Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-03-04

cells strapped on either side of the horses
then with scarcely word spoken we set
OIL, Tom giving me instructions where to
leave my load, and adding that it would be
as well TO part rs soon as we got of, the
beach.
Away we went, but only to find out first
Just as we quilted the shore-that the
coast guardsmen were not mapping after
all. Two of them sprang at us from be-
hind boulder, and clutched at the horses
brides; but the creatures swerved, and
that saved us.
"Spur for your life!" muttered Tom in
my ear, at the same time riding his staunch
! little cob right at the men. / saw one of
them roll over on the sand, while the other
| jumped aside, shouting TO us to stop, but
we never paused until we were some dis
lance down the lane leading from the
beach. Then Tom pulled up.
! I'VE must part now" he said. keep
to the right and ride hard, for they will cut
you OIL If they can where the lane winds
towards the coast, But give the nag whip
and spur, and you'll be there before them.
OFF with you" And'so we parted.
After Tom had left ME / began to re-
| member how awkwardly close to the shore
| the windings of the lane brought it, and
how easy it would be for swift runners TO
take short cut across the fields and come
up with me. Bitterly / repented being led
into such dangerous affair; and telling
myself with clenched teeth that for Mary's
| sake i wouldn't be taken, ] rode on more
furiously than before.
The nearer / got to the sea the more 1
dreaded surprise, and it seemed as If /
were so long threading the inns and outs
of my road, that they must be the first to
reach the spotiwhere / anticipated danger.
| Suddenly / was seized with the idea that
| if / could leap the hedge l might evade
| them. and quick as thought / put Bob at
the dark line of thorn bushes that doomed
| ahead just where the lane made the last
sharp turn toward the beach.i
1 remember the rising in the air, the
crash through the top of the hedge, and
my own fall, which was followed by the
most unearthly yell it is possible to imag-
inca shrek that seemed to die away in
the bowels of the earth. Then a hundred
stars danced before my eyes-there was a
strange dizziness in my head-all grew
dark, and knew no more.
How long / lay before coming to myself
] cannot tell; nor could 1 recollect, for a
considerable time after my senses returned,
what it was that happened. Numbed with
the intense cold, l was lying on my back,
with the wind shrieking around me, but
where was the horse? And what meant the
awful yell / had heard after taking the
leap?
found that was lying on a slope, and
out one hand. intending to lean upon it
and raise myself. To my horror / grasped
nothing, fort makes me shudder to think
of i'll had turned over into the mouth of
partly disguised pit. Already 1 was
hanging half within it; while struggling
to regain my balance, / could feel myself
slowly but surely slipping further into the
hideous gulf yawning to receive me. j gave
one cry for mercy, and then grasped wildly
about till succeeded in grasping one of
the boards with which the shaft was lined.
In another second my body had slid down
with a jerk that nearly wrenched my hands
from their hold; but the strength of despair
was in that clueh, and held on. Then
deathly faintness came over me as /
thought of the depths below, and imagined
myself falling helplessly into them. The
strain upon my arms became intolerable,
and TO ease them l tried to insert my toes
between the crevices in the boards, crying
frantically but family for help. the while,
| though the sound of my own voice startled
me, it was so strangely hollow. AS 1 raised
myself little piece of the rotten wood
broke of, and for dreadful moment /
was hanging by one hand ; but, ere my
quailing heart could give another fiuttering
| throb, l had regained my grip, and found,
| foothold too. More than this / dared not
venture in that profound darkness, but l
| told my self that was comparatively safe
as long as my aching limbs would sustain
me. When they failed / knew that /
should go n-down-down-until /
lay, a mingled corpse, by the side of the
poor horse whose dying cry still rings in
nay ears.
Those we're minutes of horror, and be-
| lieve l must have gone of my head a bit,
| for fancied that fearful sounds came up
from the pit, and that some invisible pow
er was trying TO drag me into it. Then q
temptation asailed me to let go, to end at
once the anxieties of my life, and the PAL n
and terror | was enduring. But the poor,
pale face of Mary-AIary, who was watch
ing Tor me at home-rose up before my
eyes, and with renewed strength held on
and prayed to heaven to help me. .....-'
| AS If In answer to the prayer, a CLEAN of
| the moons light broke through the murky
clouds-vanished-a then shone out
again. so clearly that was able perceive the
ladder not many feet away. AS cautiously
as my cramped limbs would permit, /
worked my way towards 10, and, before the
clouds gathered again, was kneeling on
the bank above the the pit-saved.
| Cold, weary, and sad, l made my way
! home without interruption, and told Mary
| what had happened. As she chung about
my neck, shivering and sobbiDg, she made
me promise that ] would never again be
drawn into anything which my conscience
told me wasn't just right; and thank
God! / am able to say-come fair Wather
or foul-I have been fat hful to my word
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