Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-08-17

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faces turned in despair toward thel
opening, and the God help p' that
burst from Trelawney's lips sounded
like words of doom to all.
Higher and higher erept the insatiate
waters, now reaching the very summit
of the arch, ,and obliterating glimmer
of light that yet stole in; then, as if to
mock us, receding till the faint ray was
once more visible. Again and again
this happened; but at last we were en-
veloped in pitehy darkness. The wall
water had barred us in, and, unless
God helped US, we had taken our last
look at the bright world without. Ah
1t was hard todie so young; and even
now think it no shame to our man
hood that choking sObs and earnest cries
for mercy thronged to our lips, as we
struggle to hold on against the volume
Of water striving always to dash US on
ward into the deeper recesSeS Of the
chasm.
In our haste and alarm we had for
gotten that small anchor was lying at
the bottom of the boat, but now, as a
larger wave than we had hitherto cen-
tended with came rushing on US, Ire
lawny gasped out:
The anchorI over with it or we are
lost! l can hold on no longer"
In an instant had it over the side.
On came the believing wave; the boat
was lifted. upon II; our hands were
forced to relinquish their grasp of the
Jagged stones to which we had been
clinging, and like an arrow we were
driven forward; but the anchor held,
and fora time we felt we were saved. z
Up to this moment very few words
had been uttered, for the transition had
been too great from Inirth and sunshine
without, to the darkness and terror
within, to permit of speech. We all
knew by what Il frail tenure we held
our lives, and silently huddletl togeth-
er, listening to the wash of the pillows
as they. came whirling and rumbling
past our boat, to dash with concussion
ike thunder, against some recess of the
cavern which seemed to be far, far
away. -r s
Strange fears stole over US as we pray
ed incOherently that the anchor might
hold and the wind drop, or clung in
Istinctively to the sides of our vessel,
when the eddying waters. hurled by,
leaving behind them a transient calm,
so profound that we could hear our own
deep breathing and the bitter grief OF
our happy little coxswain. Were not
his thoughts with the widowed mother
who, il she lost him, lost her all?
Presently the awful stiffness was
broken by rock crumbling from the
roof and falling with deafening crash
net many feet from where we lay, the
Sound reverberating along the cavern
Gus vaults until it died away in the dis
tance.
After while we faneied we heard the
moaning of the wind outside our prison.
Had it increased ? And if the result
Should be as terrible as we f0rebOded
| would our fate ever be known to those
who would mourn for usi Would any
vestige of the yawl or her unfortunate
crew be washed out to sea to tell the sad
! tale?
AT last-and what an eternity it
seemed-we could discern faint glim-
mer of light, A few seconds and it had
vanished. Then Ike a. bright star
dawning upon it, it steadily increased,
and we knew that the tide WAS falling.
Breathlessly we watched the bright
harbinger of hope till, with, eyes that
brimmed over, and voices tremulous
with thankful joy, we told each other
that we might now make an effort to
depart. 0F ~ TN TTT'
i 1t was not until after many narrow
escapes from being dashed on the partly
sunken rocks that we succeeded in
treaching the outer world. What we
then thought, or we acted, may be bet
ter imagined than described; and fsup-
pese'f need scarcely say that we have
never since then explored a Cornish
cavern when the tide was running =,