The Owosso times., 1882-01-27
And they went on up the hill.

| <AhN ohOy WOho up tlC I'LL.
When they reached the top it wa
unoccupied; and seldom, indeed, had
been gained by two more happy people
A sunny smiling world stretched roun
them from sea to sea, the lights an
shades fitted over the green sides o
the Old Mans brethren; while below
lake beyond lake reflected the sky, an,
round them, peak beyond peak, tn
mountains stretched as far as eye coul,
reach. Only Scawfell's summit wa
yelled in mist. Phey stood by th'
cairn, and for moment almost forgo
one another in the grandeur of tn,
sight. No, not forgot one another
rather it was the thought of the other's
presence which tinged with brighter
lustre the brightest sunbeam on tn,
distant lakes. No wonder that they sal
down by the cairn, taking no very care
full note of the passage of time, ant
talked more of those sweet nothings
than before. At length Harry looked
at his watch and discovered that they
had but an hour in which to make the
descent if they wished to catch the
coach. t
The others must have given it up
and turned back, Mary
Il suppose so. We must come up
with them, or mamma will lie so an
gry.'
Poor little Maryp
Don't, sir! How misty it has be-
GOMEZ
by Jove! so it has. l ought to have
looked out. Have we not the world to
ourselvesp But wish / were quite
certain which is the side by which we
came up. We must make start, any
how
Have you ever, when at the top of
a WestmOreland hill, found yourself
silently, as if by magic, surrounded by
a mist, from which a London fog would,
for density and a power of confusing
things, hardly bear off the palmp A
moment ago smiling plain, set with
lakes, as if with jewels, and trimmed
with purple hills, was before you; a
little puff Of thin mist almost trans
parent, rises from some neighboring
gorge, another, and another, and lol
your prospect is narrowed to few
feet of turf and shale, a cold CHASTITY
cairn of stones, and beyond-nOthing
but mist, surrounding your lit
tie island like a gray ocean. While all
is clear, it is so hard for novice in
to realize the difficulty of
finding his way in such a state of
things; but the difficulty is very real.
Our hero, who had experience of it,
was quite at fault, nevertheless; he had
been too much occupied with his COM
paniOn to notice the direction of the
wind, or any landmarks which might
indicate the side on which they had
come up. Once safely upon the path,
the foot of the hill might, by patience
and care, be gained; but the summit
was stony, and on two sides precipit-
Gus. He remembered that honey
couple had only week before
been caught upon Helvelyn and detain-
ed all night by the mist. Such an ad-
venture would be much worse for him
self and Mary; the latter would certain
ly suffer, so he made resolute attempt
to descend.
Mary trusted to him implicitly, and
hand in hand they had successfully de-
scended some distance, although the
steepness of the hillside and its rocky
nature made him feel pretty sure that
this was not side by side which they
had gained the top. Slip, stumble. slip,
here few yards of steep turf aiding
them, there the stones giving way un-
der foot, and warning him at least that
they were on the border of a scree.
The ground grew more and more
treacherOus and rocky; after stumble
worse than those which had preceded
it, he stopped to try if their eyes could
distinguish anything through the gulf
of mist into which they had nearly
plunged headlong. No. the curtain
was as thick as ever, and the rain be-
sides was falling heavily. Then he
started large stone, in order to judge
by its descent what kind of ground lay
in front of them: three yards, and it
was hidden from sight; bound, bound,
twice it struck the rocks, and then an
interval of silence, and then a sullen
distant splash. He shuddered, and
drew the girl back against the
rocks.
Thank Godp he muttered; "a few
more steps, and we should have gone
over the scree into Low Water Tarn.
Mary's distress, as slowly and very
carefully they retraced their steps,
may be well imagined. Not only
was she tired, worn out, and frightened,
but the thought of what would be said
If they could not descend speedily was
tormenting her. The poor girl was
feverishly anxious at any risk, to- get
off the hill, and her companion had
much work to prevent her meeting with
a mishap. Consequently, when they a
second time reached the cairn at the
top, they were in very different frame
of mind. The young fellow groaned
as he looked at his watch. and found Il
was nearly 2 o'clock and the mist
thicker than ever. But not word OF
reproach did the brave little maid utter
to him.
In the meantime the party assembled
i'm the hotel at the foot Of the hill were
passing through quite u series Of
anxieties. When 6 o'clock came, ant
with it the returning coach, Mrs. Sal
ways anger at the absence of hel
youngest daughter, could hardly b'
concealed from the outside public. o.
course they could not leave her ant
the. coach had to depart without them
Her husband present and Mary's alb
sent shared the mothers reproache
with the Objectionable young gentle
man. while the sisters were quite a
much surprised as they expressed them