Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-06-01

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felt the shivering of the rope, anc
then the were hurled -dowr
into darkness With the tenacity o
death he clung to the little cord thai
served the purpose of check, az il
that would sustain the double weight
AS we'll might he have hoped to hold
q levlathan with the thread a child
uses to draw minnows from the shall.
lows by the wayside; as well anchor
the storm-tossed ship with strand
OF the SPIDERS spinning
The bucket had gone crashing to
the bottom, and was shivered toto a
thousand splinters. The rope had
for moment coiled it's great length
about him, like some huge serpent,
and almost dragged him down with
it. The half-fainting girl was cling.
ing, dead weight around his neck.
They were suspended, as by single
lentless doom.
1t was desperate situation as q
man could be placed in, even if aIene
but with far dearer life depending
npon him, it was more than terrible.
Had the check rope been any size,
he might have slid down; but it was
so small that it cut his hand-he
could use but one, for he dared not
remove the other from around the
girl-and the blood began to trickle
down upon his face.
Miss Whiting-Bianche he
whispered in hoarse and strained
voice; ''can you sustain yourself ?
1t you can, think | can yet save
you |"
No answer came from the rigid
lips; these was no intelligence in the
staring eyes; her head dropped
heavily upon his shoulder, and her
form was limp and nerveless.
"My God 70 he exclaimed, shaken
to the very center OF his being. "My
God she is already dead and
and I-I-have killed her -
A hundred times more quickly than
than the telling all this had passed.
The slender cord was untwisting,
and the strands were parting. Bruce
Malcolm braced himself for the last
desperate effort. With hands and
feet ho was determined to strike the
sides Of the shaft, and break the
force of the fall as much as possible.
A swift prayer passed his lips, then
the frail rope snapped and swifter
than rockets fight he sped down.
There was no time to cry for mercy
none, scarcely. for thought. He
wound his arms still more closely
around his dear burden-raised her
as high as possible, so as to receive
the full force of the blow himself
He knew it was like throwing him-
self under lightning-speeding train
OF cars for the sake of another
knew that he would be crushed into
forml ,ss mass but she would have
a chance To escape, and he shrunk
not from it.
There was dull heavy crash, and
then all was silence. Two human be-
ings-a strong man and q delicate
girl-had fallen thirty feet upon
rocks as hard as iron, aid lay there
in the darkness, unheedlng the anx>
ious faces that had gathered round
them ia the torches glare-red shirt
ed, toll. blaokened men, with fearful
eyes and convulsively- lips /;
unheeding that they were tenderly
carried to another shaft and trans
ported TO the surface of the earth
unheeding the physician that waa in
stantly summoped-the gentleness of
waman's care, and even the savage
howl of the insane man who had
been the cause of all, as he was Sc
cured, deprived of his fearful weapon
and taken back to the bed from
which he had escaped, never to leave
again, save for the coffin and the
shroud.
Blu he had made desperate effort
to take life Git indeed he knew what
he was doing), and in one case, at
least, was early successful. By the
self-sacrifice of Malcolm, the girl had
escaped with little injury. His strong
arm had upheld hey TO tho very last
-Aad himself received the full force
of the terrible fall; and even when
be could sustain her no longer his
body had been her shield, and the
rough, but warm hearted miners had
found her pillowed upon his manly
breast. They had gathered to give
her joyous welcome, and proudly
show the result of their labors and
had found two almost corpses.
In short time, Blanche Whiting
had recovered from her terrible
fright; and save for her sympathy
for, and gratitude to her preserver,
was we'll again. She sat daily and
nightly by the bed whore he lay with
a broken log and arm, and badly
bruised form, and when her father
talked of leaving would not listen TO
him. The soul of the woman had
outgrown that Of the girlish form
for from gratitude to love is but one
short step. She had proved the
strength, the devotion, the more than
self abnegation of Bruce Malcolm !;
and she chung to him despite of all
obstacles,
The current was drifting far too
strong for her father to have opposed
it, had he attempted so TO do, which
he wisely did not; and few days
later, Malcolm and Blache descended
and the miners drank his health and
that of his bonny bride, telling, when
they had departed, to the new work
men the fearful story of the maniac
miner.
FERNANDO WooD is unaltersbly OPP
posed to the nomination of Tilden at
St. Louis, and expresses the belief
that he conld not carry n. Y. lie
lays great stress upon the Importance
of putting forward a candidate with