Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-04-20

range that forms the boundary of India.
| rode on, an! presently from m angle
in the mountain road | caught glimpse
of the " Twenty SpungS," ~ Mr.. War
ren's thriving station was called. with its
ga dens and meadows. and the now de.
serted plantation and the empty huts of
the coolies. Then | turned the corner
and saw it no more, but even as it vanish.
ed from my eyes / heard strange, deep
sound like that Of distant thunder, the
nature of which could not divine. NV
horse suddenly snulted aud reared and
then stood trembling, and could scarcely
be urged forward. While | WAS in the
act OF stopping forward to part the Arabs
glossy neck, speaking soothingly to
lin the while, there broke upon nv ear
sullen roar, louder, nearer ~ each in
staat, and eliminating in crash So
dreadful that the simultaneous discharge
of thousand cannon would have seemed
puny when compared with il.
Dealened, dizzy and confused, | dis
mounted from my frightened horse, now
wholly unmanageable, and hurried on
foot To the spot, whence, n, | remember
ed, Edlth's home was in sight. The air
WAS thick with dust aud withered eave.,
but MS the PROSPECT grew clearer ! could
see no trace ot the bungalow, ut it. home
stead and gardens, or OF the thriving tea
plantations and We dant meadows atound
it. Vainly did strain my eyes To catch
one wel-known feature OF the familiar
scene. Nothing was visible save drca
ry waste OF stones, mud aud rocks, filing
up half the valley. and ii buve winch hung
II cloud oi tawny dust that WAS slowly
subsldlng.
As stood stupidly gazing on the scene
OF ruin, / caught sight OF man, bare
headed, and with n scared, white face
l knew hln. 1t WAS the young clergy
man who had come over from Nynee Tai
to perform the marriage ceremony be-
tween Edith AID me.
Mr.. Edwards ?" / said inquiringly,
as | nsared him.
lie caught my hand, covered his face
and burst into tears. Tnsn for the Il It
time | knew what lear was.
" For PHYS snke, tell me all % cried |
hoarsely. lis Miss 'NarreG-is Edith
safe ? What has"
"Of all beneath that roof-the roof of
Mr.. Warren's hospitab!e house, alone
am spared, answered the clergyman in
broken accents /; " Death, the grim NOW
or, has gS'nered his harvest there"
The cause Of the dIraster was but too
evident. A stoneavslanche, or moraihe,
as it is called in Switzerland, had rushed
down from the unscaled heights of the
huge mountain towering above Yirmi
Sou, and had overwhelmed all beuenth it.
" | caught glimpse of Mis- Warren
in the gaI den, rs the stony flood burst
upon Us with its drafening ronr," said
the clergyman as he grew calmer; az
may be that Gods mercy has spared bor
life too"
And, indeed, have mGchto be thank
fu for, since my dear Edith was found,
iainting, but unhurt, at the foot of
tall cedar, tbs only tree left standing,
wedged in between tsl!en rocks But the
other inmates Of tho house had peri,hrd,
nor were even their bodies ever extrical
ed from the mighty mausoleum which
Natures own hand had piled above them.
Edith and | have been married these five
years, but our house IS in England, not
in India and sometimes, when see n
shadow come acro.s my wite's r,ir face,
| know that she is thinking OF those who
sleep beneath lhs crnel stones ut Yirmi
Sou CdSSeiFS.