The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1871-11-02
An Hour Of Peril.

By II. X. EsrABRooKE.

| fFfhere sometimes happen during
our lives, incidents so strange
es'SS and startling in their charac-
"a ter, and so deep and lasting
in sheir impressions, that we can
never think ofthem, even after the
lapse of long, long years, without
an involuntary shudIer and a rev
erent. "Thank God, it is all mast p
Sometimes, indeed, we bear away
as legacy from scenes of immi
nent peril, something to serve
through the coming years a contin-
ual reminder Of the time when we
stood helpless and friendless upon
the verge Of destruction; and had
not the arm Of Him who holds tile
world as water in the hollow of h s
hand been outstretched in our de-
ftnse, we might now be numbered
among the things of the past.
Tonight as I sit before 4 rudy
fire, in,lulging ip my fancy in wax
ing dreams. a food of remembran-
ces comes sweeping Ger me; and
with it, the recollection Of an hour,
the very memory OF which is so
painful that / turn from it with a
shulder, and endeavor to forget it
amid my books. lis all in vain.
Owing to some strange cause-a
problem for metaphysiciaus alone
to solve-there are certain times
when the mind is wholly unable to
resist the intrusion of disagreeable
reveries, but entertains. in an un-
willing manner, that which it can
not dismiss.
Nearly twenty years have elapsed
since the event to which l alluded
occurred-an event which stamped
its impress SO indellibly upon my
mind, that it seems but Yesterday
since it transpired, and which left
my hair at twenty-five white as
Decembers snow. It happened
thus:-
Walter Warner and I hal nee
bosom friends from our earlies
youth Together we had spent the
happy hours ofchildhood; togethe
we had searched for wild flowers in
our native woods; and, when older.
we had studied together from the
same books, and finally graduated
from the same class in - Col
iege. Ours was no ordinary friend-
ship. He was -dearer to me by far
than bother; for though many
yea.shave role tinto eternity since
he died, | have never ceased to
monrn for him as one who met a
most uat,mely fate.
During our college life We hal
applied ourselves too closely to-
stuiy; for there was Il friendly RI
valry between us as to which
stand the highe It in the
class, and the midnigh hour of
ten found US still busily pofing
over our books. The consequence
was, that upon gra luation, we
found ourselves weariel out, an |
nearly broken down by incessant
labor. To remedy this, our OH
.lmily physician and oft consulted
advised a season of travel
and recreation, as best calculated
to rest and recruit our over tasked
energies. To follow his advice,
was, of course, no unpleasant task;
and after few hasty preparations,
we turned our backs upon our
homes and started for an extel lei
tour through the state Of Texas,
then a Iecently acquired American
followed by the kindly
wishes 81 numerous friends and
many prayers for our safe return.
[ shall pass over in silence the al
we encOultcrel in our
travels, simply saying, that at the
OF two months, we found
Du selves, not in T.xaS, but on the
beautiful table lands Of Mexico,
m nearthe foot ofmount Orizaba.
1t had always been a wild and !
foolish desire of mine, caused by J
reading books Of rtravel and adven-
lures, to some day ascent to the !
summit Of a volcano and look in
% the hi lden depths OF a region, !
weird and awful enough to be fit /
,esidcnce far the Prince OF Dark /
less; and now with the npportunI-
" at hand of gratifying my wishes,
even though the undertaking was
with a great amount of ,
langer, ] was not disposed to let
t slip, but proposed to Walter that
We should scale O.izaba, and then
'eturn to our native State. To /
his he gave a ready assent; and I
accordingly, procuring a guide. an /
and Trustworthy fellow /
lamed Pedro Runa, we set out for /
.he peak one morning just as the
itst rays Of the rising sun was q +
ng the eastern SKY. The ascent .
vas a task Of greater difficulty 1
han / hal Imagined; and long ere I
We reached the top, had itRot been .
hat was unwilling to acknowl-
,dge myself fatigne,l, Iwould will