Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-01-09

tpanions anticipate hsdesire: Swift as
| the wind he bounds down the channel
and the situation of the fated boy, is
told upon his fathers heartstone.
Minutes of almost eternal length
roll on and there are hundreds on the
bridge above, all holding their breath
{ and awaiting the fearful catastrophe:
The poor boy hears the hum of new
and numerous voices above and below;
ne can just distinguish the tones of his
father, who issshouting with all the en-
ergy of despair, g Williami!. .IVi;i1ionai
Don't look dosoa,!, Your mother and
| Henry and Hayiet,.Gre all here g,ray-
ING. for you, esDoa't looh do,Us,! Keep
Iyour eye toscords hestop!" The boy
didn't look .doaoG.; his eye is fixed like
/ a flint towards heaven, and his young.
heart ON him who reigns there: He
craps again his knife, he cuts another
niche, and another foot is added to the
hundreds that remove him from the
reach of human help from bellows How
carefully he uses his wasting blade!--.
How anxiously he selects the sottest
places in that vast pierre! How he a
voids every flinty grain! How he e.
-conomizes his physicalpowers-resting.
moment at each, again he cuts, how.
every motion is watched from below
There stands his father, mother, BROTH
Ell land sister on the very spot, where,
if he falls. he will not fall alone. Z
The sun is now halfway down. the
west: Thelad has made fifty addition
al inches in that mighty wall land finds
himself directly under the middle of
that Vast arch ofrocks, earth and trees:
He must cut his way in new direction
to, get from under this overhanging
mountain: The inspiration of hope
is dying in his bosom; its vital heart is
fed by the increased shouts ofhundreds
perchedaupon cliffs and trees, and 9TH
ers who stand with ropes in their hands
on the bridge above, or with ladders
below: Fifty. i gains :, aims more must be cut
before the longest rope can reach him.
His wasting blade again strikes into.
the limestone, The boy is emerging
painfully, foot by foot, from under the
lofty arch. oSpliced ropes are ready in
the hands ofthose thatsare leaning over
| the outer end of THE bridge. Two
minutes more and all will be- over
That blade is worn to the last half
Inch. The boys head reels; his eyes
are starting from their sockets. His
last hope is dying~in his heart; his life
must hang upon the next gain he cuts.
! That niche is his last. At the last faint
cash he makes his knife, his faithful
knife, falls from his nerveless hand, and
ringing along the precipice, falls at his
mothers feet. An involuntary groan
Of despalrruns Ikea death knellthrough
the channel below, all is. Still as the
grave. At'the height Of nearly three
hundred feet, the devoted boy lifts his
hopeless hear. and closing eyes to COM
mend his soul to God. ''Tis but a mo-
! there! one foot swings of-he
is reeling- bling--toppling over
into eternity! HarI shout falls on
his ears from above! The man who. is
lying with half his length over the
bridge has caught a glimpse Of the
| boy shead and shoulders. Quick as
thought the noosed rope is within
reach ofthe sinking youth. No one
breathes. With faint;convulsive eff
fort, the swooning boy drops his arms
into the moose. Darkness comes over
him, and with the word, God and
mother! whispered on his lips, just
| loud enough to be heard in Heaven, the
lightning rope lifts him out Of the last,
shallow niche. Not a a lip moves
while he is dangling over that fearful
abyss, but when a sturdy Virginian
reaches down and draws up the lad,
ard holds him up before the fearful,
GREATNESS multitude, such shouting,
such leaping and weeping for JOY, nev-
er greeted the ear Of human being 50
recovered from the yawning gulf Of e
| ternity. a.s O. ,..,;9.a., bas
s From. Sears .Magazinc. las +
NJ Salf RSscsmsiv1e.