St. Charles Republican intelligencer. (St. Charles [Charles City], Iowa) 1856-1857, 1856-10-23

friendship. True, on all occasions
she had protested that her sense of hi
high moral character was not an iots
abated /; but, in this spontaneous act
Roberts heart persuaded. himself tha
there lay something more.
| No sooner did he reach the Mount
than, leaving Ellen to send off assis
tance to the Fehans, he took Turcel
the stockman, and rode into the fores
hills. 1t was soon dark, and they hac
to halt but not far from the spot
where Turcen had lost sight Of his
master. They tethered their horses il
a space clear of trees and of fire, and
gave them corn that they had brought
with them. When the moon arose
they went on to some distance utter
ing loud cooees to attract the ear of the
lost man but all in vain. The fire
had left the ground hot and covered
with ashes, and here and there huge
trees burning like columns of red-hot
iron. g s
Finding all their efforts for the night
fruitless, they flung themselves down
| beside their horses and, with the
earliest peep of dawn they were up
and off higher into the hills. Their
way presented at every step the most
shocking effects of the fire. Ever and
anon they came upon bullocks which
had perished in it. Here and there,
too, they deserted the remains of kan
garoos, opossums, and hundreds of
birds, scared and shrivelled into sable
masses Of cinder.
They came at length to the spot
where Turcen and George Maxwell
had parted and the experienced BUSH
man carefully sought out the tracks
of his horses feet, and followed them.
These were either obliterated by the
fire, or failed from the rocky hardness
of the ground but, by indefatigable
search they regaincd them, and were
led at length to the edge of deep
and precipitous ravinc. In the ravine
itself the trees and grass remained un-
scathed the torrent Of fire had leapt
over it, sweeping away, however,
every shrub and blade of herb from
the heights.
God defend us !" exclaimed Rob-
ert, " the smoke must have blinded
him, and concealed this frightful place
Man and horse are doubtless dashed
to pieces"
He raised loud and clear cooee /;
instantly answered by the wild and
clamorous barking of dog which,
in the next instant, was seen leaping
and springing about in the bottom of
the dell, as if frantic with delight. I
"That is Snirrup!" exclaimed, Tur-
cen; and the two men began totde-
scend the steep side of the ravine.
Robert, Patterson outstripped his
older and heavier companion. He
seemed to fly down the sheer and crag-
CIV descent. Here he seized bough,
there q point of the rock, and, in the
next instant, was as rapidly travers-
ing the bottom of the glen. Snirrup,
the cattle-dog, rushed barking and
whining upon him, asi in a fit of ecstatic
madness, and then bounded on before
him. Robert followed in brcathless
anxiety ; stopped the next moment by
the sight of George Maxwell's horse,
lying crushed and dead. Robert cast
a rapid glance around, expecting every
moment to see his friend stretched
equally lifeless. But presently he
heard the faint sound Of human
voice.
There lay George stretched in the
midst of a grassy thicket, with a face
expressing agony and exhaustion.
Robert seized his offered hand, and
George called first for water. His
friend started up and ran down the
valley at full speed. He was soon
back with q pannikin of water, which
the sufferer drank with avidity.
He now learned that as he had sup
posed, in the thick smoke, the horse
had gone over the precipice, and was
killed in an instant. George had es-
capped, his fall being broken by his
steed and he was flung into the thick
ct, which again softened the shock of
his descent. But he had a broken
leg, and was, besides, extremely bruis-
ed, and torn. Life, however, was
strong within him; and Turcen and
Robert lost no time in having litter
Of poles bound together with stringy
bark made soft with grass and leaves
laid in a sheet of the same bark.
They had three miles to bear the pa
tient to whom every motion produc-
cd excruciating agonies. 1t was not
long before they heard people in diff
ferent parts Of the wood loudly cooee-
ing and their answers soon brought
not only a number Of men who had
been sent out in quest Of them, but
also Miss Maxwell, herself. ged
We shall not attempt to describe the
sad and yet rejoicing interview of the
brother and sister, nor the rapidity
with which the different men were1
sent off upon the horses tied i'll tae
hills for the surgeon who lived two
miles off.
In few days George Maxwell
his leg having been set and his
wounds drcssed-had become easy
enough to relate all that had happen
ed to him the dreadful night which
he had passed h'extreme'agony in the