Part 3 (1/2)
Unlocking a door that opened out of the kitchen, and still keeping hold of looht, he bade hted by a candle, and around the sides, large iron hooks with heavy chains attached to them, were driven into the wall At the back part of the room, he opened the door, and badeover my head, and pressed it down upon hts were placed in ht, and hold them fifteen minutes This I could not do Had my life depended upon the effort, I could not have stood erect, with those weights in my hands The priest, however, did not reprove th to obey, for he took out his watch, and slowly counted the minutes as they passed Ere a third part of the tiushed froan to feel faint and dizzy The irons were removed, and the blood ceased to flow
I was then taken to another roohted like the other, but it was da, fetid, and very offensive odor
The floor was of wood, and badly stained with blood At least, I thought it was blood, but there was not light enough to enable me to say positively what it was In thetables, on each of which, lay a corpse, covered with a white cloth The priest led me to these tables, removed the cloth and bade me look upon the face of the dead They were very much emaciated, and the features, even in death, bore the i We stood there a few ain led ht of what I had seen Having taken no food for ry, I can think of nothing else” ”Hoould you like to eat those dead bodies?” he asked ”I would starve, Sir, before I would do it,” I replied ”Would you?” said he, with a slight sneer ”Yes indeed,” I exclais ”What! eat the flesh of a corpse? You do not htened atso boldly, I involuntarily raised my eye The peculiar smile upon his face actually chilled my blood with terror He did not, however, seem to notice me, but said, ”Do not be too sure; I have seen others quite as sure as you are, yet they were glad to do it to save their lives; and renificantly, ”you will do it too if you are not careful” He then ordered me to return to the kitchen
At ten o'clock in the , the nuns had a slice of bread and cup of water; but, as I had been fasting, they gave ruel, composed of indian meal and water, with a little salt A poor dinner this, for a hungry person, but I could have no more At eleven, ent to mass in the chapel as usual It was our custom to have mass every day, and I have been told that this is true of all Roain resolved that I would be so careful, that, in future they should have no cause for complaint For two days I succeeded Yes, for thole days, I escaped punishenerally punished every day, and someti, I was dusting the furniture in the room occupied by the priest aboveuncarpeted, in h I didto his feet, exclai! What did you do that for?” Then taking , ”Have I not told you that you would be punished, if you made a noise? But I see how it is with you; your mind is on the world, and you think more of that, than you do of the convent But I shall punish you until you do your duty better”
He concluded this choice speech by telling me to ”march down stairs” Of course, I obeyed, and he followedme on the head at every step, with a book he held in his hand I thought to escape so, but all in vain; he kept near -room He then sent for threeconsultation they held upon ”this serious business,” as I sneeringly thought it, but the result was serious in good earnest, I assure you For the heinous offence of ht noise I was to have dry peas bound upon my knees, and then be round passage, and back again This church was situated on a hill, a little more than a quarter of a round passage had been constructed, just large enough to allow a person to crawl through it on the hands and knees It was so low, and narrow, that it was impossible either to rise, or turn around; once within that passage there was no escape, but to go on to the end They allowed o and return; and to prove that I had really been there, I was to ht lines, with a bit of chalk, upon a black-board that I should find at the end
O, the intolerable agonies I endured on that terrible pathway! Any description that I can give, will fail to convey the least idea of thefive hours It may, perchance, seem a very simple mode of punishment, but let any one just try it, and they will be convinced that it was no trifling thing At the end, I found ht enough to enableto orders, and then looked around for so iron bars firht examination convinced me that my case was utterly hopeless I then tried to re limbs, but this, too, I found impossible They were evidently fastened by a practised hand; and I was, at length, compelled to believe that I must return as I caave up in despair, and thought I could go no further! How many tiony, that I could have welcoiven for one glass of cold water, or even for a breath of fresh air! My lireat drops of perspiration fell froue were literally parched with thirst But the end ca for ry, and said, ”You have been gone over your time There was no need of it; you could have returned sooner if you had chosen to do so, and now, I shall punish you again, for being gone so long” At first, his reproaches grievedfor one word of syh my heart would break Had he then spoken one kind word to s, I could have forgiven the past, and obeyed hiratitude for the future Yes, I would have done anything for that man, if I could have felt that he had the least pity for ain, my heart turned to stone Every tender enation, and thirst for revenge, took possession of my soul
CHAPTER IX
ALONE WITH THE DEAD
The priest removed the peas from my limbs, and led me to a to assurance that ”THE DEAD WOULD RISE AND EAT ME!” This toular room, with shelves on three sides of it, on which were the coffins of priests and Superiors who had died in the nunnery On the floor under the shelves, were large piles of hu into dust In the center of the rooe tank of water, several feet in diameter, called St Joseph's well It occupied the whole center of the roo a very narrow pathway between that, and the shelves; so narrow, indeed, that I found it ily difficult to walk or even stand still I was obliged to hold fir into the water which looked dark and deep The priest said, when he left me, that if I fell in, I would drown, for no one could take me out
O, how my heart thrilled with superstitious terror when I heard the key turn in the lock, and realized that I was alone with the dead! And that was not the worst of it They would rise and eat h paralyzed with fear A cold perspiration coveredlimbs, as I watched those coffins with the most painful and serious apprehension Every moment I expected the fearful catastrophe, and even wondered which part they would devour first--whether one would come alone and thus kill me by inches, or whether they would all rise at once, and quickly ined I could see the coffins h and even the sound ofthe dry bones that lay at my feet In the extremity of terror I shrieked aloud But this I kneas utterly useless Who would hear me? Or ould care if they did hear? I was surrounded by walls that no sound could penetrate, and if it could, it would fall upon ears deaf to the agonizing cry for mercy,--upon hearts that feel no sympathy for human woe
Some persons may be disposed to smile at this record of absurd and superstitions fear But toaffair Had not the priest said that the dead would rise and eat me? And did I not firmly believe that what he said was true? What! A priest tell a falsehood?
Iht it could not be; yet as hour after hour passed away, and no haran to exercise my reason a little, and very soon came to the conclusion that the priests are not the iht to believe Cruel and hard hearted, I knew them to be, but I did not suspect them of falsehood Hitherto I had supposed it was ie done for the benefit of the soul, which in sos of the body Noever, I began to question the truth ofI lost all faith in theotry, cruelty and fraud, which they call religion
As the hours passed by and radually gained sufficient courage to enable ht perchance discover the body of ly co on by the shelves, and , but the sight of the corpse so frightenedbrilliantly lighted with two large speras burner at the other, I was enabled to see every feature distinctly
One of the nuns informed me that none but priests and Superiors are laid in that tomb When these die in full communion with the church, the body is embalmed, and placed here, but it sometimes happens that a priest or Superior is found in the convent who does not believe all that is taught by the church of Roate the subject--to seek for e of the way of salvation by Christ This, with the Roreat sin, and the poor hapless victim is at once placed under punishment If they die in this condition, their bodies are cast out as heretics, but if they confess and receive absolution, they are placed in the tomb, but not embalmed The flesh, of course, decays, and then the bones are thrown under the shelves Never shall I forget how frightful those bones appeared to ht of the numerous human skulls that lay scattered around
Twenty-four hours I spent in this abode of the dead, without rest or sleep The attempt to obtain either would have been sheer uarded rasp by which I held on to the shelves, would have plungedinto the dark water, from which escape would have been impossible For thirty hours I had not tasted food, andstanding, that, when allowed to leave the tomb, I could hardly step When the priest came to letto cover his attehten me, but he only made a bad ht he would try me once more, and see if I would not do my duty better; he had, therefore, WILLED THE DEAD NOT TO EAT ME! AND THEY, OBEDIENT TO HIS WILL, WERE COMPELLED TO LET ME ALONE! I did not reply to this absurd declaration, lest I should say soain incur his displeasure Indeed, I was not expected to say anything, unless I returned thanks for his unparalleled kindness, and I was not hypocrite enough for that I suppose he thought I believed all he said, but he was greatly an to doubt his hile in the tomb, this ridiculous pretence only served to add contearded him as a deceiver, and a vile, unscrupulous, hypocritical pretender
It ith the greatest difficulty that I again , even when allowed ether insufficient, to satisfy the de to eat, I was so weak, and ed, however, to reach the kitchen, when I was iruel O, what a luxury it seeone, and I looked around for a further supply Another nun, who sat at the table with ruel before her, noticed my disappointer to me, and so pale and e person She had tasted a little of her gruel, but her stomach was too weak to retain it, and as soon as the Superior left us she took it up and poured the whole into ave me to understand that it was of no use to her, and she wished me to eat it I did not wait for a second invitation, and she seemed pleased to see me accept it so readily We dared not speak, but we had no difficulty in understanding each other
I had but just finished o up stairs and help tie ame the consequences of resistance or disobedience Shethe assistance she pretended to ask But I followed her as fast as possible, and when she sa difficult it was for ave me all the time I wished for She led me into a small room and closed the door There I beheld a scene that called forth s of indignation that will never be subdued while reason retains her throne In the center of the rooirl, who could not have been more than sixteen years old; and a face and for beauty, I never saw She was divested of all her clothing except one under-garment, and her hands and feet securely tied to the chair on which she sat A priest stood beside her, and as we entered he bade us assist hi the beds from the bedstead They then took the nun from her chair and laid her on the bedcord They desired me to assist them, but my heart failed me I could not do it, for I was sure they were about to kill her; and as I gazed upon those calm, expressive features, so pale and sad, yet so perfectly beautiful, I felt that it would be sacrilege for ainst nature's holiest and most exquisite work I therefore assured them that I was too weak to render the assistance they required At first they atte that I was really very weak, and unwilling to use what strength I had, they at length perirl on the cord, she said, very quietly, ”I am not iven, but they calmly proceeded with their fiendish work One of them tied her feet, while the other fastened a rope across her neck in such a way that if she attele her The rope was then fastened under the bedcord, and two or three times over her person Her arms were extended, and fastened in the same way As she lay thus, like a lamb bound for the sacrifice, she looked up at her tormentors and said, ”Will the Lord permit me to die in this cruel way?” The priest iry tone, ”Stop your talk, you o back to the kitchen It is probable he saw the impression on my mind was not just what they desired, therefore he hurried me away
All this time the poor dooht it useless, yea, worse than useless, to resist; for any effort she ht make to escape would only provoke theht her last hour had come, and the sooner she was out of her misery the better As for uish, and pity for her, I could hardly obey the command to leave the rooed to go very slowly on account of the stiffness of ht the priest and the Superior caether, and I paused to listen This, I knorong; but I could not help it, and I was so excited I did not realize what I was doing My anxiety for that girl overpowered every other feeling At first I could only hear the sound of their voices; but soon they spoke more distinctly, and I heard the words ”What shall we do with her? she will never confess” In an audible tone of voice, the other replied, ”We had better finish her” How those words thrilled ned ”to finish her,” but to hear the purpose announced so coolly, it was horrible Was there no way that I could save her? Must I stand there, and know that a fellow-creature was being irl like myself, in all the freshness of youth and the fullness of health, was to be cut off in the very prime of life and nued, unwept, unlamented, into darkness and silence? She had friends, undoubtedly, but they would never be allowed to know her sad fate, never shed a tear upon her grave! I could not endure the thought I felt that if I lingered there another er of madness myself; for I could not help her I could not prevent the consummation of their cruel purpose; I therefore hastened away, and this was the last I ever heard of that poor nun I had never seen her before, and as I did not see her clothes, I could not even tell whether she belonged to our nunnery or not
CHAPTER X
THE SICK NUN