Daily Republican., 1881-04-29
"A LEAP IN THE DARK
A vi A ID ACT.

depths OF tine mountain wilderness.
: There was n long deep, narrow valley
=. running north and south, tor many
2 miles, tianked east and west, by tower
! ing mountains,
The range On the cost was called Cata.
mount Cliffs; that on the west, Panther
Peak.
. Deep down in the bottom of the val.
ley ran low and narrow river, called
the Umbra.
On this night not u sound disturbed
r the awful solitude of the wilderness;
not living creature appeared in sight.
Human lite seemed taraw
Yet had there been light enough, a
human form might have been seen on
the eastern range.
1t was the figure of u young Girl,
wrapped in dark shaw that covered
her from head to foot, gliding slowly,
slowly down the winding mountain
path, now passing ont Of sight behind
a clump Of trees, now coming into view
again as the path turned in and out in
its descent.
Sometimes she paused and leaned
against tree, as if for momentary sup,
port, and then the faint light of the
moon fell upon an upturned, lovely
young face, pallid with despair.
And now another figure appeared
upon the scene, another and taller
young girl, cnveloped in Il long water
proof cloak, whose hood was drawn over
her head.
She gided silently down the same
path, i'll the same manner, keeping her
eyes upon her predecessor, as if she
were "shadowing' her-as indeed she
was.
The first girl wound her Sinuous way
down the mountain side to the very foot
of the ridge and edge of the river, be-
Of very recently laid railroad, whose
trains, twice day, awoke the awful
echoes of the towering rocks.
| Here she sat down on Il fallen bould-
er, let her shawl drop fIOm her form
and lay in heap around her, claSped
her hands upon her knees, and turned
her woeful young face up to the starlit
heavens, as if help for her hidden grief
were there
Then she looked vaguely at the little
crescent of the moon that was sinking
slowly behind the cedar crowned sum
nit of the western ridge. She watched
it out Of sight, and then let her glance
slowly drop to the river at her feet
Gazing on the low river, she began to
muttrr TO herself as only the craZed or
half crazed ever do.
"lt | dared-if | dared" she wills
pered her eyes dilating as she gazed
down upon the river, whose shining
| SInnpth lnrlr Nttrt.,,.n Il. .,nt,l
star above. "If | only dared to take
the plunge. They say the Umbra here
has no bottom, at least none that has
ever been sounded. Night after night
| have come here-hOw many times
how many times; but have never had
the courage to take that plunge! What
does the poet say"
who would not choose
The leap attaining the rcpOse?'
Oh, but | cannot-l cannot oh, for
one brief fit of madness to give me
courage to end it ALTO end it all with
mc-who am afraid to die, and more
afraid to live The demon has driven
me to this rivers brink, night after
night, but he has never driven me into
it. AI-H-H - she suddenly cried,
starting to her feet "What is that?"
1t was the noise OF the rushing cX-
press train from the north gaining
force and volume rs it sped onwards, its
thunders caught up by the echoes of the
rocky cliffs on each side OF the river,
and hurled back and forth with an
overwhelming uproar that filled the
valley, and seemed to threaten with an
Inhalation every living creature in it.
The girl, standing up, gazed, breath
less, upon the rushing monster, whose
fiery eyes and believing breath were al
most upon her.
She pressed her left hand hard upon
her heart, and bent forward, her lips
apart, her eyes dilated to their utmost
capacity, and blazing tiercely, as with
the suddenly kindlcd fires Of madness.
Another instant, and with phren-
zied yell she threw her arms on high,
and, Swifter than an arrow from the
bow, she shot downwards from the
bank and threw herself headlong upon
the track, under the very heat of the
rushing engine.
But Swittcr than the arrow was the
arm OF love, us the watcher Sprang for
ward and flung her Off both falling
back from the impetus clear of the |
track, just as the express train thun-
dered onward, shaking the solid foun-
dations of the mountains AS it passed
At last there was silence.
Both girls, motionlesS, exhausted, half
paralyzed, lay together where they |
had fallen. The elder, with every vein
and artery throbing, as, if they would
burst with intense excitement, still |
clutched the younger In her arms, and
held her as in death-grip. Both were
overwhelmed and
speechless.
The deliverer was the first to recover
herself
"Were you mad ." she whispered,
in husky and almost inarticulatr
voice.
"Ies-mad," moaned the other, after
a pause.
ooh, why did you do ito"
81 have told you'll was mad"
There was silence for few moments
and then the elder spoke again, gravely
and tenderly.
"Bevvie what drove you to despera-
tion 2"
81 cannot tell you! Oh, l can never
[ell you WISH you nau not stopped
me ! 1t would have been all over by
this time, moaned the girl called Bev-
vie.
"'All over ?"
"les, yes, yes, yes, !" walled the girl,
rocking herself back and torward-"for ,
should have been out of all nv mis- .
Fry ! Ora Ora Why did you follow
me- Why did you interfere with
ne ?" .
"l have watched you for weeks !
have followed you for days, [ am re- ,
;ponsible to the Lord for you ; l was in ,
luty bound to save you, even if l had
rot loved you as L do, ungrateful {
,hild !" =
ooh, if you knew IF you knew, v
IRA All why did you interfere? 1t I
would have been all over now, and |
hould have been past all my troubles !" i