Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-08-18
e'nuous that Ind to inquire Of every passer.
by the way to

THE TUNNEL
And the distance! Can q low .countryman
over reach u comprehension Of the ''truo in
wardnoss" Of an up country miller Queor
people, these mountainecrs! They will in.
vnriably give you the distance to a given
poict by an air limo measurement, whilo tho
road there is full of kinks. and the narrow
causway dodges around tho hills in fox line
fashion. My opinion is that when you lop
the kinks out Of an Oconce mountain road
you thereby abolish tho road. Tho sun was
hot, but it was delightful ride, the rond for
somo distance trnvcrsing tho top of the ridge
OF mountains, beneath one of which Law the
lonely tunnel. 1t took nearly three hours
however to reach tho landmark / had been
dirented to--a plnteau Of level field with n
giant granite mass towering out of it and
dlngy comoinatioh Of farm house. stable aid
cattle shed under tho same roof A very
nnmstakable Irishman stood in his shit
sleeves with tho air Of proprietor, aud to him
addressed myself He informed me that
tunnel WIS
HALF NILE BELOW.
at tho foot OF tho mountains aud that It was
inaccessible on horseback. This Quite unset
mo. It wac dusk, aud he pronounced The
descent dangerous and tho path hard to find
asked him if he could "for nsdera,ion"
tako care of the horse for tho night and show
me tho way down. as intondcd remaining at
the tunnel until mornirg e. Never could
describe the way in which Mr.. Patrick Dugnn
looked at me- rs he drew IL long breati, of
nstoanishment! Then he smiled u grim smi le
aud asked it the hotso was mine. en-
lightened him rs to that. mud, iiniind him
resolved on my being a fugitive from justice.
dlvnlged to him in secrecy my profession
explainng that Reporters had to do many
strange hings told him no more than
this. Mr. Dugnn then yielded
a COY ASSENT
to my requests, and gavo him note to Mr..
Bemann in case he should pursue nc, stat,
ing my profession and thnt would return in
the morning with the horse
Mr. Dugan then prepared to usher me to
my lonely quarters. Ito first armed hir,sclf
with stou, shilaleh. and then accnutrcd
strapping negro with still bigger one thus
showing how, very little confidence tho wild
lrishman had in me- We descended in tho
cleaning through tho dry channel of n steep
gully and down its tortuous twists and falls.
GREAT BTACK HoLE
loomed up on one side Of our path. NV
conductor threw pebbles Into it and the re-
pcatcd rcrerborntpns which rose rs tbey
struck the sides in their descent showed the
depth of tho pit. That's shaft of tlr tun-
mel. q hoondrcd an fifty fate deep" remarked
my guide. Presently we reached tho edo Of
u steep cliff with prccipitons fall of rugged
pull to tho base. The pair sai that tho
tunnel was Immediately below Us and ,h,t it
was needless To-, hem :" 90 any further. They
outlined my path md would wait until
halloocd them my sa(o arrival. il was so
dark that nothing but q gimmcr on the
whi,ish walls showed the path, but / got
down and yelled obcdicntly and thcy ans
swercd and departed.
THE RENDEZVOUS.
What sort of place WINS the rendezvous?
Well, it must be gloomy place at ali times;
but at that hour and 10 the darkness it was
very imprcssiVely gloomy. great niche in
the side OF the mountain. Goaso trees encos-
ing it on every side, wide steep cut leading
up to the tunnel, behind you II high etnbank.
men, tree grown, and in front a great black
void the bottom covered with water aud tho
moiStn,c falling from tho roof and striking it,
making tho drip. drip" us the drop. near
aud lar sound with varying cadence.
like the drumming Of II harp. Pebble, from
the roof would fall every minute with
sudden resonant crack that would rumble
away into the deep throat Of the cave A
stream Of water rippcd from the mouth and
the thirsty shrubs bent over tho outlet and
fringcd the black rock with gentler shad.
ing. The tree frogs and crickcts sang nasally
and dr"ncd Slecpiy, drowing all other and
lnwcr sounds. In frunt of the tunnel The
ground was wet and the trees were moist, aud
acold breath seemed to oozo from its mouth.
The mir was unpleasantly
SUGGESTIVE OF SNAKES,
which reminded inc that my escort had
chccrlully ullu'lcd 10 the plentiful ratticsnnke
harvest and that | had seen monster of tha,
species in the road, slain that evening I
eat on s,onc, in as open place as possible
L II.
of tobacco, stole through the hollnw. 1t was
diabolca and permeating and led me to
roost on tho side Of the hill supported by
the root OF Il tree. | may say that that odor
ar0un,. the mouth uf the tunnel
nll night, and ! couldn't account for il cxcept
that it came from plant known in Virginia
as 'cabhagc." bearing rs Il prefix the name
of lttlc animal whose mention is obnoxinus
TO ears polite | had anticipated several
candles, biscuits and pistol, but had not
thought of bringing rologn"!
NINE o'cLccK.
The moon has been slowly mounting until
the white light tops a hill and peers down.
but rcry lightly at first, through the leaves
| feel new presence, familiar, but unwcl-
come. host of pigmy songlcss. but active
and vcnomons mosquitoes throng around me
am not slnndcring Oconcc County his is
n solemn fact. Oconee may plead that her
arc "such Wtie ones" but it
cannot avail with one whose pcppered ia &C
asests their frantic energy. Not expecting
mosquitoes in Ooonee's mountains, it is need
less TO say that had not carried along net.
and suffered.
TEN O'clock!
=, Another smoke for the mosquitoes sake.
The crickcts keep up their concert, but
sound breaks in during the pauscs Il it
Mellow, 30 early? Attentive listening proves
it to be distant sheep bell. Relieved. Fat
some crackers. a whppoorwil or some kin
dred night bird drops down suddenly on n
twig before me, and wists itself around
al ~ In nd l.. l.: Il g.