bedtop

In the middle of the bedtop was a huge wooden screw that had evidently worked it down through a hole in the ceiling, just as ordinary presses are worked down on the substance selected for compression.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

A deadly paralysing coldness stole all over me as I turned my head round on the pillow and determined to test whether the bedtop was really moving or not, by keeping my eye on the man in the picture.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

Through this cavity there ran perpendicularly a sort of case of iron, thickly greased; and inside the case appeared the screw, which communicated with the bedtop below.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

Down and down, without pausing and without sounding, came the bedtop, and still my panic terror seemed to bind me faster and faster to the mattress on which I lay -- down and down it sank, till the dusty odour from the lining of the canopy came stealing into my nostrils.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

Without stopping to draw my breath, without wiping the cold sweat from my face, I rose instantly on my knees to watch the bedtop.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

It descended -- the whole canopy, with the fringe round it, came down -- down -- close down; so close that there was not room now to squeeze my finger between the bedtop and the bed.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

Slowly and silently, as it had descended, that horrible bedtop rose towards its former place.

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

"My men," said he, "are working down the bedtop for the first time; the men whose money you won were in better practice."

Stories By English Authors: France (Selected by Scribners) 1839-1908 [Contributor] Ouida 1873

The batter steps up and the pitcher steps back and the ball is heading for the plate, both teams waiting for it to get there, each team holding close to that chance of going the whole way, of winning and winning, nobody thinking for one minute that they'll lose and lose again and have to leave the room, packing their bag on the bedtop of a strange hotel, winding up on the cold end of autumn, wondering how the time could've passed so fast, leaving them behind.

To Honor Baseball's Return, Here's as Great an Opening Day Piece as You Will Find 2010

The batter steps up and the pitcher steps back and the ball is heading for the plate, both teams waiting for it to get there, each team holding close to that chance of going the whole way, of winning and winning, nobody thinking for one minute that they'll lose and lose again and have to leave the room, packing their bag on the bedtop of a strange hotel, winding up on the cold end of autumn, wondering how the time could've passed so fast, leaving them behind.

The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Steve Kettmann 2010