The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-06-03
HOYT & CO., Proprietors.

it would give him courage.
"Where is it, boy ?" he said hoarscly
and then looking into his face, winch was
turned to me, I saw that his eyes were
drawn together squirting and bloodshot,
and knew, that the fright had driven him
blind. So pushing myself to him, l
placed my arm around his waIst, ana
worked round TO the rod, which put in
his hand i and then looked below, to
see whether they were trying to help us;
but there was no sign. The yard was
full of people, all running hither and
.thither, and, as afterwards knew, all in
the greatest CONSERVATION; the cradle
having fallen on one of the overscers OF
the works, killing him on the spot, and
SO occupying the attention OF those near
that we unfortunates were tor the time
forgotten. l was strnining my eyes In
hope of seeing some effort made to help
us, when I,was startled by a horrible
yell, aud brought to a sense of new dan
ger, for looking round, l saw Ben champ
ing with his teeth, and foamng at the
mouth, and gesticulating in an unearthly
way. Fear had not only blinded him,
but crazed his brain.
Scarcely had / time to comprehend
this, when he began edging his way to.
ward me, and every hair of my head
seemed to stand on end, asI moved away,
keeping as far off as l could, and scarce
ly daring to breathe lest he should hear
me, for see mo he could not-that was
my only consolation! -Once-twlce-
thrce-ho followed me round the mouth
of that horrible chimney then, no doubt
thinking. i had fallen over he gave up
the search, and he began trying to geton
to his feet. What could now do to save
his life?- To touch him was certain death
to myself as we'll as him, for he would
inevitably seize me, and we should both
20, over together. To let him stand up
was to witness his equally certain de-
struction. 3.
thought of poor Mary, and I rcmem-
bcred that if he died, she might get to
care for me. The devil put that thought
in my MUD, l suppose; but, thank God,
thore was stronger than Satan near,
and st the risk Of my life roared:
"SiU still, or you will fall, Ben Lloydd ]"
Ho crouched down and held on with
clenchcd teeth, shiverng and shaking
In after days, he told me that he thought
that it was my spirit sent to warn and
save him.
"Sit slil,' I repeated from time to
time; watching with aching eyes and
brain for some sign of aid. Each minute
seemed tu he an hour. My lips grew dry,
my tongue literally clave to my mouth,
and the perspiration running down blind
ed me- At last-at last--hope came.
The crowd began to gather in the yard,
people were running in from distant
lanes, aud sea of faces was turned up
ward; then somc one who had got
speaking trumpet shouted
"kcep heart, boys, we'll save your
A few minutes more and the kite began
to rise; higher and higher it comes, on
and on. How / watched the whitening.
ed messenger. comparing it in my heart
to an angel and surely, as an angel was
it permitted to come to us poor sinners
hanging on the verge of eternity. Up it
came, nearer and nearer, guided by the
skillful flier. The slack rope tfosscd the
chimney, and we were saved.
could not shout hurrah, even had |
dared; but in every beat Of my heart
was thanksgiving to the God that | had
never truly known till that hour, and
whose merclful providence l can never
doubt again.
The block was fixed, the cradle come
up again, and Ben, obeying my order, got
in, and | followed but no sooner did
touch him than he began trying to get
out 1 got hold,of him, and taking it in
his head that WAS attempting to throw
him over, he struggled and fought like
the madman hc was-grappling, tearing
with his teeth, shouting, shricking and
praying all the way down, while the era
die strained and cracked, swinging to and
fro like the pendulum of a clock. As we
came near the ground | could hear the
roar of voices, and an occasional cheer
then suddenlyall was silent, for they had
heard Bcn's cries, Gnd when the cradle
touched the ground scarcely a man dared
look in. The first who did saw horrible
sight, Tor exhausted by the struggle and
excitement, so soon as the cradle stopped
l had tainted, and Ben feeling my hands
relax, had fastened his teeth in my neck.
No wonder tho men fell back with
bIanchcd faces; they saw that Ben was
crazed bnt they thought he had killed
me, for rs they said, he was actually wor-
rying me like dog.
At last the master got to u.s. and pulled
Ben off me. T soon came round, but it
was long time before he got well, poor
fellow; and when he did come o"t Of the
asylum, he was never fiji for his old trade
again, so he and Mary went ont to Aus
tralia, and the last | heard of them was,
that Ben had got couple of thousand
sheep, and was doing capitally.
gave up the trade soon after, finding
that | got queer in tho head when | tried
to face height. SO you see that morn-