whirlsd
! round asainl -. We began 70
sinkI one last s1ortf =. .
IA last crys ,esa So easas. 80 y
-.Ertkl christiHel ~.
~ 'Guggle glggle, Eugglelr. q. our