The Van Buren press., 1870-11-22

on the carriage road nearly quarter of
mile below,
Calling to Sarah to keep back and wait,
/ drove the spurs into my horse and
went dorn the steep path. Looking
back, / saw her following, her horse
making tremendous speed, She kept the
carriage road, following on after Tom,
and pressed on, thinking to intercept
his horse below.
My pace was terrible. ] could hear
them laundering down the track above
/ looked up and caught sight Of them
through the trees | looked down and
saw a gully before me full eighteen feet
wide and as many deep.
A great horse was that black horse
Caesar, and he took the gulley at a flying
leap that landed us far over it, and mo
ment later l was at the point whore the
roads again met, but only in time to see
the other two horses 60 by at \ furious
pace, Sarah abreast OF the gray, and she
reaching her hand out bravely trying to
grasp the flying rein, as her horse went
leap for leap with him.
TO ride close behind them was worse
than useless in such case. IL would
but serve to increase their speed so |
fell back dozen rods, and followed,
watching the end.
At the foot Of the mountain the river
ran broad and deep, spanned by the
| bridge at the narrowest point. To reach
| the bridge, the road took a short turn up
stream, directly on the bank,
"On swept the gray and black horse,
side by side, down the hillside, not fifty
leaps along the level ground, and then
came the turn.
She was on the of side At tho sharp
turn she pressed ahead half length and
reined her horse across the gray's shoul-
der, ifpossi0le to turn him up toward
the bridge.
1t was all over in an instant. The
gray was the heavier horse lie pressed
her close; the black horse yielded, gave
way toward the fence, stumbled, and the
fence, light rail, broke with crash,
and they went over, altogether into the
deep black stream.
Still, still, the sound OF that crash and
plunge is in my ears. Still can sec them
90 headlong down that bank together
into the black water
| never knew exactly what did then.
When ! was conscious, | found myself
swimming around in a circle diving oc
casionally to find them but in vain. The
gray horse swan ashore and stood on
the bank by my black, with distended
uostrils and trembling limbs, shaking
from head to foot with terror The other
black horse was floating down the surface
Of the stream, drowned His mistress was
nowhere visible, and Tom was gone also,
found her at last
Yes. she was dead
Restore her? No. A glance at her
face showed how vain all such hope was.
Never was human face so angelic She
was already one of the saintly-one of
the imm mortals--and the beauty and glory
Of her new lie had left some faint like.
ness Of itself on her dead form and face.
"Philip,' | said :" | have never grown
day older since that time. You know
now why. ] have never ceased to think
of her as on that day have never lost
the blessing Of those eyes as they looked
on me In the forest on the mountain road
| have never left her, never grown away
from her. If, in the resurrection we are
to resume the bodies most exactly fitted
to represent our whole lives if, as have
sometimes thought, we shall rise in the
forms we wore when some great event
stamped our souls forever, then / am
certain that | shall awake in form and
feature as | was that day. and no record
will remain Of an hour Of my life after
her burial
We buried her in the old vault close
by the house, among the solemn oaks.
Beautiful angel-like, to the very last,
My voice is broken. cannot say any
more, Philip You have the story. That
is the whole oft God bless you, Phil,
my boy. You have listened-patiently
--to-my--talk
Good night, boy. Go to bed I'll
stay here in the old chair awhile. j
don't--exactly-fee l--lik e-sleeping-
yet.
cysys.. ) J. .,y,