Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-05-07
$500 PER ANNUM


rising the tide. In fact, young Silva ha
more than once performed the feat in hi
boyish days, and now felt no hesitation in re
sorting to it again as the only means of escap
from a remorseless and unsparing enem,
In much shorter time, therefore, from tn
first alarm, than we have taken to describ
the spot, he stood with his agitated father a
the mouth Of the black and gaping ohasm
from which distinctly assembled the hoars
believing of the ,vexcd torrent far below, a
it rushed through the concealed outlet to tn
sea. A stout rope secured round his middle
the young man let himself cautiously owe
the edge the remainder of the cord bein,
wound round the trunk of fruit tree, willis
Don Ricardo firmly grasped the extremity
| spaying it OUT by degrees. After the laps,
of few anxious minutes, the don felt tn,
strain relax, a proof that the young man hat
reached his resting-place; then the vibration
of the cord announced that he had cast il off
and then a shout from below conveyd the sig
nal to withdraw it. The only approach fol
hOrsemen through the grounds being very
circuitous. Don Ricardo was enabled to reacl
the house and take his seat in the drawing
room before the dragons pulled up at the
door.
A dozen of their number instantly dismount
ed, and surrounded the house, whilst theil
officer knocked loudly for admittance. The
door having been opened by Don Ricardo il
person-the domestics having long before re
tired to rest, as it was not deemed prudent tC
inform them of the presence of the young
man-the Christine leader recognized him al
once as evidently the proprietor of the man
sion.
"You keep late hours, Don Ricardo Silva, y
he commenced. May take the liberty Of
inquiring whether you have had any visitors
this evening ~
My family is small one, captain, re.
piled Don Ricardo, endeavoring to disguise
his anxiety under faint smile; "and in the
present disturbed state of affairs, we never
have any visitors beyond our own circle.
" If 1 mistake not, said the other, "you
have son among the rebels in the pay Of
Don Carlos. May l ask, without giving
offence, when you heard from him last 2"
'tT The last letter received from him" re-
piled the father, g is dated several months
back
'tStrange," observed the Christine, "that
should happen to be so much better informed
about him than yourselfl Now, were to
venture guess as to his whereabouts, should
say he was at this moment beneath this very
roof
Don Ricardo vehemently, and indeed truly,
denied the fact of his presence beneath the roof
but, as may be supposed, his protestationt
met with little credit. A guard was placed
over him and his lady in the apartment i'll
which they had been sitting; the domesticS
were summoned, and put under similar re-
straint in another and the remainder of thu
dragons were ordered to dismount and search
the house.
An hour subsequently, when every nool;
and Granny of the building, with the out
officers and garden, had been ransacked-ol
course fruitlessly--the commander of the
Christine party again entered the apartment
in which the don and his lady were detained,
and informed them, that as it was evident the
| i;erng v man had made his escape before the
Queens troops issd dsssSsd "a the house, IL be,
came his duty to convey them both TO 4ssrss,,
to render an account for having harbored and
connived at the escape of rebel. This was
blow which they had never anticipated,
and for which they were wholly unprepared.
None but themselves being privy to the fact
of the young man concealment in the Fiend :
Fishpond, to convey them to Bilboa, and
leave him to await the rising of the tide,
would be to doom him to certain death. Even
as it was, the latest period at which he could
be withdrawn with life was approaching with
fearful rapidity. Horrified af the prospect,
the anguished mother shrieked and tainted /;
not so control his emotions as to prevent the
officer from discovering that some deeper in
fuence was at work than the mere dread of
the inconvenience to which they would them
selves be exposed, trifiing as it must prove i'll
the absence of all positive@ evidence that
young Silva had really been there at all.
This of course but confirmed him in his pre-
vious intention of taking them to Bieboa for
which place, accordingly, the entire party,
including the almost broken-hearted parents,
started in short time afterwards
As our object is not to describe feelings,
but to record facts, VIC shall not dwell upon
the sufferings of Don Ricardo and his lady
throughout that dreadful night. The reader
can readily imagine how at one moment they
would almost resolve to risk all, and reveal
the fact, and, rescuing their child from the
horrors of the frightful grave into which he
had been lowered by his fathers hand, pro-
cure for him, at all events, the respite of an
hour, and the privilege to look once more,
before he died, ON the light Of the sun; and
how, at the next they would determine to
confde him to the bounty of that Providence
who holds the waters in the hollow of his
hand, and bow in submission to his will,
rather than become themselves the instri-
ments in revealing the place of his conceal
ment, and betraying him into hands of men
whose 'stender merces were cruel" Let it
suffice to say, that when, towards the close of
the following day, they were led forth from
the prison in Bilboa, in which they had been
and informed they were at liberty
to return to their mansion, the locks of the
gentleman, which, though he had passed the
middle age, on the previous evening had
been black and glossy as the ravens wing,
were white as if the SHOWS of seventy years
had descended on his head-the lady was an
IDIOT.
Neither need we expatiate ON the feelings
of young Silva, as he beheld-if indeed such
an expression be correct as applied to his
amid the thick darkness which
reigned eternally within the frightful reccsses
of that horrid cavern-the gradual ap-
proaches of apparently inevitable death; the
rising waters gradually ascending to the level
of the ledge on which he stood-to his knees
his hips; his middle; mis- arm-pits. Con-
scious, by this time, that something extraor-
tiinary had occurred to prevent his parents
from effecting his release, all hope of life had
Heaven was quivering on his lips, when a
loud shout from the mouth of the pit drove
the blood, which had began to stagnate round
his heart, again like lightning through his
veins. Prompt as the echo was his reply
and the next moment the cord from above
struck the water within reach of his arm.
With all the despatch which his numed fin
gers would permit, he fastened it around him,
and announcing his readiness by another
shrill cry, was drawn in safety to the top,
He learned. on inquiry, that a neighboring
peasant, tempted by the luscious fruits with