he persevered
steadily, encouraged by the prospect of escape. The way was long and
difficult, but release certain with the reduction of that huge bulk.

But a new and subtler danger attacked him--the very wit of Nature
brought to bear upon his force and ingenuity. It was as if the
mysterious sirens of the sea saw in that intellectual force the real
strength of their prisoner, and sought to steal it from him while they
lulled him to indifference. Inhaling and reinhaling the reduced volume
of air, it became carbonized and foul, not with the warning of sudden
oppression, but

Sly as April melts to May,
And May slips into June.

The senses, intoxicated by the new companion sent them by the lungs,
began to sport with it, as ignorant children with a loaded shell,
forgetful of duty and the critical condition of the man. They began to
wander in vagaries and delusions. A soft chime of distant bells rang
in his ears with the sweet sleepy service of a Sabbath afternoon; the
sound of hymns and the organ mingled with the melody and the chant of
the sirens of the sea.

There is sweet music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass,
Or night-dew on still waters, between walls
Of shadowy granite in a gleaming pass--
Music that gentler on the spirit lies
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes.
Here are cool mosses deep,
And through the moss the ivies creep,
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.

The sensuous beauty, the infinite luxury of repose sung by the poet,
filled and steeped his senses. The desire to sleep was intoxicating,
delicious, irresistible; and with it ran delicious, restful thrills
through all his limbs, the narcotism of the blood. It was partly,
no doubt, the effect of inhaling that pernicious air; partly
that hibernation of the bear which in the freezing man precedes
dissolution; and possibly more than that, something more than any mere
physical cause--life perhaps preparing to lay this tired body down,
its future usefulness destroyed.

This delicious enervation had to be constantly resisted and dominated
by a superior will. One more strenuous effort to relieve that
straitened garrison, to release that imprisoned and fettered body,
and then, if that failed, an unconditional surrender to the armies of
eternal steep. But it did not fail. That constant, persevering tugging
of the fingers at the wristban