The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1851-05-29

4 open ai,o'hef chaPlef OF ner evennui. lie
The wedding.day was fixed, and goo,
natured settler, who had become interested
in the romantic story of the lovers, cam,
forward with that considerate and lbera
hospitality which forms SO agreeable fea
ture in the character Of the South Africa col
onist He threw open bis house for fiesta
gathering, and summoned many friends tt
share the pleasures of the bridal, and tc
welcome the bride and bridegroom on the
threshold of their new life.
1t was glorious day outwafdly, but the
feecy clouds were coming up from the hori
zon, and shaping themselves into dense and
swollen masses, which grew darker by de.
grees, and emitted, at sharp intervals fiery
tongues of lightning; but these evidences Of
storm were far off, and inaa opposite direc-
tion from the road which, on crossing a
stream, led TO the town whence the bride-
groom was hourly expected.
The ground round the homestead pre-.
sented the appearance Of a gypsy camp,
with its wagons drawn up in shady pathways
and the smoke of fires, for it was of course
impossible to give house room by night to
such throng of guests, bivouac was es-
tablished on the good farmers ground, and
the travelers cattle were dispersed about the
! bushes that festooned the hills in the back
ground Of the snug settlement.
bridal assemblage is always cheerful
| sight in country where there is much la
Dor, certain difficulties and dangers to sur,
mount, and but little pastime. The present
occasion mad brought many together who
came partly from pleasure, partly from curl.
osity, but all with hearty good will towards
the pair whose history had been the
theme Of conversation in many homestead,
in camp and in quarter.
Women in gay DIRE sses, and faiI-hairei
English looking children were assembled in
the settlers garden, and turning their back
upon the angry clouds, looked anxiously
beyond the Koonap river up the hill. Eve
ming advanced, the thunder began 10 mutter
above the clouds, and descending rolled
along the mountain ridges, and kept up an
uneasy murmur in the ravinss. A single
traveller on horseback wended his unnoticed
way down bride. road at the back of the
settlers dwelling, within which the clergy
man, for he it was, found table bravely
spread, but no guests. They were still in.
,ently gazing into the distance beyond the
river, as some twenty minutes Derore, the
figure of another traveller on horseback had
appeared between far hill top and the now
lurid sky.
The clergyman hung his horses bridle on
an iron hook at the gate of the farm yurd, in
the rear of the house, and look his way to
the drift or ford where the guests had assem-
bled to bid the bridegroom tarry on his way
There was hoarse murmur of waters ri-
sing in the distance, where the cliffs over
hung the swelling stream, and the bride
turned an anxious and searching look upon
the farmer, as after listening to the roar Of
the mighty river, he exclaimed, .."Now, God
help him for so sure as he tries to cross
the drift this night, he must perish"
"Bu, he hears our warming" cried Emma,
as she waved her hands 10 her lover. 'See,
he laughs, aud lifts his forage cap, and stops
his horse. And he is alone ah know
how it is; he has been waiting for his com.
rade y if he had not done SO, he would
have been here in the morning. Oh, Ed
ward, Edward !" exclaimed the unhappy
girl in an agony, the depths of which could
not be understood by her auditors, ooh, Ed
ward, how could you put faith in him and
| he drunkar1 !'
And her lover, now at the edge of the
drift, saw her distorted features, her ciasped
hands, and resolved on trying to comfort her
in distress. Her surmise was too true, he
had put faith in drunkard, and finding that
if he waited any longer, there would not be
sufficient light for him TO make the journey
before the time appointed for the marriage,t
he had started alone on horse borrowed
from friend whose household cares did not
permit his joining the bridal party and, OBJ
serving the storm gathering along the hills,
had made such haste as the roads, strewed
with loose stones, and horse taken of grass,
permitted.
The river lay between him and happiness.
He could not distinguish word uttered by
the group on the opposite side, for the wa
ters roared and tumbled over the stones, and
the alder boughs swayed to and fro, as the
wind came whisting up the stream. Would
that the shrek which burst from the lips Of
his belrothed, could have reached his ears
as his tired horse put lis foot into the turbid
river, drew it back, snorted, and resisting
the blow of the sambokt bestowed on IFS
smoking fanks by the impatient rider, less
wary of his danger than the sagacious beast
turned its face toward the stony hill, and
would have relraced its path, but for Ed
wards determination that it should ford the
| drift.
After resisting the whip for several min
utes, the horse, as though bent on revenging
itself on its master, plunged into the river
rose gallantly at the stones over which the
restless elemen, tnmbled with the violence
| Every soldier has "comrade," each
/ being bound to assist each other in taking
charge of his effects when absent Ell duty
| c.o ~ Tho havra cks heloing him in accounting