The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1879-02-22

w foob Ou tne Dirk, ana as 1t 8h0rded /
me seat Istepped in and sat down In
the stern-sheets. There / played with
my hand in the stream and listened to
the distant, incesssnt roar of the boiling
waters. As ] sat there / thought o, my
young wife, hundreds of miles away,
whom ! had left q few days before to at
tend to some business in Canada, and |
whom | was to rejoin the next day, hav.
ing taken this point on my way home
ward. I sat there with my eyes half |
closed, and then, throwing myself back |
ward, was lulled to sleep by the monoto-
nous noise. How long I slept I do not
know, but piercing shrek, rising above
the du roar of the falls, awakened me.
/ looked around. The boat had broken
loose and was far out in the stream and
drifting rapidly toward the falls. I
sprang up to seize the oars and pull to
shore. There were no oars in the boat.
81 glanced toward the shore. It
seemed the bank was lined with men,
women and children, who may have
called to me, but could hear nothing.
My first impulse was to leap overheard,
but then could not swim.
"a man on the bank threw a lasso. /
awaited the coming of the loop, and
reached my hand toward it, but it fell
short. 1t was drawn in, and the man,
running swiftly to point further down,
tried again. He apparently cast it with
greater force, but it fell further off than
before. 1 was being drawn nearer to the
center of the horseshoe.
"And now there came the lethargy OF
despair. / sat there without hope and
without fear. My doom was inevitable.
The motion of the boat grew faster and
faster, the distant banks whirled past me,
and then my spirit rose in kind of
ecstasy. / gave sharp glance around
me, and laughed. As the boat struck
the edge Of the abyss and rose for the
final plunge, / caught sight of a dense
mist ] heard above the roar the rush Of
q thousand wings; felt as though struck
with numbing blow, and breath and
consciousness left me together.
ut seemed to be dream, for when
recovered found was here in my OWE
house. Yonder sat my wife, clad In
black, her head buried in her hands
Yesi it seemed to be dream, for though
I tried to speak to her, my lips made nt
sounds, and heard nothing. ] touched
her, hut she did not heed 1T. ! looked
around the room, bewildered.
at was this library. There on loni
table, which did not belong there, lay
something like human form, covered b,
a sheet. What was it doing there
Whose body lay there A new and NOR
unspeakable terror seized noe. ! woult
like to have cried out. / could not.
was dumb.
| aMy wife arose and went to the table
Now said to myself, i shall know all
She raised the cover from her head, and
STOPPING down, kissed the face OF tn
corpse. Could it be that my father-in
law, Colonel Barnesleigh, had died Will
/ was away7 I did not walk, but wa
moved by some unseen power until
stood by my wife and over the dead bod
and looked down. / knew 1t then.
recognized the cold, lifeless face. " wa
my own"
Then the whisper ceased, and fell
] a deep sleep in the chair. 1t was Gay
light when / awoke. i looked arounc
, Had / dreamed it all? On the table wa
, the fragment of newspaper. Pichn
, | it up my glance caught the name OF
former owner Of the house, and read I
follows:
aMELAEoHoLYlC CASUALTY teirib
/ event occurred on Friday Last. Robel
! Grant, OF this village, on bis return fro'
!. Toronto. where he had been on bushes
I stopped at Niagara. He took . wal
shove the falls after breakfast. He mu
! have got in . boat and Lost or broken Y
] ears-though it 10 said no oars were
The boat at all. He was seen afoar by
large crowd Of people just above THE fal
! Every attempt was made to rescue hiI
but unsuccs ssfully; and he was cafri'
u bis death. His body was recovered