Nebraska advertiser., 1865-01-26


} now on the point of coming up with him
The raped steps of the ,wo men, pur-
suing and pursued, brought the latter tC
the edge of the abrubt hill before he was
aware of it. aud he saw a. glance thai
further fight was impossible. He turn.
ell and beheld only one foe in sight be
could hear the shouts of the others far
behind in the forest, and he resolved 10
eraPpie with the foremost pUrsuer, and
! by destroying him. effect his escape be-
fore the others came up. He turned al
bay. The rifles of both the conbalants
had been discharged in the pursuit, and
they now stood face TO face, with no 9th
er weapons than their hunring-kniyes.-
They gazed al each other for a moment,
all their mutual hate sparkling in their
eyes.
"Villian! murderer! traitor" hOarse-
ly CALCULATED the husband, pale with pas
sion. as he darled at the refugee.
The outlaw made no answer, but
scowled a mortal defiance al his Zoe, and,
drawing his knife. awaited the onslaught
And it was terrible. For few mo-
ments so necessarily were their rhrusts
mutually parried, that the eyes could not
follow the motions of the cdnTtaIants.-
Now one, now the other seemed 10 have
The advantage. The dry lOaves flew in
showers around The conlending foes, and
the dust rose in clouds, often hiding them
from sight. Not word was spoken by
eithrr. Al length after a few slight
wounds on both SIDES, al a desperate
trust made by the husband, his knife
struck against the IRON buckle of his an
Iagunist, and was shlvered TO PIECES
The refugee saw his advantage, and
raised his knife TO strike AS a last
hope his pursurr grasped bis wrist. a
de perate struggle ensueG; both were
men Of great PERSONAL strength, but the
outlaw having received a wound 10 hls
right arm was perhaps the weaker Of.the
two After a protracIed struggle he
yielded, aud 10, fierce sfi4t made by
The husband TO obtain the knife it flew
from Black Davy's hand 10 the distance
of some yards.
By this time they had been impercep-
tibly drawn to the very edge of the hill,
where q rugged preciPIce of some fifty
feet shot perpe ndicularly down beneath
th-m. Gathering every energy for his
last endeavOr, the pursuing husband
slrove 10 force The outlaw over the preC-
ipice, and had partially succeeded in do
lug so, when he felt the gravrlly bank
giving away beneath them. With one
hand he hastily grasped Iwig- and with
The other, making gigantic effort, he
thrust his aulag )nlst over the precipice,
so that tie outlaw daDgIed in the air,
having 10 other support but the hold he
kept upon the left arm of bis adyer-
sary. All hope for the refugee was over,
but be determined that his foe should
perish Wi th him.
Moments passed away, at every ore OF
which the bank gave way more and
more. The utmost efforts. of the victor
to shake off the dying man were in vein.
and he felt that his last hour had come.
He heard no more even the shouts of his
friends, and. with a sickeuing sensation,
be fell they had either lost their way or
deserted him. Could they only have
come up he might have been saved. He
fell the twig begin to yield he had al
ready slipped half off the bank, and the
struggles of the dying man were becom-
Ing more desperate every moment. He
gszed al he gulf below. Broken limbs
of trees and uprOoted p'Des lay min
glrd prOmiscuously logelhe. 30 that 10 fall
into the abyss would be certain deslruc-
ucn. The counteDance Of the outlaw al
ready wore a dtmoDicaI smile IN contem-
plauon of tie ruin to which he was drag
ging the young man.
Aud that bridegroom. was there hope
for him Alas all was gone He
gave one thought of his BRIDE, one look
tswards heaven, a pra er TO God, and
shut bis eyes against The awful caIasTo-
PIE he felt had come. Suddenly. how
ever. sharp repor, as of rife rung 10
his ears. and at the same in=lant 1e felt
the hold Of The outlaw relax from his
arm. IIr opened his eyes only 10 behold
the dying man shooting like an arrow
down the abyss. onlv 10 see his mangled
body lying shattered on The trunks Of the
uees below. Ia a moment be was drawn
away from the hank aud elasped in the
arms u h'- companions, VINO, coming up
al The very last moment. had ~ shOou-r--
lhe outlaw in TIE heart. rescued tasE
friend from a haFrid death.
Coat tails are snlI lhe mode" in Par
Is.