The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-02-04

covered, a. with mantle Of glory, the
shining mountain tops and the wide dim
valley. The scene was sublime; and it had
something of terror too in our circumstances.
The hillside below the road, thicEly cover
ed with trees, was precipitous, and the bot
tom of the valley below scarcely to be Dc.
fined, seemed at an immense distance in the
misty light. This observation drew my
attention to our situation, and now re-
marked with astonishment that the trees
appeared to glance by US with extraordinary
rapidity, and that the motion Of the coach
was by no means regular.
"Gentlemen," said to my fellow passen-
geers, ''something is wrong the stage is
moving with great swiftness, and it is at one
moment on the verge of the precipice, and
at the next appears almost crushed against
the opposite bank"
"Oh my!" exclaimed the laughing stock,
s'the stage has run away with u.s."
"That is putting the cart before the horse,
indeed" said one Of the wits. Il beg the
readers pardon.) "I fear, however," he
continued, " that 'tis no joke;" Che was
right in two senses y and lowering the
window near him, he put out his head. The
head was soon drawn in.
"'Tis, indeed, too true," he resumed !;
"the horses have run away with the stage,
and are evidently beyond the drivers con-
troll. We have yet apparently upwards Of
a mile to descend, and it seems to me i'm
possible to avoid an upset before We reach
the foot of the mountain. The Lord have
mercy upon US !"
"The Lord have mercy upon us % was
repeated in succession by the laghiug- stock
and the other wit.
''Amen!' responded the merchant, which
echoed in my heart.
The reader may think that there is some
thing very amusing in this; but | doubt
whether he would have seen the fun OF it
at that particular juncture, had he been one
of us.
As for the Texan, cannot say what he
felt he sat still and said nothing. The
short, stout man was ensconced in the cor
ner comfortably wrapped in the green
blanket coat, and with his brown fur cap
still pulled low over his brows, apparently
unconcerned. The rest of the passengers
presented an appearance of at least tolerable
composore-a except the laughing stock,
who was in a frenzy Of terror, at one mo-
ment uttering idle regrets that he had ever
left home, and at another equally idle wishes
that be was safely at his journeys end, and
intermingling frequently with prayers for
present preservation. By the way Of finale
to his extravagances, one of his friends and
myself were in the act of preventing him in
a mad attempt to jump from the window,
when the stage made a tremendous bound,
gave "lurch to port" rs sailor would
say, and more quickly than thought, We
were all standing on our heads on the inside
of the top of the coach, and as quickly again
struggling together on the bottom in such a
, state as printers call s'pi."
| After some difficulty We were ext.iCated,
when, on examination, We found no lives
were lost, no limbs broken; some slight
bruises only were received. To be sure,
| from the exclamations of the laughing
stock, it would have been supposed that he
was at the least most, dreadfully wounded !;
but he was not at all hurt except by the
| fright.
| The coach was a total wreck. When
overset the body and hind wheels were bro
ken from the fore wheels, which, with the
| horses-all unhurt, were left in the road
| The hind wheels had been thrown to some
distance down the precipice, where they lay
concealed 10 gloom. The body, in very
shattered condition, rested against tree,
which in all probability had caused our
preservation.
"But where is the gentleman in the gree.
blanket coat? 90 inquired.
"Broken his neck, ho-fcar," answered
the fexan.
| He was indeed missing. We thought at
! first that he had probably been thrown from
the kill and killed, or at least redered insen.
sible. But after a careful examination of
| the ground around we could see nothing of
| him.
| The driver (who, by the way, had saved
himself by springing from the box when
the coach upset), walked down the road a
short distance to where the horses, perfectly
tanned by their fright, had stopped, brought
them to the spot OF our catastrophe, and,
after some trouble and delay, succeeded,
with our assistance, and that of certain
straps of leather cut from different parts of
the stage, in making fast the baggage to the
axletree of the fore whells.. This done, We
started for the nearest wayside inn.
This man, the driver, was the most per.
feet adept in expl letives that have ever had
the ill-fortune to meet. He cursed the
horses, the road, the owners of the line, the
stage, and more than all himself, and may
add without profanity, with most justice.
| 1t appeared from his account, that the acci-
dent had caused by young horse not well
broken having been put into his team
himself had evidently been drinking deeply.
| During our walk the Texan was in fine
spirits. and conversed freely, as he had done
in the afternoon and early part Of the the
evening, until our arrival ut the inn, which
occurred about midnight. On entering the
sitting room we beheld the remarkable man
in the green blanket coat, rubbing his hands
before a comfortable fire, with his hat still
pulled over face.
"Good gracious !" exclaimed the laughing
stock, show long have you been here How
did you get here %
"How do other peopletravel that are with
out horse, carriage or railroad car 2" said
the green blanket coat grutfly.
"Ride on mules or assess, walk or ly,"
answered one Of the wits. At which retort
himself and his two friends laughed hearth
ly.
The man in the green blanket coat did
not notice this intended o-be witticism.
The cap was still low over his face.
entertained hope that we should see his
face at supper, but was disappointed; he
did not eat with as, but had probably eaten
that meal before we arrived.
After this meal We drew around the fire.
The passengers generally did not appear
disposed to be sleepy; the excitement Of
our upset had banished all inclination to
immediate slumber. The cutains we're
drawn, and
''wind Of the wild winter night"
that howled fercely without, added to the
feeling of comfort inspired by the large
coal fire that burned brightly in the crate.
Everything conspired to render the company
cheerful and laxative. Wine was brought
to produce q stimulus which already was
not wanting. Our late adventure was fully
discussed, even to its most trifng incidents.
Each one detailed at length his snsations
during the tumble. The Ohio wits passed
several jokes on their friends fright, and he
good-naturedly joined in the laugh against
himself.
The discourse wandered naturally to
highway robbery; apropos to which one of