The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1870-07-30
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ftnou hat here are msny ell hiood.
81 md o~htfuftsiF m0fai perpls who
would have osisd 4 = efusl afd f%fifalnal
at Jet | esanoi help feffeillng that
90 h0t % u doutf n sny court Of
tasiioe. n yiss n ny extreme pfosooa.
tnn, veui hzys fHahd NE guilty II ahy
thing vofar han lusifsbse, temporary
lnAnliy and en- oonhienithats at right
minded men. snsf hearing the story N
my vrunfs. viii faily agree with me That
ought " have done n
The circumstances NJ the affair cannot
be presented IN Ill their cnormliy unless
the peculiar relation IN which I stood 10
ward Diek Farrell IL ffst fully under
stood n will, therefore, be nfcefaary 10
80 back 70 The period of my first aequaint
snce with that Individual. | met him in
this wise Undoubtedly you remember
the rocky ravine IN which n situated the
little town Of ~. Jean De Mauricnne,
formerly the terminus on this side ~ Mont
Ccnlh Of the railway from Paris 10 Turin.
! bad reached this place n morning, on
my way 10 Italy, and fund that, owlBg
70 snme accidental delay, no ddfgeaoe
would start 10 cross the mountain until
evening. Consequently, having several
hours al my disposal, / devoted them 20
IN exploration OF the valley, and finally
attempted 10 climb the steep face Of the
northern side OF the Nvine. Now, I had
never been q good climber, even In my
boyhood, and, "a I was at this time more
than-well, I was IN the primo Of man.
hood, nj all evenis-l ought 10 have
known better than 70 have made the az.
tempt However, | did not know better,
and 80 lahoriously climbed up the preci.
pice until I found myself on a narrow
ledge, where further progress upward be.
came Impossible. To my great annoy
arce, | found, too, that | could not retrace
my steps, since any attempt to look down
into the valley, which lay some two hun.
drcd feet below, mado me excessively gid.
DIV. At this distance on time ] am willing
TO confess shas Z was decidedly frightened
~ thought OF the probability Of remain
ing q hopeless prisoner, starving 10 death
In full sight OF the hotel-which had an
excellent taHs fhots-and Of the railway
station. Hone, which wc are led to bo.
lieve springs eternal In the human breast,
fortunately Inspired me with the happy
thought OF firing my revolver AZ a signal
OF distress. No sooner had | acted upon
this idea, than the entire population Of ST.
Jean appeared 10 become simultaneously
aware Of my position, and flocked TO the
foot Of the precipice 10 watch my anxious.
ly.expfcted fall. Owing either TO their
natural stupidity, or their reluctance 10
spoil a prospective tragedy, these people
did not make the slightest effort 10 rescue
me. Finally, after they had waited two
hours In the vain hope that ! would lose
my foothold, they set up an idiotlc shout
al the appearance Of q young man carry.
ing a coll Of rope on his shoulder. Pros.
emily he disappeared, followed by the
greater part Of the crowd and | was about
70 resign myself to despair and an utter.
ly'hopeless attempt 10 Chamber down the
rock. when ! was delighted by the resp.
pearancc Of the young man, who landed
suddenly beside me, having been lot down
by a rope from the top Of the precipicc.
Nov, old boy" he remarked, with In.
decent familiarity, as he unfastancd the
rope from about HIS waist, alot me Just
fasten this round you, and you'll he all
right In a couple az minutes. Toll them
not to forgot me when you get 10 the top,
for | haven't had my dinner yetl'
So saying, he tied the rope under my
arms, shook IL as q signal TO those above,
encouraged mo with the remark, STEADY,
now, old fellow, and good luck TO yoai'
and calmly proceeded to rellght his extin-
guished cigar, while l was rapidly hauled
through the air 10 a place Of safety.
This young man was Dick Farrell.
Tho rope was again lot down. and he
soon made his appearance beside me.
Luckily he could speak French, Of which
did not know a single word, and | ap.
pealed to him TO rescue me from the pc
lice, who had promptly arrested mo on
the charge Of having attempted to com,
init suicide. Dicks persuasive oratory
secured my release, and, being thus dou.
bly, indebted TO him, | felt Obliged to in.
vite him 10 the hotsl and 10 dinner.
he proved 70 be q painter of some sort
II know nothing about art-on his way
TO Rome, and, though he was In the main
honest, and always g~ood-tempercd, he
was altogether too much OF q vagabond
TO be a suitable travelling companion for q
gentleman Of my age and position. | fell
this strongly, whom, after much oonsecu
tive champagne, he proposed that VIZ
should Journey TO Rome together. But
what was | TO dor Clearly I could moi
say TO the man who had just saved my
life, "Sir, | cannot consent 70 travel in
your company, because you wear & prepos,
fprnre hat anI -, a1ttafal a.. -4..1
smoking and uniimely singing" OF courst
lacked the courage to say this, and
hence It followed that for the next two
weeks We were constantly together. ]
will do him the justice to say that b,
never attempted TO borrow money from
me, and that he rendered me considerabl,
service by acting as sn interpreter be
tween my self and the natives. Still, hi
u~ndignided habits were q constant sourc,
OF annoyance to me. He would insis
upon my accompanying him into third
class cars, where he smoked, and sang
and drank cheap wine, ont OF casual bot
Ties, with chance acquaintance, In o man
nef disrerutable In the extreme. / acqui
him OF any Intentional disrespect in rep
resenting TO the police at 81. Jean that
was o lunatic, and that he was my keeper
since he solemnly arerred thst by n,
other pretence could he have saved N,
from arrest I cannot, however, exeusI
his habit of calling me "old boy,n ant
the gross familiarity with which he criti
cised my personal appearance, and wha
ne was pleased to call "my jolly green
ness.p
After We reached Rome, as was quit