The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, 1877-08-30

q LII hSno o'SP e.S
among the trees, when I heard from the
top cry Of:
"Hilly-o! Lucy, hilly-o! where are
you? ?"
"Here am," she cried; call right.
Come down, papa, and give this gen
tleman a hand. I have just helped
him out of the water-he was nearly
drowned |"
"What? Eth, my dear? What are
you talking about Gentleman out of
the water-nearly drowned?" said q
CHEEKY voice; and looking up, I saw two
or three figures coming against the sky
over the crest of the hill. Then there
was little hurried talk as they met my
preserver, and presently my middle-aged
friend, who had spoken to me about the
weather at the inn the day before had a
vice-like hold upon my arm, and was
lending me very material assistance in
my ascent.
"What a fortunate thing! Only to
think" he said, "of Lucy happening to
see you We were wandering about,
and she had gone on ahead by herself to
look at the fall; then all of q sudden we
missed her and wondered what had be-
come of her; and then, 10 and behold
all the time she was qualifying for the
Royal Humane Society's medal.
We had stopped, when second young
lady, evidently sister of my guardian
angel, came running down toward us, ex-
claiming
ooh, papa, do come up quick; Lucy
has tainted. She was just beginning to
tell us all about it, when in a rcoment
she went quite off,"
Whereupon I fastened up the re-
mainder of the slope in company with
my new friends, to find the brave girl
quite insensible, her head resting on the
lap of lady, evidently her mother.
Then all solicitude, very properly, was
turned from me to her; but she soon re-
revived, and then, and not till then, L
allowed myself to be hurried off to the
inn to get dry clothes. These, and a
little hot stimulant, soon put me to
rights, with no further damage from my
ducking than few superficial bruises
and scratches.
But what was this tremendous internal
wound that suddenly became conscious
Of ?-that had not been inflicted by pro-
jecting rocks or slippery crags or foam
ing water! No; of certainty that was
the result of a sympathetic glance from
pair of bright brown eyes, which had
gone straight to my heart from the mo-
ment they.had looked down upon me in
my peril.
Inow suddenly awakened to the possi-
bility of what the doctor had called
i" SETTLING down." There absolutely ap-
peared q chance of my taking to the
idea, and of so carrying out his prescrip-
tion to the letter. What a wonderful
and benefcent effect it was working!
"Why, there she is in the garden at
this moment, and how beautiful she
looks Now that I have made myself
presentable, thought, I will 60 down
Immediately and thank her like CO.
herent being and gentleman"
She was sitting in little arbor at the
end of the inn garden. As I approached,
a blush, the more evident from the pale
ness which her undue exertion and sub
seauent faintness had left, overspread
her sweet face-that angel face, which 1
had at first thought a dream, and which
to me now, with my newly-awakened
poetical sensibilities, scarcely seemed q
reality.
I cannot describe it. Why should !?
Other people would not see it with my
eyes there were hundreds and hundreds
of faces in the world doubtless far more
beautiful.
"I hope you are feeling BETTER" I
said. 81 am afraid that what you have
done for me has overta1ed your strength; (;
I shall never forgive myself if it has
made you seriously ILL.,"
ooh, no" she answered, "I was only
q little out of breath with the running
and the scramble through the brush
wood and trees but was sure that If L
was to be of any use there was no time
to be lost. Please don't say any more
about it."
"Oh, but indeed must !; you must
tell me how you saw me and how you
were able to reach me-"
ooh, I had merely gone down to look
at the WATERFALL knew it would be
very much swollen-and the moment I
came upon it, to my horror and surprise
I saw you standing upon that rock in
the middle of the river. felt sure that
YOU would be drowned but before I
could even call out you were washed of
it, and I saw you carried away. Well, l
don't know whatit was thatmade me do it,
but I ran along through the wood by the
side of the river as fast as I could. 1
don't suppose I thought of being able to
save you, but it all seemed 80 dreadful !;
and then I lost sight of you. But I still
ran on to near the top of the second fall,
and got close down to try if I could see
you the trees were so thick up above
that I was obliged to get close to the
edge. I was lookingall about for you,
when I suddenly saw you just under
meath where I was standing, and trying
to reach that bough. Well, then 1
pushed it down to You, that's all"
Cali, indeed! I cried. "Can I ever
repay you for that all! You simply
saved my life; I should never have got
out but for YOU"
"Hope you are not much the worse
for your ducking sir ?" here broke in
her fathers voice. "I and my wife
hope that you will give us the pleasure
of your company at dinner this evening;
you must be little dull and lonely here
by yourself"
Of course I would, and of course I did,
and of course, too, I spent the very
pleasantest evening I had ever known in
mn l;fa told tho family who Was