The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1869-10-08

light SO that we might enjoy the
mountain scenery. But what's
that" and she covered her eyes
| from q sheet Of lightning that iilu-
minated the rugged mountain with
brilliant intensity.
"rcal after peal Of thunder in
stantly succeeded; there was vc-
ry volume of rain coming down at
each thunder bnrst, and with
the deeper moaning OF an animal
, i'll agony breaking upon our cars, /
found that the coach had come to
4 dead halt.
'Louisc, my beautiful fellow
traveller, became as pale as aslics.
She liked her eyes on mine with a
look of anxious dread, and turning
to her father, she hurricdIy remark
cd
eve arc OF the mountains.'
Il reckon we are, was the I'M
concerned reply.
"With instructive activity T Dut
my head through the window and
called to the driver, but the only
answer WAS the moaning Of an an
lmal, born past mo by the swift
winds of the tempest. / seized
the handle of the door and strained
in vain--it would not Weld. At
that instant | felt cold hand in
mine, and heard Louise E:lintly ar-
ticNlatc in my car the following ap-
pal!iny words:
"'Ihc coach is moving back
ward.'
"Ncvcr shall T forget tho fierce
agony will! which | tuggcd at the
! coac!I door, and called on i!c dri-
vcr i'll tones that rivalcd tho fierce
blast Of the tempest, while the
conviction was burning in my
brain that the coach vas Lcin%
slowly moved backward.
"What followed was of such
swift occurrence that it seemed to
me like Il iriYhtful dream.
81 rushc! against the door witt,
all force, but it witIl*tool my ut
most efforts. One side Of the vc-
hiclc was scnsibly going down,
down, down. The moaning Of the
agonlzed animal became deeper,
and | knew from his desperate
rlunGcs that it was one Of our
horses. Crash upon crash Of thun-
der rolled over the mountain, and
the vivid flashes Of lightning play
cd over our heads. BY its light
could sec for moment the old
planter stand erect with his hands
on his son and daughter, his eyes
raised to heaven, and his lips inov-
ing as if in prayer, I could sec
Louise turn her ashy check toward
nc if imploring assistance; and
could sec the bold glance of the
boy liasifRg defiance at the war OF
clements and the awful Ganycrlhat
awaited linn. There Was q roll, a
desperate plunge, a harsh, grating
jar, a sharp piercing scream, Of NOR
tai terror, and / had but time to
clasp Louise firmly with one hand
round her waist, and seize the fas-
tcning attached to the roof with
the other, when We were prccipita-
ted over the precipicc.
81 can distinctly rccolcct preServ-
ing consciousness for few seconds
Of time, how rapidly my breath
was being exhausted, but of that
tremendous descent J. soon lost all
further knowledge by conclusion
so violent that was instantly de-
privcd Of all sense and notion"
The traveller paused. Ills fca-
lures worked for Il minute or two
as they did when We were on the
mountains; lie passed his hands
across his forehead, as if in pain,
and then resumed his thrilling mar
rativc.
con low couch in an humble
room Of small country house,
next opened my eyes in this world
of light and shade, joy and sorrow,
mirth and sadness. Gentle hands
smoothcd my pillow, gentle feet
glidcd across my chamber, and a
gentle voice for time flushed all
my questionin ss. L was kindly
tended by fair young girl of sin
teen who refused for while to hold
any discourse with me. At length
one morning, finding myself suffi-
cicntly recovered to sit up, 1 insis-
ted on knowing the result Of the
accident.
"'You were discovcrcd,' said
she, Sitting on the ledge Of rocks
amidst the branches Of a shattered
tree, clinging to the roof Of your
broken coach with QUO hand. and
the inscnsiblc form Of lady in tho
other
"And the lady I gaspcd scan
ing the girls face with an earnest
ness that made her draw back and
blush.
"'She Was saved, sir, by the
means that saved you-a friendly
trce.'
"sAnd her father and brother =
l impatiently demanded.
"'Wc found both crushed to
death at the bottom Of the preci-
pice, and we buried them in one
grave by the clover patch, down in
the meadow
"tPoor Louise! poor orphan
God pity YOU 1 muttered in broken