The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1868-08-01


the kitten was mewing at the windo'
a but no signs of Charlie.
" With frantic haste she searched ii
:. clearing, but without success. Her ne,
" thought was the river Black as nigh
save where it fecked with spots of whit
foam-it flowed on but few rods befol
her. She hurried down the brink, cal
ing out, "Charlie, Charlie p
The child's small voice at some littl
: distance replied. She followed the sount
and to her sorrow saw her boy-hi
gcllen hair and rosy cheeks clearly dc
fined against the purple twilight sky
standing on the very edge of the huge
detached rock, some ten feet from tn
shore, out in the sweeping current of tb
river.
This rock, called by the settlers 9Th
Pulpit" was a good situation for casting
fishing lines, and Mark Warren hat
bridged the narrow chasm between i
and the shore with couple of hewl
logs:
Allured by some clusters of flaming
fire weed growing on the side of th'
Pulpit, Charlie had crossed over, ant
now stood there regardless of danger
laughingly holding out the floral treas
ures to his mother. Joyful because sht
had found him uninjured, and mentally
resolving that the logs should be re-
moved to prevent further accident, she
turned to retrace her steps, but the sigh
that met her eyes froze her with horror
to the spot.
Confronting her OH the bridge, moi
six feet distant, was an enormous wolf
gaunt and bony with hunger, his eyes
blazing like live Goals through the mist
and gloom, his hot fetid breath scorch.
ing the very air she breathed.
| A low growl IF intense satisfaction
stirred the air, answered by the growl
of fifty more of his kind, belonging to
the pack in another moment they would
be upon her.
Without an instant thought of the
consequences, Martha obeyed her first
impulse, and struck the logs with her
foot. exercising all her mad strength in
the blow. The f=ail fabric tottered, the
soft earth gave way, there was breath
of awful suspense, and then the bridge
went down with dull plunge into the
waters beneath. The sharp claws OF
the wolf had already been fixed on the
scant vegetation of the rock, and he held
there moment, struggling with fero-
ciops strength to gain a foothold, the
next he slid down in the chasm, utter
ing wild howl of disappointed rage.
Martha sank on her knees and offered
up fervent prayer Of thanksgiving for
her escape; but simultaneously with the
heartfelt "Amen," there came dread
full recollection. The bridge formed the
only link between the Pulpit and the
main land, and that was severed True
che was not more than twenty feet dis
tant from the shores of the river, but
she might as well have been thousands
of miles out in the ocean. The water
was deep, and it ran with almost incon-
ceivable rapidity forty or fifty feet below
her, over rocks SO sharp and jagged that
it made her shiver to look over the
brink.
Her only hope was in her husband.
Should he return at the expected time,
they might still be alive; but if by any
accident he should be detained beyond
the time. She closed her eyes, and be-
sought God for protection and help.
Cold and hungry, and drenched by
the mist of the river. Charlie began
to cry for home. She could bear any
thing better than that. She took off
her own garments to fold around him
and held him to her breast and gang
him the sweet cradle songs which had
so often soothed him.
But the fierce howls of the wolves and
the sullen thunders Of the river, filled |
his little heart with terror, and all the
long dark night through, he cIung to her
neck, sleeplessly crying to go home to
papa.
Day dawned at last, the pale sun
swimming through the sickly sky, the
pallid forecast Of storm. Weak and
faint from hunger, and suffering intense
ly from cold--for summer is no bearer
Of tropical smile in this inhospitable
cline Martha paced back and forth the
narrow limits Of the rock. None came
the faint sun declined-it was night
again. A cold fog sank down over the
mountain, followed by drizzling rain,
which before morning changed to per-
feet deluge. The river rose fearfully,
milk-white down the gorge,
filling the air with shuddering roar, like
the peal of an imprisoned earthquake.
The day that followed was no better,
only rain and ashen-white mist-not D
ray of sunshine.
A new fear arose in the heart Of Mar
tha Warren, The turbalence of the
stream must have swept away the bridge
over which her husband would cross on
his return, and he would be detained-l
for days, may be for weeks.
She gave up all for lost. Strongly
and fearfully was she tempted to fold
her child in her arms and plunge into
The cauldron beneath, and thus end her
fear and doubt. It would be better she
thought than to suffer that slow painful
death of starvation. But something
held her back-God'scurs was on those
who do self-murder.
Towards night. lost robin, beaten
lbout BY the storm, stopped to rest a
on the rock; Martha seized up
u him and rent him in twain, with al Il
most savage glee, for her child to devour
aw-she, who three days before would