Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-02-07
Whole Number 1857.


quarry. Both felt that the next fsw
moments must, in some way, produce
important things for them. Both
were nerved and bFave,o and both
were eager. a8s ssi .itaa
Willis power and agility told in
the race.
He burst through the fringe Of
shrubbery that skirted the PIT, while
Nassau was still coming on, hun
dred yards below. .f ssa9;-rf
He was appalled, by what be saw.
The earth on the northern side
had broken away, and had rushed
down over the surface of the rock,
and had fallen into the deep abyss.
1t had dragged with it an immsnse
number Of trees and sapEngs. At
the instant that it was precipitated,
Miss Alice and her father werecross-
ing the ground. As it moyedTand
broke beneath their feet, they be-
came involved in the tangled and
twisted branches of the trees, and
were carried down with them aE
The great volume of the avalanche
had fallen into the quarry, but a
large portion was caught and poised
upon spur of rock overhanging the
precipice at the edge. i..-.r -
The clouds of dust lifted and roll
ed away, and the two young men be-
held at the same moment, clinging
to this ragged and suspended frag-
ment, the girl whose favor they Gov
eted. Her arms were half buried in
the treacherous earth, her clothing
was torn and discolored, and her
forehead had a deep, red wound.
Her lips were pale, her eyes were
closed, as if to shut ont the Scene,
and she lay passive, conyulsiEefy en-
bracing her only support T;sf1- 1s
The father had escaped before the
volume of earth bsd reached the edge
of the pit on It's downward course,
and. covered with dust, he nowstood
upon the brink above, gazing with
starting eyes at his fainting daugh-
ter. His white hair blew in the
breeze, his limbs shook, and be tried
in vain to call aloud for help. He
was unable to artieulate, and be be-
gan to creep toward the edge 4 -Et
At this instant, Willis footsteps
aroused him. He looked up with
cry of Joy. r i1P l'
The girl was fifty feet from them.
To reach her from the nearest point
would require that one descend 3
PERCEPTIONS hill of soft and sliding
earth, which terminated at the edge
of the terrible quarry. Nothing
could be more dangerous than to at
tempt to traverse this poised and
sensitive ground. Great care and
great nerve, added to great good
fortune, would alone enable one to
reach the spot where Miss Alice lay
breathless and trembling. The
scraps of mingled roots and earth
upon which she depended were slow
ly dissolving beneath her, and the
portions, as they fell into the quarry,
awoke the most hollow and resonant
echoes.
Despairing, she turned her head
and looked to her right. '--s sffl
She saw Willis. His eyes were
fixed upon her, but he did not move.
She tried to cry: 'sCome!" but the
word escaped her in whisper. Ho
There was a moment of silence.
She saw Willis move a few feet
this way, and then few feet that
way. Still he did not approach. He
made no motion to advance nearer.
Suddenly he turned toward her.
She saw that his face was haggsrd,
and that his eyes were fixed upon
the distant, ragged bottom of the
pit. His hands opened and closed
repeatedly, and his lips we're parted
Her heart beat rapidly. Another
moment must end in her destruction.
All at once she saw Willis throw
his hands up before his face and re-
treat, stumbling among the weeds,
away from the brink of the deeliyity.
Adeathlv sickness overcame her.
Her failing eyes searched the depths
below, and her confused mind re-
fused anv plan for her own saliva
ton. She felt herself sinking By
degrees.
! Suddenly, a volume of earth and
| stones rushed past her with frghtful
velocity, and shot out into the space
before and below her, and in 8 few
seconds strack upon the broken msr-
ble-bed, and sent up 3 roar that
aroused, even in her, . pex terror.
She warily and timidiy turned her
head to the left to see what caused
this fresh catastrophe and she BE-
held. halfway down the slope, cling
| inc close to the trembling earth, the
| slender figure of the Rector.
He was hatleSs, and his clothing
and his hands and his face were COW
cred with soil. He was almost hter-
ally suspended over death, yet Miss
Alice saw that there was smile smile mn an,
On his face. His eyes met hers.
S,|e became filed with courage,
and she frightened her hold. . II
He began 70 come On again. de
did not hesitate longer. BE vas
quick and active, but IS gentle ss =
| cat. ..,., .r
Now and then he would crouch Ss
he felt his foothold yield, bat be
would instantly push on again in
fresh direction. s- I'D rs-S ss1fss
He arrived within few feet Of her.
Her eyes were fastened upon him,
and there was not a melton Of his
body that she did not watch.
I He reached up. She leaned bsek
and extended her hand. The motion
disturbed the support that shs was
perched upon, and she felt that she
was falling. She remained calm, and
still leaned down. Her eyes ana
Nassau's were fixed UpOu each other.
He touched the tips Of her fingers.
Then he caught her hand ct the
palm, and with hardly . perceptible
motion gave her the signal that she
awaited. He braced his feet and she
leaped inward, while her fOothOld
broke into a thousand atoms and
wholly disappeared, and left the edge