Year: 1869

How long [ remained insensible I know
not; but when at last I came to myself
again | thought it was a terrible dream.
But the Illusion soon wore off, and the stern
reality was before me, and began calmly
to think of what chance I had Of escaping
| from my living tomb.


! Very little indeed was there to hope in
the prospect before me. No prison bars
were as strong as those that held me back
| from the outer world, that l had never
prized so highly as I now began to do
fThere seemed no possible hope; for man.
with his unaided strength, could never
move the huge rock that sealed up the en-
trance to my sepulchre,


A faint ray of light came in one side OF
my prison door, and through the crevice
came the sound of the roaring water.
swollen to doubte its usual volume, down in
the bed of the ravine. The crevice would
give me air, and would tell me when night
would come and go, so long as life might
remain to me. My companions would
doubtless search long for me- and could I
not make myself heard should they chance
to pass near? This gave me ray of hope
that [ hugged to my heart as drowning
men will, they say, clutch at sttaws; but
my heart again sank within me as the roar
of the torrent filled my ears. No human
voice could be heard above the terrible
sound, which was increasing in violence
every moment


I threw myself on the bottom of the cave
and gave up to the despair that lay upon
me, crushing me, as it were, into the
earth. Many were the hours of danger
that [ had passed through; times when it
seemed that there was no possible chance
of escape; yet hope had never completely
forsaken me as it had now.


The ray of light faded away and all was
darkness. Night had come to me in my
tomb, as dark and terrible as though L was
surrounded by scores Of mouldering dead.
As time must seem to the spirits of the
lost, so that night seemed to me- Morning
came at last and again a little hope return
ed with the ray Of light that found its way
in to me, as if to say that [ was not entire
y cut off from the outer world.


The roar of the torrent still sounded in
my ears, but not so loud as it had done.
If my comrades should cCme up to seek
me, it might be possible that [ might make
myself heard. But how was I to know
when they had come? Try as l would, 1
could not gain position where could get
glimpse Of the world without. My only
chance was to call aloud at the top of my
voice, and, hour after hour, I did SO, until
I was so hoarse thaF1 could hardly speak;
but I heard nothing come from without to
repay me for the exertion I had made. The
forenoon wore away, and began to feel the
pangs of hunger and thirst, and then, and
not till then did I fully realize all the hor-
rors of my situation. My despair was ter
rible, and, in my agony, [ threw myself on
my face upon the floor of the cavern, and,
with the action, a new hope sprung up IN
my heart


For the first time since my imprisonment
the thought came to me that possi bility
of escape lay at the back Of the cave. If I
could but remove the distractions that
blocked up the passage, so that [ could
pass through, it might possibly lead to
daylight in some direction. Caves often
have more than one outlet or entrance, and
such might be the case with this one.


Faint as this hope was. [ clung to it, and
went to work with a will. The rocks [
found that could not move easily, and the
sand I scraped away with my hands, and
soon I had place large enough to force
my way through. Encouraged by this, I
did so and after crawling along for some
fifteen Or twenty feet [ found myself in a
large apartment of height that would
admit of standing erect. Another passage
led off to the right from this, and
1 at once entered it, although it
was so dark that I had to feel my way
along. The way was crooked, turning
sharp angles and long curves, and [ could
form no idea Of the direction in which l
was going. It seemed almost interminable;
but at last, to my great JOY, | saw light
ahead, and in few moments [ stood in the
bright sunshine that had never expected
to have seen again.


You can imagine tlsDstate of my feelings
as made my way down the banks Of the
stream, after casting one look up to where
the great boulder was lying that had sealed
up my tomb. It was larger than I had
| thought, and the strength of our whole par
| ty could not have moved it.


There was great JOY at the camp over my
return. My companions had spent the
night, and all the day THIS far, in looking
for me, and had come to the conclusion
that 1 must have fallen into the ravine and
been washed away, and in half hour more
would have been on their way, leaving me
to my fate.