Year: 1877

A Night of Horror.


I have passed through many trying
scene in life, scenes wherein danger lurE'


ed and death smiled grimly. On water
and on land I have stood as 1t were. face


to face with that dread of the human race


On the mighty ocean, when our fair BARI


was tossed as if it were a feather, l could


gaze upon the surging pillows with awe


aye, with veneration-for there amid the


roaring of the tempest, the lashing Of the


waves, 1 saw the power and might of the


Deity.


Death amid the storm and tempest, the


flashes of lightning and the roaring oi
the thunder, had no dread for me. 10
die thus, amid the warof the elements
would be a glorious triumph over slow
DEATH


Why should I write this sketch? Why
describe a night of horror, the remem
brance of which, although many, many
years have passed away, makes me shud-
der still? Is it because it lives IN my
memory, like some horrid specter? It
may. however, tend to withdraw the
mind from that one fearful episode in my
life, which as a dark shadow, keeps out
all sunshine. To test theory, l send you
this sketch, for the memory of that night
of horror.


The State house clock had struck eight
when the clerks left the Office. ! remain
ed alone, as | had some important busi-
ness to transact, with which the clerk
had nothing to do. I locked the front OF
the office, and for one hour 1 was buslly
employed at my work. In one corner OF
the counting-house stood my mamoth
safe-a huge affair. I Prided myself on
being the owner of the fixture. 1 could
stand upright in it and arrange my books
and papers without STOPPING. 1t was
small house or an iron tomb, just as fan
cy might determine. Near the safe stood
an old-fashioned rickety bookcase; a
large, ponderous piece of furniture. The
safe door, when opened, came within
few inches of It.


1t is necessary to mention this book
case, for, had it not been there, the ad-
venture l am about to relate would never
have been written.


l was inside the safe, putting in its
place the last book, when there came up
on my ear the cry of fire :" followed by
the rush of engines down the street /
listened for minute, and was in the act
of leaving the safe, when-Oh, horror
there came a crash the book case had
fallen against the door of the safe, and
its spring was caught in the intricate
workings of the huge lock!


I was thus enclosed in a living tomb,
and as the dread sound echoed through
the safe l knew that it was the knen OF
my death. For a moment I steed utter
ly confounded, and when the true state
of my situation was realized no tongue
can describe or pen portray the remetest
idea of my feelings. Entombed, encased
In a coffin---all sound dead. The shout l
sent forth, as if it could ever be heard,
came back in reverberating echoes.
Then again all was still--still as death
for my voice was hushed The few mo-
ments that had passed since my incarcer-
alton seemed as that many years,
How weuld die Raving mad, perhaps
or by immediate sufocation. Already /
felt the presence of the condensed air act
ing on my brain--already felt the blood
rushing in tumultuous waves to my
head To die thus, struggling for life in
an iron vault was awful.


l calculated the hours, the minutes
and seconds before the time Of the Office,
and then--then--the key of the safe
great heavens lit was in my pocket,
and there was no duplicate.


Hours and hours must pass away be-
fore the safe could be opened. Opened
by whom The man who made it. Ihad
no partner in the business; my clerks
would not suspect that any thing had oc-
Cured, and they would not attempt the
opening of the safe until they had heard
from me. How in heavens name could
that be? Never, never would they hear
the sound of my voice again 1 was there
deaths prisoner in an iron vault; they
knew it not, nor even imagined such
horrible contingency could be attached
to nv absence Even if it were so---evsn
when the safe was opened, how would l
appear to them? A Iifeless corpse, or a
raving maniac.


did not shudder or groan. All cor
poreal sensation was lost in that of the
brain. l felt that death in some horrible
shape wss gathering its shroud around
me. In my excited state I imagined
that all was over with me. How should
meet death? Dash my brains out against
the iron-sided prison? No, no; not
while reason remained. If were to lie
down with my face pressed to the floor,
and remain there quietly, shut my eyes
and keep out the oppressive darkness,
might l net sleep? 1 threw myself full
length on the floor, for, as / have already
said, the safe was large one, in the hope
that sleep or suffocation would end NV
mental suffering. The density of the at
mosphere must naturally produce the
latter result. No, no; here was no at
mosphere, for that was invisible elastic
fluid which surrounds the earth, and
presses by its weight the assemblage of
eriform vapors. Here was no air-no
vapor, no motion, no sound, atmosphere,
to produce either of these agents of the
universe. Noi Death was far away, yet
/ felt as if the very silence was killing
me. The buzzing of fly, the hum of !
bee, or the sound of that mysterious IN
sect whose peculiar imitation of a
time-piece gives it the name of the