The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-09-19


through the hall just now, ! heard the
landlady say to her husband; Ought
we to let them 60? It's sreally no better
than suicidep and the old sinner
answered with n chuckle BE easy, my
Gretchen--whcn these young distracted
ones get to their boat, they will find il
in charge of certain GerichtS-Diener
(policemcn) who are less foolish than
they, and no harm will be done = "
"Just like their confoundcd chceI; ~
cried Burdett, "What shall we do
Them
"Do? Why, set the alarm clock two
hours earlier (l'm safe to hear it where
| amy and start at four instead Of six;
and we'll Just meet the 'minions of the
law on our way back to breakfast, and
jolly sell it'll be for them My 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 Il thrill Of super
stitious awe shot through the stOut heart
of Sedley Burdett Could it be that
these countless hindrances were really n
last barrier vainly opposed to the fatal
impulse which was hurrying them both
to destruction. The unnatural excite
ment of his comrades manner, the
feyerish 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 frcnzy-llaSh-
ing upon Burdett's mind with CHASTITY
vividness, the sudden memory Of 4
long~forgotten painting of the young
German knight lured to his death in
the hungry waters of the Rhine by the
siren-song of the lorelei. lie opened
| his lips to propose the abandonment of
the whole project; but the fear of ridi-
cue Chat fear which has destroyed
many a gallant MANI withered the
wholesome impulse, and the favorable
moment went by--Gorever.
Morning at last--a bright. breezy,
glorious summer morning, over which
all things in earth and heaven seemed
TO rejoice. The blue skies, the waving
woods, the green sunny slopes, the
broad brigh. stream of the great river
itself, all seemed to smile Il welcome to
the eyes that might so soon be closed
forever, Even the two English athletes,
absorbed as they were in their pcrilous
enterprise, felt the influence of the
hour, and muttcrcd with involuntary
admiration:
What royal day"
One vigorous stroke sent the light
boat far cut into the swift, dark current,
down which it shot like an arrow from
Il bow Rocks, trees, houses seemed
racing 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 rs to offer as
little space as possible to the rush OF
current which seemed well able to
carry away IN entire city.
Suddenly there came Il dizzy plunge
Il 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 I'm uproar that seemed to
rend the very sky. For one fcverish
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 sep0-
rated 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, Se'i, 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 0arsmen, looking up, beheld
Marion Wentworth rushing distractcdIy
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
taguc turned his face toward her, and
waved his hand checrily; and seldom
has any painter conceived such a picture
as the one which that moment branded
forever on the memory of those who
saw it. The stern black rocks on either
hand hecked with living green by the
shrubs that clung to their craggy sides;
the vast hill of leapiug foam, half way
down which the fral 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 CON
trast with the rock-rcndng uproar
below; the stalwart figures OF the two
gallant lads, straining every nerve to
achieve their perilOus task; the hand-
some, reckless face of the last OF the
Montagues,' with a 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
momentary 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 midst OF the
roaring abyss below.
From that fatal hour, life was over
for the Flower of Kent" All that re-
mained 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 heart
broken mother, nor even the sight Of
her dead lovers ruined home (the burn
ing of which, on the very day OF its
masters death, fulfilled, by sheer
coincidence, the dismal prediction)
ayailed aught 10 break that deadly
lethargy which endured for the brief
remainder of her life, checkered only by
the spasms of convulsive agony in
variably produced by the one sound
which her ear still had power to recog-
nize-the sound of rushing waters.