Maryland free press., 1867-02-14

thrusts mutually pared that the eye could no
follow the motion Of the combatants. Now one
now the other seemed to have the advantage
The dry leaves few in showers around the con.
tending foes and the dust rose in clouds, hiding
them often from the sight. Not O word was
1spoken ty either combataat. At length, after
one or two slight wounds on either side a des.
rerate thrust made by the husband, his knife
struck against the iron buckle of his antagonist
belt, and was shivered into pieces. The refuge.
saw his advantage and raised his knife to strike.
AS last hope his pursuer grasped his wrist. A
desperate struggle ensued. Both were men oil
Z tcat personal powers, but the outlaw having
f'ready received wound in his right arm, ard
was perhaps the weaker of the two. After a pi o.
traeted contest he yielded, and ia fierce effort
made by the husband to obtain the knife, it flew
iom the refugees hand to the distance of some
Yards. BY this time they had imperceptibly
been drawn to the very edge of the hill, where q
rugged precipice Of some Fifty feet, shot perpen-
dicularly downward beneath them. Gathering
every energy for his last endeavor, the pursuing
husband strove to force the outlaw over the pre-
cipice, and had partially succeeded in it, when
he felt the gravelly bank giving away beneath
them. With one hand he hastily grasped a twig,
and with the other, making gigantic effort, he
thrust his antagonist over the precipice, so that
the outlaw dangled in the air having no support
but the hold he kept upon the le arm of his an-
tagonist. All hope for the refugee was over, but
he determined that his foe should perish with him.
Moments passed away, at every one of which the
bank gave way more and more. The utmost
efforts OF the victor to shake off the dying man
were in vain, and he felt that his last hour was
come. lie heard no more even the shouts Of his
friends; and with sickening sensation he felt
they had either lost way or deserted him.
Could they only come up he might have been
saved. lie felt the twig begin to yield-he had
already slipped half off the bank-and the strup-
glcs of the dying man were becoming more des-
perate every moment. He gazed at the gulf l
low. Broken limbs of trees, and uprooted pines
lag mingled together so that to fall into the
abyss would be certain destruction, The coun-
tepance of the outlaw already wore demouical
smile in contemplation of the ruin to which he
was dragging the young man. And that BRIDE
groom-was there hope for him2 Alas all was
gone. He gave one thought of his brid7 -one
look toward heaven-one prayer to his God, and
then shut his eyes against the awful catast.oohe
he felt had come. Suddenly, however, sharp
report, as of a rife, rung wildly in his ears, and
at the same instant he felt the hold of the outlaw
relax from his arm. He opened his ey'3 only to
behold the dying man shooting like an arrow
down the abyss-only to see his mangled body
lying shattered on the trunks of the trec7 below.
In moment he was drawn away from the bank,
and clasped in the arms of his companions, who
coming up at the very last moment, had by shoot
ing the outlaw in the heart, rescued their Eriend
from horrid death.
1t was glad night that oae, at the little farm
house, after the return of the hardy adventures
from the expedition.
Mary was by this time completely recovered,
and hsppi' evening never was spent by two
fond young hearts than BY the young bridegroom
and his bride.
The refugee were from that time extirpated in
the vicinity. But their memory yet survives,
and through the incidents Of this tale, depen-
ding on tradition for preservation, are now
were some years ago, one or two tottering patri-
archs, whose eye, would kindle, and whose
breath would come quick as they told of the
outlaws fate.
The spot where the fsstncss of the refugees WIS
located, is deep in one of those tangled swamps,
which skirt the sho-es of M river and
which are almost impervious to the foot of man.
II is many long day since the writer of this lit
tie sketch penetrated to it under the guidance of
an old woodsman, and he will never forget the
refreshing draught he took at the little spring Of
cedar water hard by the side of the tenement The
rude cabin which the outlaws had constructed,
had for years lain rotten on the earth; the wild
deer had trotted gaily over the spot where it
once stood young saplings, and then rugged
trees had sprung up within the circuit of its fallen
walls, and only few deeayed tinbers crumbling
with age and covered with moss, bctokened the
position of the dreaded habtation.
The hill on which the final encounter of the
combatants took place is, to this day, shown
not far from little creek cmptying into the
NJ river, some miles from Chichester. I'll
is still bold, rugged, broken preipice, though
within the last forty years, it has fallen CEN
siderably away, through the action of the SHOWS
and rain. The little ravine into which the out
law fell is now filled up with slides Of earth from
the preeipice above. Tradition however, still
preserves the exact spot where the last conflict
occurred and well do we remember the e,ger-
ness with which in our boyish days, we listened,
as we stood on the brow of the hill to veteran
thrilling account of the outlaws death struggle
1T has been found necessary to ventilate the
Capital at Washington with immense steam fans.
That of the Senate chamber weighs 6,536 pounds,
driven by an engine of sixteen horse power,
Al Ill ;..l,u