The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-02-19

hey sought their sport. They met 30 q
title success, however, In their edorts 9
o catch the willy trout that, like most
,ovices, the young men attributed their 7
allure to the fish, or rather to their ab- !
'ence. The Devonshire rivers, II was
declared, would afford them q tsirer
opening for their skill; NJ they harked
back eastward, and found themselves
after a while whipping the pools and
rocky channels Of the West Dart. They
took up their quarters Mt the small inn
In an out. of.the-way hamlet known rs
Two Bridges, some eight miles from the
town Of TavistOck, and found the soil.
tude Of this unfrequented and almost
mountainous region compensated tor ny
tho better luck which attended their
fishing. Indeed, TO Ronald's dreamy
nature the romantic and desolate char.
acter Of the scenery had an especial
charm, and while his friends were &C.
cupied with their favOrite pHstime he
would often wander far afell explor.
ing the remotcst Businesses OF stream
and fell.
The account which he sent home to his
mother Of the last OF these solitary ex.
petitions graphically brings this story to
3 climax. |
"The day." no wrote, ''was still and
cloudy; gray mist hung heavily ON all
the highest tops, and crept far down
their sides in graceful, fantastic, ever
changing folds. Such a. light move.
meut as there was occasionally in the
ART could not be called wind-carried
the lightest sound to and fro with o
wailing sort OF echo. The neverceas.
ing rush Of the river over It's rocky bed
was audible long after ! had wandered
away from 1t, and at intervals the
voices Of my two fishermen friends fell
family on the ear. Presently, however,
. curve In the way across the hillside
over which was walking shut of oil
sound even Of voices or running water,
and experienced . keener sense Of
loneliness, perhaps, than ! had ever
known. Very rarely, take II, could
nature have appeared 40 utterly
motionless; not blade Of grass stirred.
There was hush on everything which
was almost tcrrifying-ft prelude, !!
} would seem, as I look back upon it, to
, the storm Of emotion which was 30 soon
. u overwhelm me. Another turn in thu
track plunged me, II possible, into Q 20,
deeper silence and solitude. l was on
. the verge Of q dreay, rugged, bowlder
. strewn valley, in the depth Of which
!. appeared what at first looked like thre'
!, large patches of scrubby underwood
J. but which on approaching them proves
to be composed Of stunted, diminutiv
oak and mOuntain-ash trees, their dead
= bare tops, all spread and Aattened on
? a. evenly ~ though they hail been Gu
i by some gigantic sscythe-which
!. guessed to be the mighty, seldom.lullin
Il blast Of an all.prevailing wind sweepin
a. up the hollow. The trees grew ami
n massive blocks Of granite, covered, 8
q. were the stems, with . dense an
/. overwhelming growth Of lichcn an
r. r. parasitical plants. A yet Close
RI acquaintance with it showed the spot
re be one Of the strangest I had ever sec
ne or dreamt of. The gaunt, bleache'
10 outspreading arms Of the trees had som
=. thing skeleton-like and ghostly in the
4. aspect; weird demons OF the forest tn
he might be, stunted gnOmes strugglil
ia with outstretched misshapen limbs
free themselves from the superincul
nj bent weight Of the split and tortuo
,at rocks which held them fast, earth.boul
IN a. it were, between their clefts and {
n. sures. A CHASTITY, ghostly, uncann
he awful spot, indeed, and seen under t
he gray gloom of the waning autumn.ds
N and in the silence and the mystic &c
de tude surrounding it, most impressive.
10 can not describe the sensations W
re- which I approached the outskirts Of Il
al wood, for despite its fOrbidding CHI
lts' acter, felt myself irresistibly dra
roe toward it. It seemed to exercise on
t6e . facination, spell, which cowed
ade will, and while almost curdling
be blood, yet impelled me forward, l KIN
Ind not how or why! 1t was spot to
the from rather than penetrate; it might
in. likened to a witches trysting.place,
"A haunt OF evil spirits, Of demons. el
non and COLLINS, who all had found I
lab. bOdiMent IN the snrunKen auo
900 shapen trees.
Of II had strolled OF on this wander
,ery and desultory excursion without
iris definite purpose, hence came upon
ions place purely by accident; but, once th
nsd. and realizing its strange appearance
and was, Notwithstanding the feeling Of
Q do which 1t inspired, filed with . sens
and gladness.
He Moving forward half unconsciol
hew l had entered butsa yard or two vi
mar. the confines of this unhallowed.lOOl
the region, when I was startled by y L
oade black snake writhing away before
bv tread from under the rank grass
,ther dense parasiticsl growth. The next
J win ment I caught sight Of huge fox, I
!. or rushed across . narrow opening
rate. |the trees straight in front of me.
bless though I plainly saw the noisome
had lures, it was as ono sees and shl
How. from such objects in . nightmare,
that felt - incapable OF drawing Dack y
teen, had been really dreaming. The uu
Is Of nature of the ground soon, how
made further progress 20 difficult Il
tho hardly knew how got along at all
!, him l did manage to push on further
,stter further into the wilderness, and VA
arrested by suddenly sinking up
waist between gap In the rocks
econd stepped on to what looked like .
= pith of smooth greensward. This, in
nd al was nothing but soft, NOISY
? and growth, which, yielding the MON
hat in trod on it, let me In and left M
filled one foot jammed tightly in cleft
ID his granite. Some minutes elapsed