The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-09-27

well Just meet the 'minions of the law
on our way back for breakfast, and
Jolly sell it'll be for them! Ny word,
every mortal thing seems to have con-
spired against this venture of ours; but
I'll go through with it, no matter who
stands in my way!"
For one moment thrill of supersti-
tious awe shot through the stout heart
of Sedley Burdett. Could it be that
these countless hindrances were really a
last barrier vainly opposed to the fatal
impulse which was hurrying them both
to destruction? The unnatural excite
ment of his comrades manner, the fe-
verish luster of his eyes, the heated
flush in his usually pale face, were all
terribly suggestive of one goaded to his
doom by some irresistible frenzy flash
ing upon Burdett's mind, with CHASTITY
vividness, the sudden memory of a long
forgotten painting of the young Ger
man knight lured to his death in the
hungry waters of the Rhine by the
siren-song of the Lorelei. He opened
his lips to propose the abandonment of
the whole project; but the fear of ridi-
cule (that fear which has destroyed
many gallant man) withered the whole
some impulse, and the favorable mo-
ment went by-forever.
Morning at last-a bright, breezy,
glorious Sunday morning, over which
all things in earth and heaven seemed
to rejoice. The blue sky, the waving
woods, the green sunny slopes, the
broad, bright stream of the great river
itself, all seemed to smile welcome to
the eyes that might so soon be closed
forever. Even the two English athletes,
absorbed as they were in their perilous
enterprise, felt the influence of the
hour, and muttered with involuntary
admiration:
"What royal day."
One vigorous stroke sent the light
boat far out into the swift, dark current,
down which it shot like an arrow from a
bow. Rocks, trees, houses seemed rae
ing past on either side. No need to
strain at the oars now! all that could be
done with them was to keep the boats
bow perfectly straight, so as to offer as
little space as possible to the rush of a
current which seemed well able to carry
away an entire city.
Suddenly there came a dizzy plunge
"a shock that threw both men from
their places-and then all around was
one boiling whirl of foam, and the boat
was flung to and fro, and dashed up and
down, amid an uproar that seemed to
rend the very sky. For one feverish
moment life and death seemed to hang
by hair; and then the two daring men
found themselves floating on the little
border-line of calm water that separated
the first fall from the worse peril of the
second.
Hurrah!" shouted Montague, glee-
fully; "who says it can't be done now ?
Keep her head straight, Sed, my boy,
and we'll come out all right yet"
The triumphant cheer was answered
by cry of dismay from the shore, and
the two oarsmen, looking up, beheld
Marion Wentworth rushing distractedly
toward the edge of the high bank that
Overhung the second fall, followed by
Montague's English servant. At the
sound of his betrothed's voice, Mon
tague turned his face toward her and
waved his hand cheerily; and seldom
has any painter conceived such pict-
ure as the one which that moment
branded forever on the memory of those
who saw it. The stern black rocks on
either hand, fecked with living green
by the shrubs which chung to their
craggy sides; the vast hill of leaping
foam, halfway down which the frail
boat lowered like a leaf; the rainbow
arch that spanned the black, bowling
gulf beneath: the glory of the sunrise
stealing softly into the pure, peaceful
sky, in strange contrast with the rock
rending uproar below; the stalwart fig
ures of the two gallant lads, straining
every nerve to achieve their perilous
task; the handsome, reckless face of
the last of the Montagues," with gay
smile on its short, curved lip, and an
ominous glitter in its large, dark eyes.
Good morning, my pet!" cried he,
gayly; you're just in time for the end
of the play"
These were the last words that Wis
count Montague ever spoke. That mo-
mentary negligence had allowed the
boats head to deviate slightly from the
direct line, and in an instant the whirl
of the current threw its exposed side
full against the tremendous rush of the
cataract. One frantic struggle to regain
the lost ground, and then boat and men
vanished forever into the mists of the
roaring abyss below
From that fatal hour life was over for
the Flower of Kent" All that re-
NAMED of the once bright and beautiful
girl was pale, silent, joyless phantom
a body, as it were, without soul. Neither
the tender care of her heartbroken
mother, nor the skill of the most accom-
plished physicians, nor even the sight
of her dead lovers ruined home (the
burning of which, on the very day of its
masters death, fulfilled, by sheer CO.
incidence, the dismal prediction) availed
aught to break that deadly lethargy
which endured for the brief remainder
of her life, checkered only by the spasms
of convulsive agony invariably produced
by the one sound which her ear still had
power to recognizable sound of rush
ing waters.-CdsselPs Magazine.
A Thrilling Accident.
Not many DAYS ago student named