Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1858-10-06
EBENsBURG, OCTOBER 6, 1858.
Have you your axe, young man 2 said

4" Have you your axe, young man 2 said
Picurio.
No In the pcrilous moment when he
had forced me under the rock, the axe had |
slipped out of my hand
with all the energy of despair, we flung
the whole weight of our bodies against the |
inert mass which shut US into our living tomb |
-hopeless-hopeless. must have then fall
len into lethargy; for the avalanche fell in |
the early morning, and the Are Maria was
ringing when l recovered my consciousness. |
Yes,w distinctly heard the bell of the church
of Aquila. No words can describe the rap
ture L felt in listening to this voice from with
| out; 1t seemed to say distinctly, Hope in
Gods mercy
: Let US pray said the old man. We
| recited the AEgelus, and told the rosary
| After shat we felt more composed, and sat
down side by side. The sound of the church
bells had taken away the horrible feeling of
| being entirely cut off from the living. We
| felt sure that, as soon as we were missed, all
the village would turn out on the morrow to
| seek for US, and We agreed that, as we were
able to hear the bells SO clearly it would not
be difficult to make ourselves heard by any
passers. Luckily, our days food was in our
pockets; We divided it into several portions,
SO that it should last twenty -four hours
Within that period we never doubted obtain
! ing our release
presently the church bell began to ring
| again. II could not be the De Profundis;
sufficient time had not elapsed; besides, the
strokes were quick and sharp, not slow and
solemn. Glory be to God, it was the STORM
bell; the alarm vas given, and good souls
would soon be on the search for US. Neither
Picurio nor spoke, SO eagerly did we strain
our to catch the sound of approaching
steps, long before it wa. possible that any
could have reached the mountain. l think
the beating of our hearts might have been
heard iu that dead silence.
AT last, we distinguished the barking of
dog. | recognized the bark at once; II was
| Bib, Ia Petite's pet Nearer and nearer il
came, until ne could hear him whining and
scratching the snow which hid US Then the
i, blessed sound of human voices became audi
ble Full of hope and joy, We threw our
selves once more against our snow-bsrrlcade;
: we dug at it with hapds and nails, striving
r to open a crerice through which We might
let our friends know our situation. We shout
ed with all our might but the noise fell back
} heavily on our own ears. Many times We
Z were aware that the seekers were close to u
we heard them calling TO one smother, W.
could hear, but with anguish We understood
/ that we could not make ourselves heard
Near as the seagcbers "crc, we could hold X
+ communication with them. Exclamations o
! horror, pity, and grief. met our ears. The
Ii ! names of our unfortunate comrades were pro-
y | nounced in tones that plainly revealed the
t sad fate. There was bustlc, many direc
o tions of how best 10 carry away the bof:rs
t wonders about Us, and then our expected de
,isoters departed A horrible despair tool
y possession at me as their retreating steps grew
!, faintrr aud fainter but poor Picurio alway
a cried, Let US pray; God's right arm is ions
| enough to reach us even here
e Il tried to pray, but my thoughts wan
- dered to nay home; all the childish gricfs
u had known were forgotten. aud | wcpt bite
salt tears to think | should Fever sec fathe
u or mother, brother or sisters again; all IA
is faults to them rose up in judgment agains
me; how soemnly | avowed that, should Go
sr grant me life. l would never again reb'
agaius; the will OF my parents! And la Pc
z tie, what would she Go without me? | Wa
sure sue would die Of grief As the ngt
ID wore on, my thoughts took another turn
/. the whole scene of my own death, the i:sdin
I'd Of my frozen body, the despair of my poo
Sc little sister, were moving pictures before me
y | could not detach my fancy from the phaI
toms it had evoked. 1t was painfully curio,
,g the way in which arranged aad re-arrange
I'd all the details sparing myself no reyoltin
ye min,aio. I suppose | must at last ha,
i dropped asleep. for [ knew nothing more ii
at Picurio called to me that he heard the be
p for early mass. raised myself to a sittu
sp posture, and we each ate portion of OIL
ly bread. All that day aud the ensuing mig
IS, passed in alterations of hope and despair
ot By the next morning beginning of Il
"a third day since our observation-disclosures lit
I'D provision of food exhausted. We we
in oppressed by feverish thirst and gnawing h,
ger-a horrid death before Us; the ia
ay of those who had persisted at once was to
ed euvied ir comparison with the lingering su
- fering we anticipated
At 1--WE had ceased to speak. ceased to pra
INT | had no hope now-no faith. In moody
ID, lence we sat apart. watching, | may say, t
we approach of the pangs of death, when su
lg, denly the deep hush was broken by a fam
he lar, sharp bark 1t was Bib again q
lie, the unut.erable JOY of hearing the little f
rst blocking up our cave There was anoth
$. sound thar made bot tears rain down +
ith cheeks; it wss child's voice-no other tn
fell l1 Pehte's-crying. lie is here uncle.
eff am sure he is here. Oh, dig, good men, q
be- fast"
in '.Our hearts melted within us as we hea
many steps nearing our prison. There "
nt, danger ton, for many cautions we're give
ey ~ In, child's voice still rose clear above all.
wn Make haste, do make u.~.e Give n me
hoe; can dig. Ny poor brother Will
dead If you don't make haste
old ''At last long stick was pushed ,hrou
M the SNOWFALL: it touched me; / seized it.
ose There was shout of A miracle, a mirac
my mingled with the child's wild cry of. 'Bro
nd er BROTHER Another stick was thrr
LII IL :,