The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-03-13
A MEMORABLE RIDE.

rltnvelths ssif<sns se.d ,esh.' !
A MEMORABLE RIDE.
BIZ FARMERS WIFE.
"Hadn't you better leave the door nm
fast ned, Eliza ?" 8 aid my husband, as I
turned the key in the door, and drol ped
it in my pocket.
IL don't know" I said doubtfully !;
then after moments hesitation, emo. I
childrsn might get ont and run down to
the gate at the foot Of the meadow, and
IL is but . step from there to the creek,
you know"
He made no reply, but stopped down
and looked at some part IF the harness
with q slightly perplexed air.
"What is the matter now ?" said.
with some aspsrity.
The truth j., my husband belonged q
that nnnsrous EcbS Of. individuals
whose motto is, never to d to day what
they can do to- morrow, while I, on the
contrary, was prompt and decided.
With NE to will and to do were synor-
ymous. and I had little mercy for such q
failing.
ST fancy this little piece of Irvine will
bring us through this time, but I will
certainly menditto-morrow," he replied,
as climbed into the old-fashioned ph@-
on. Ff
The harness being adjusted to his sat-
isfaction. if not to mine, he seated him
self beside me, and noddipg last good
by to the little faces pressed against the
window-pane, we drove of.
Our cottage was situated in the little
valley lying to the southwest of what
was at that time the village of Lapoy,
Canada. A hill of considerable height
stood between us and the village on
one side q verdure crowned, gently
rising slope on the other o more abrupt
descent with rather circuitous road
winding past little cottages and farm
houses of more or less pretension.
Our present errand was to the shop,
to which We carried our produce as it
accumulated from time to time, and re-
ceived in exchange groceries, clothes,
etc Our losd consisted in part of .
basket OF eggs consequently we were
obliged to drive rather more slowly than
usual.
I left, as had often done before, the
younger children in the care OF Grace,
who. though but eight years of age,
WAS never more pleased than when en-
1fEGfed With some similar duty or re-
.sponsibility. I charged her net to take
the baby fzom the cradle, but to rock
him gently to sleep il be awakened. or
II ne would not sleep to amuse him
with his playthings until our return.
It was a lovely day in the latter part
OF Septt mber-copious showers of rain
had alternated with midsummer's suns,
and the freshness of the verdure was
undlmmed. It was scarcely yet time
for the "sere and yellow leaf," though
the NAPLES bod hung out their contrast
with the living green of the other forest
trees. The birds sang cheerily as they
futtered to and fro in the hedgerows,
and numerous ground squirrels skim
med along the fence rails and dropped
ard disappeared mysteriously.
Old Whitley ambled along in bis usual
monotonous fashion, and we soon reach
ed our destination. L had a number Of
articles to purchase and examine, as
well as the merits of q new churn to
discuss, and just as We had settled all
to our satisfaction, a neighbor whom We
hsd not se.n for some time came in,
which detained us longer, so that when
we turned our horses head homeward,
saw With some surprise, ssss web - .
slight feeling lof talarm, tksE tbs bun
had already set, aSd tie. soft gray
twilight was stealing up the valley.
Our load was q heavy one, my hus-
band having purchased several agricul-
al implements of great weight individ
ually, bnt collectively making no small
weight for one horse. SO that though we
were necessarily anxious to get home. !,
we were obliged to drive moderately.
par ,icularly as the road was not ONLY
billy, but rough.
Chatting upon the various little items
of gossip which we had heard, we drove
on until we had nearly reached the top
S Ds ,si hi1l Essn 4taWEY .l sa ere
with sudden terror. He was as pale
as q corpse.
"Look T. he said in voice boarse
with emotion, pointing in the direction
Of our home. -
My heart gave a sudden bound, then
fell like lump of lead in my bosom.
A cl nd OF thick, dense smoke, dis
tIDctly defined against the clear sky
beyond, rofe above the tree tops. /
tried to speak but could not utter a
word.
Mhss is.id. stesdyire my voice..
"Ithink il must be the Horrison,s.
Isn't h TO the left of our house ?"
mo, "he said quickls, a. he seized the
whip, and urged old Whitley 10 bis ut
most speed. "Dont you remembe that
when we are at the top Of the hill tie
smoke from our chimney rises lust over
the center OF that little group of CO.
Alas did remember and as he
spoke We reached the summit AID saw
enough to change our fears to certainty.
hayIhaR hrrk
looked at the other with qnivering Inns
and dilating eyes.
My heavens and / have locked
them in I"
l was fairly beside myself with terror.
L felt as If must leap from the vehicle
and fly 10 their retc1e. Old Whitley
seemed to understand that life or death |
depended on his efforts, and he exerted |
himself nobly.
On we flew, down the hill, dashipg |
through the little ftopy brook that |
crossed the road, over the tumbled- |
down bridge, whose rotten boards rat |
tied and started up from their places,
past the tedyerOws, that looked like |
one continuous mass OF flying green /: |
past little cottages with the children |
staring from the doors thiukiug of |
nothing, caring for nothing but to res
cue our darlings. 1 buried my face in |
my hands, and rocked to and iro IN my
seat, almost bereft Of reason, as 1 |
thought OF the scene that might be |
awaiting us. 1mae nation conjnred up I
all the dreadful tales 1 had heard or |
read 10 add to my horror. Once only I |
raised my head. and saw, or fancied l
cav. slender Tongues of flame cleaviDg
the mass of smoke, which had by this |
fv,Il ,r~ \
density.
A. last, after what seemed an age,
b 1t YVES in reality oily few minutes,
we reached the bottom of the lane
which led to our cottage. The angle
was a sharp one, AID we turned with
snch speed as to send the bind wheel of
the old pbeton high in the air.