Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1880-05-22

sharp rocks and drowning whirlpools,
and great CULTS of death and oblivion.
When the little body came to herself
she was lying comfortably suspended in
mid-air, in a cradle made by the wild
plum bushes and the old horse-brier and
grape-vines that had interlaced them
selves together there, growing from the
crevices. Above her was more than
| twenty feet of almost sheer rock, and
below her was the boiling river, rushing
and roaring on. With a start of terror,
as memory swept back upon her she
seized a stout stem of the vine and
clutched it with all her might; but a gust
of wind coming at the moment, and
rocking the cradle well, assured her
that her clinging amounted to little, and
she presently found the thousand and
one briers of the wild smilax holding
her more securely than it was possible
her tiny fingers should.
| Before long she was able to gather
her senses from their trance of horror,
in which all reason had been dissipated,
and she loosened her dress, and sat up
| in her nest to look about her. &C It's of
no use,'' she said at last. The only
way to get down is to free q grapevine
and climb down on it; and it wouldn't t
| be long enough, and it wouldn't be
strong enough, and if l got down at all,
it would only be into q boiling pit of
deep water, and in freeing it | might be
| like the man who sawed off the end of
the branch he sat on-if l could free it
anyway. And l might as well die of
| starvation and be picked by the birds,
as die of drowning and be picked by the
fishes. But, oh. dear! dear! dear! what
are they doing at home now? Why
can't some of them come after me-?
Why doesn't Mr.. Wilston know how
and earth? Why doesn't somebody
follow me? O, what have done, what
have / done, to be punished this wayP
o, you don't suppose L am really going
to be left to die here! O, how cruel!
how cruelr' And then there was great
burst of sobbing, and she wrung her
hands, and cried again.
But the crying over, for the time be-
ing, Angelica began to look about her.
| The blow had been struck too power
fully to do much less than stun
and she yet hardly realized her situa-
ton in full. 81 don't quite give it up"
she said. Somebody may come this
way;' and she hallooed till she was out
of breath. s'It wouldn't be bad
place for pleasure" she thought, 60 if
;one could get down or up when one
wished, and if one had plenty of books
and lunch basket. o, how hungry l
amr' Certainly it was not at all a bad
place of it's sort-swinging cradled there
securely in mid-air, with the birds dart
ing all about one; with the great sky
full of sunshine overhead; with that
fish-hawk sailing in slow circles ere he
plunged. s'This is the way some of
the Puget Sound Indians bury their
dead" she thought, g high up among
the branches. Only they have tin pans
hung with them. And that does SO put
me in mind of our Nora's cream-the
| very last pan she let me skim. And
now I'm hungrier than ever. l wonder
what time it is-long past lunch, of
famished by edinner-time; tomorrow
morning I shall be giddy. l wonder
how long it takes people to die of star
walton, and if it s very fearful. 1 mustn't t
think about broths and harieots and
stews and chicken pies and" And
! Angelica paused, holding this unprofit-
able meditation for one about to die.
81 ought to be reading my Testament, y
said she. And yet the only thing 1
should enjoy reading just now would
be cookery book. o, didn't know l
was such glutton! 1 suppose in my
heart of hearts / am sure that Mr.. Will
ston will come after me.'
1t was in the pause of thought follow
ing that she heard voices-a myriad, it
seemed to her. She had shouted from
time to time ever since she fell; now
she raised her voice again, and she
couldn't make out whether it was the
children answering her or a flight of
echoes from the opposite rock. No, it
was the children, she at length was
sure. Yes, yes, indeed, there were the
little faces peering over the brink,
through the stems of the saplings-faces
of those very children at whose paper
garlands she had laughed; and she called
out Justify again-called and called,
with furied and half-frenzied cries, till
her voice refused to come for more.
Plainly as she could see them, looking
up, the children could not see herfor the
: interlacing and protruding vines and
branches. But they could hear her all
too well-a viewless voice; it reused al
! their little imaginations, and they scam
pered away as fast as their feet coulG
carry them, in their amazement ant
fright, to tell of the mysterious sounds
they had heard.
ssNow 1 must die,'' said poor little
Angel; and she fell back in her nest
worn out with sher frantic exertions
Il suppose there is some purpose in it
If sparrows don't fall to the ground un
heeded,' she said, ..God knows I an
here" And it would have been very
much to her surprise, if it had beer
, possible for her TO know it, that her,
, she fell asleep.
The sun was still shining bright,
,, when she awoke; but she was unable t.
tell whether she had lost herself for
; few minutes, or had slept over nigh
i, and it was now next day. She fel
,, SO faint, however, that she wa
quite sure it was next day. And h
hasn't come for me yet," she sighed
: ''There is great deal of vitality il
! young people," she said, s'and 1 an
! only seventeen" And then, in spite o
; her effort at resignation, tears welle,
!, over her eyes, to think of the light O
: her sweet seventeen years SO early ex
tinguished. She put her hand into he
! pocket for her handkerchief, to wip
the tears away, before she remembers,
: that she had hung it out as a signal o
= distress; and she drew forth. instead,
: letter, one that Mr. Wilston had slippe,
into her hand the evening before, an,
that she had crumpled up, hardly glanc
L ing at it, and had then taken with he
= in the morning, thinking she would rea
it in the wood.
; What did he write her such letters for
I Why did he want to love her? VIII
7 did he urge it again and again? Sh
! was only a child; she had just begun t
: taste the sweetness oflife. Why couldn'
l l he let her alone for a little while, till sh
had looked on her surroundings an
. seen what the world was; had had
, > little freedom and pleasure-at any rat
u till she needed himp
u u Till she needed him! the next though
came. All, Heaven! did she not nee
: him nowp And a storm of tears al
: swered for her. 80, if he did love me
: if he really did love me he would kno'
: what am suffering; he would come an
u help me and save me. 1t would brea
/ his heart to see me!'' she sobbed. ;.
y would break mine to see him so.'' An
L then all at once she paused in her CRY
= ing and exelaiming. and opened he
u u brimming brown eyes wide to the SUI
II shine. What! Would it really brea
: her heart to see Mr.. Wilston sufferin
: SO? Would she care? Did she-coul
u She O. if she never saw him aUai