The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1851-03-12

the little hollow I was able to scrapc
out, filled up as quickly as it had been
formed. m
A thought occurred to me. will
place my rifle between my thighs,
horizontally; it may support me for
a time. | looked around for the ob-
jcct. I had dropped it in my first
efforts to get free. It was beyond
my rec t-it has disappeared.
The next thought--sCan / throw
my body fiat, and thus, by constant
excrtion prevent myself from sink
ing deeper?' No; tho surface of the
water was two feet above that of the
sand. In this position, / should have
drowned at once! I proved that by
bending forward and resting my
hands upon the bottom. The run.
ming stream swept my face and
shoulders, and / rose again half chok-
cd with the water. The last shift
| made no effort to think. A strange
stupor seized upon me--my very
thoughts were paralyscd. Ikncw that
had left me; l could think Of no other;
l was going mad---for moment I
was mad.
After an interval my senses re-
turned. I made an effort to rouse nv
mind from this paralysis, in order that
1 might meet my death, which now
felt was certain, like man. I stood
erect ; my eyes had sunk to the prai-
ric level, and resting upon the still
bleeding victims Of my cruelty; my
hear. smote me at the sight, anu I
could not help feeling that my fate
was n retribution from God.
With humble and pcnitent
thoughts, turned my face to
Heaven, almost dreading that some
sign of Omnipotent anger would
scowl upon me from above. But no;
the sun was shining Us brightly as
ever, and tho blue canopy of the
world was without a cloud. q Isgazed
upon il, and nrayed with an earnest.
ness known to ths henri ealy id SINH, /
lar situations. ' - Z : aass.' }iss5lt
AS l continued looking up, an
object attracted my attention. It
was but speck when my eye first
rested upon it, but every moment i:
grew larger, until against the sky l
distiI guished the dark outlines Of a
huge dark bird--I knew it to be the
obscene bird Of the plains-the
buzzard vulturc. Whence had it
come? who knows? Ear beyond the
reach of human eye it had seen or
scented the slaughtered antelope,
and with broad silent wing, was
now descending in spiral gyrations to
the feast of death. Presently another,
and another, and another, and many
others mottled the deep azure, curving g
wheeling silently carthward; and then
the foremost swoopcd down upon the
bank, and after gazing around tapped
oft towards the prey. In a few
seconds the surface Of the prairie was
black with filthy birds, who clambercd
over tho dead animals, and beat their
broad wings against each other, and
tore out the tongues and eyes with
their fetid beaks. And now came
gaunt and hungry wolvcs-thc white
and coyote stealing from cactus
thickcts, and loping cowardly over the
green swells Of tho prairie; these
drove away the vultures, and dragged
forth the cntrails with the quickncss
Of thought, and growlcd, and snarlcd,
and snapped vengefully at each other,
and licked their blood clottcd jaws
with looks Of guilty enjoyment.
'Thank Heaven! | shall at least be
saved from this / was soon relieved
from the sight of it, my eyes had
sunk below the level Of the bank, and
| had looked my last upon the fair
green earth; l could see only the
white gypsum walls that contained
the river, and the water that ran
heedlessly between them. Again |
liked my gaze upon the sky, and with
praycrful heart endeavored to resign
myself to my fate. In spite of my
cndcavors, the memory of earthly
pleasures, and friends and home
would come stealing upon me, causing
me at intervals to break out into wild
paroxysms of grief, and shouting for
help, make fresh and fruitiess
struggles.
During ono Of these moments, my
horse again neighod, answering nv
shouts. A thought struck mel
shall see him again before l die.
Journeyings, shared hardships, had
made us known to each other; he
would come at my call: the lariat was
loosely tied, or the soft cactus would
break at single jerk. | lost not n
moment to attempt its execution. /
raised my voice to its highest pitch