Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-04-23

1t was past noon when l started
for the home of my betrothed. But
my horse was good, and if L rode
hard, I might be at Trevesy by
night fall. There was a sprinkle of
snow on the ground, and feathery
shower fell lightly around me, of
which [ thought nothing till sunset.
The short, dark day was over at
five; and at that hour sharp wind
sprang up, and the snow began fall
ing thickly. / felt somewhat blind
ed and beWiIdered by the big flakes
ever flying downwardsand Onwards,
and around me, like a cold, patient
army, whose onslaught could nev-
er be stayed or driven back.
Still I pushed on though the poor
beast / rode shook and trenbled,
and stroVe, in his dumb way, to
reason against my headstrOng will.
And now, with some dismay, | sud-
denly perceived, by the sinking of
nv horse, even to his TANKS, in
heaped snow, that beWildered by
the WhiteneSs he and L had lost the
road. 1t was but rough one at the
best; for [ was in wild country,
where mines were many, and men
and dwellings few. Extricating
my poor steed from the drifted
snow wherein he fioundered. rest
ed him a moment, and shouted
aloud for help. Again and again
my cry came back to me, following
on the wings of the cold wind, but
no other sound broke the deathly
stiffness of the night.
Oh! for a saving light in some
charitable window But there was
none-only snow all around. i
thought it terrible; and yet in a lit
tie span of time from this l would
have deemed it Paradise to be ly-
ing lonely on the heaped snow up
on this drear moor.
l put my horse to a sharp canter,
and he went about furlOng blind
ly, then stood still snorting with ter
ror. | strOve to urge him on, but
he refused to obey either whip or
spur. Seeing no reason for my
horse'sfright and stubborness, 1spur-
red him sharply, and urged him
with angry voice to obedience. His
wonderful obstinacy compelled me
at length to dismOunt and with my
drawn sword in my hand, prepared
for highwaymen or foOtpad, / drag
ged him OnWards by the bride.
Upon this he made one hasty
plunge forward, then stopped, and
at the same instant the earth went
from beneath my feet, and l fell, feh
| knew not whittier, down, down,
into deep darkness unfathOmable,
terrible as the great pit. | can
scarcely say whether thought as l
fell, yet | knew / was descending
one of those unused shafts that lie
out on many Cornish moor-kneW
that my bones would lie unthoUght
of in its depths forever.
But even at that instant my flight
was arrested, and | hung in mid-air
clinging by my hands, to what |
knew not. 1t was my sword, which
| had forgotten that l held. By
miracle it had thrust itself, as / fell,
between the earth and rocks in the
side of the shaft: and there jam
med fast, it held me up.
/ cannot explain how this oe-
curred-I only know that it was SO.
As that cry for mercy escaped my
lips, the mercy came. My sword
caught in the interstice5 of the rock
and l was held up, my feet dang
ling over the abyss, and my hands
cling1ng to the hilt of my good
blade. 1t was firm as a wedge-I
could feel that in spite of my tremb-
ling, yet still my position was hor.
rible. To remain thus, to hold on,
was tortue unutterable; but to yield
even for a moment was death.
There was no hope of release for
hours-there was no possibility of
relief of posture; there was moth
ing but strong endurance and cour-