The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-10-09


"Who will be let down" "Who p cried
Wally, her dark eyes cleaning with an
unnatural luster in her pale face;"I will,
You, Wally-you are crazy-the rope
will scarcely bear one, far less two" at
need not bear more than one, said Wally
in hollow tone, joining the men to hur-
ry the work. That's impossible, Wallyi
you must bind yourself and him TO it, or
how is he to be drawn up?' said the men
helplessly stopping their work; I'VE can
do nOthingexCept send to the,villages and
order rope to be brought
"And, meantime, ii he iainls, he will
fall to the bottom Of the Chasm, and it
will be too late| cried Wally, despairing-
ly. a won't wait till they come; here,
unwind the rope and see how long it is.
Quick FOrwardW She shook out the
tangled mass, tried the length, and the
men once more bent to their task, wound
up the huge coil, and began to make
systematic preparations, The peasants
stepped forward to form chain. at
may be long enough to reach the bottom,
but it won't bear two y
"lf it won't, let him be drawn up alone.
Where he has room to lie, shall have
room enough to stand. As soon as have
found u firm ioothold I'll uniasten the
rope and bind him to it. Then you can
draw him up, and I'll wait below till the
rope comes down again." "That won't
do; we can't pull him up alone, for ii he
shonld be weak and faint, he would be
bruised and torn, ifthere were no one to
help him and keep him away from the
clifsw
Wally stood as ii thunderbOlt had
struck her. She had not thought Of this.
So she was to be bailled, she was not to
reach him, unless perhaps down below in
the cold bed OF the Asche! The rope
would not bear two; she saw that herself.
"In Gods namcw she said at last, and, in
spite Of her feyerish agitation, she now
stood composed, calm and resolute, fasten.
cd the rope around her waist, and took
the RlpenstOck in her hand. "LOwer me
down, that may ut least search for him.
II find him I'll stay and support him
till you can get ropes and let them down
to us. I'll wait patiently, though should
DO Obliged to hang between earth and sky
for hours before they cOmep
Old Klettcnmaier threw himself on his
knees before her. "WNlly, Wally, don't
do it; they all say the rope is not safe. II
It must be done, let me go down; Of what
use is my old life, il can do no good,
We can, at least, see whether the knots
are safe, and II they break tel be only |
who will fall, not YOU" "Yes, Wally,
listen to him." said another; "he Is right,
don't do it, Wait till help comes from
the villagesW
Wally tossed both arms so impaticntly
that the crowd foil back "When was a
child did | wait before snatChng the
eaglCt from its nest on the crag, and am
| to do ii now before saving JOseph2 Say
no more. will, l. must go to him,
Quick-unwind-hold fast" Even while
uttering the last words she had leaped
over the edge Of the cliff, and the men
who formed the chain were obliged to put
forth NIL their strength, SO sudden was
the jerk upon the rope.
"God help us" said Klettenmaier,
crossing himself aud then darting Off as
II Wally's last words had given him some
new idea. All galed in terror Mt the girl
rs she slowly sank into the sea Of clouds,
till 1t had swallowed and closed over her,
perhaps forever. The people stood 81.
Iently around the place where she had
vanished, ~ II It were m open grave.
the tense strain upon the rope alone gave
tidings Of the bold diver into the cloud
ocean, and all eyes rested upon it, to sec
II It broke or would support her. When
ever one Of the hastily'ticd knots was I'm.
wound, each heart trobbGd still more
anxiodsly. viii it hold?
Large drops Of perspiratiOn stood upon
the fOreheads Of the men who formed the
chain, and Us the coil unwOund their
hands invOluntarily again tested the
knots on which depended human life.
Thus minute after minute passed heavily
away, NJ II time were also bound to q
rope which the powers Of evil would not
unite. The coil continued to unwind;
Wally must still be hanging in the air,
had not yet found n iOOthOld.
"The rope is almost gone" said the last
man on the chain; at won't be long
enough" "IToly Virgin, help us p cried
all with one voice; at won't 10 long
enough" Only few yards were lett,
and Still there were no signs from below
that Wally had reached her goal. The
men pressed forward rs near the edge Of
the prccipiCe ms they dared, and gave as
much Of the rope as possible. II II were
not long enough, all would be vain, and
they must draw poor Wally up to make
the perilous adventure Afresh. Suddenly
the coil ceased unwinding, the rope grew
slack "A terrible moment! lad it
broken, or had its burden found foot
hOld2
The women prayed aloud, the children
shrieked. The men began to slowly wind
up the rope, but only few feet came In;
then IL resisted. II had not broken; II
held. Wally had found footing. And
now-harkl A faint cry rose from the
abyss, and every throat shouted mn an.
swcr. Once more the rope grew slack
and they wound II up; this was repeated
several times. WNlly seemed to be climb.
ing up the rocky cliff, In the meantime
day had fully dawned, but fine cold rain
trickled down and the mist below grew
still denscr. Now the rope suddenly took
an obliqne direction. There was strong
pull to the right; the men yielded to II
and moved from the left to the right Of
the path. Wally still seemed to be climb.
ing higher; they were forced to wind up
more and more. "Thank Cod" said some
Of the men, "hc has not fallen 80 very
fur-if he il so near the top, he may be
alivew
"Pcrhnps she's only looking for him."
replied others. Just ut that moment the
rope was suddenly jerked; then Il grew
slack again, and a piercing shrek rang
on tho air. at has brokenl" gasped the
thrOng.
No; II grew tense once more. Perhaps
the cry might have been shout Of Joy.
Perhaps she had found himl The WON.
en- threw themselves on their knees even
the men were praying, for though all had
hated the naughty llochstbauerin, every
one who had human heart in his breast
trembled with anxiety for the brave girl
lowering in mortal peril in the chaos be.
low. II only ray Of sunlight would
pierce the mist for n single moment.
MI - H.. .I...l ..a.tn.. ,,nnbtn L., IL