Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-06-29
A REMARKABLE e A
By JESSE DUNN.

dllOuk llC hlOuilldiISt Will q h4au
just stepping Over a precipice to fall
upon some rocks below which formed
the bed Of s~wifl-runniag stream; but
the novel part Oft was that in the
clouds, high above the falling man,
was a head, supposed to be that of an
angel or spirit, from which went a
stream of light to q farm house in a
dark corner. | was turning away when
the mistress of the house, who had
come up behind me, observed, in what
| fancied was a rather triumphant
tone:
THAT, sir, was the work of my son,
and he was only Ia gears old when he
did it y.
"Indeedm returned I.
Strange picture, isn't it, sir" pur-
sued the mother.
Very quite original. am certain
| never saw anything like it in my life,
and l have seen a great many remark
able paintings"
"Ah, me. it was Il strange occur
renee and a sad One" sighed the
mother.
at is more than a fancy sketch,
them"
"Ies, it's a dream and a reality. II
you like, III tell you it's history, while
YOU sit and rest"
81 should like to hear it," said [.
Are you a believer in dreams.' she
asked.
az cannot say l put much faith in
them"
"Well, I've been told some remark
able things in dreams, and this, you
see, is one of them. A good many
yea ago, just after | got married, my
husband bought this place, and We
came here to live. IL was a pretty
wild country round here ~then-and,
for that matter, is yet: but since then
the land has been more cultivated, and
We now have a neighbOr within q mile
of us.
Wears passed on without any acct
dent till ny SON, hat painted this pic
tUre. was about ten year, old, when one
day my husband put a griSt upon his
horse and started Tor the null, which
Was eve miles Oh, saying needn't be
uneasy if he should happen to stay Out
pretty late. | told him | should he TN
easy, but, If he could get it done, 1t
would he better To wait Tor 1t than to
make two journeys. Somehow | felt
more sad tnam common when | parted
from him that day, and told him to re-
member how miserable | should be II
anything happened to him.
The road, besides going up steep,
rocky hills, anddOwn into dark, gloomy
valleys and across some two or three
streams that were quick to rise with
every rain, there were two places where
il ran along the edge Of a frightful
precipice, where it would he almost GER
tain death to fall over. Besides these
two precipiceS there was another, \ few
rods of from the h~OrSe-path, and about
half a mile from the house, with a
stream of water running along ut the
bottom of it..
"Well, you must know that all that
day, aftermy husband left, l felt very
sad and lowspirited. Though l said
nothing about it to my son, George, yet
| noticed that he felt uneasy, too; and
two or three times, along in the after
noon, he spoke about his father, aud
hoped he would get hack safe. After
night had set in he would jump up
every few minutes and run to the door,
thinking he heard him coming, anu
then walk back slowly looking very
much disappointed. | finally persuad-
Ell him to go to bed, telling him l would
sit up myself, and let him know when
his father arrived.
"The night had set in dark and
cloudy, and the clouds were very low,
and the air grew damper every hour,
till at last there began to be afne mist
Just the worst night possible for see
ing anything or finding ones way
through a thick wood. As the hours
passed on toward midnight | became
so restless that l couldn't sit still, and |
got up and began TO walk the floor back
and forth. | might have done this for
half an hour, when all at C l began
to feel drowsy, and this feeling increas-
ed on me so much that ina very short
time / found great difficulty in keeping
my eyes open. At last l stopped and
sat down, and I think | must have
gone right off to sleep, for | don't re-
member anything after that till | had
my dream, which l am now going to
tell you about. -,
81 dreamt that I saw my husband
coming along the path, about half a
mile from here, walking along slowly
on foot, feeling his way with great eau
ton, as it seemed, and leading his
horse, which had the griSt OF his back;
and 1 remember wondering why he
didn't let the animal PICK the way for
himself and follow him instead, as such
4 beast can always get along better and
surer than 8 man on 8 dark night.
Well, at length he stopped just where
the path ran nearest to the precipice
that OveTlOo6s the stream, as you see it
in the picture and then he seemed to
leave the horse and turn off in that di-
~rectiOn, as if to feel out the way; and /
remember thinking that if he kept on
a little further he might step off before
he knew it. This frightened me so
that | screamed and woke myself I'D.
"'1 thank heaven. it's only a dream,
after ALL | said to myself. And then
somehow l fell to sleep again, and
dreamed / saw the horse standing in
the path, just as before, and my hus.
band, unaware OF his danger, coming
nearer andnearer to the awful precipice,
over which l seemed to know he would
fall. Again | screamed and woke; and
this time l shook offs all drowSiness; and
ran and called George, and told hin
that he must get up at once and come
with me, for / was going to the ledge
to see If there was any truth in it. The
poor boy was terribly frightened of
course; but by the time I had got the
lantern ready be was ready, too.
~ don't know how long we were in
reaching the place Our nearest way
to get to the preeipise was to follow the
path that led up ON tpp of it; and when
l got to where l had seen the horse in
my dream and foundA wasn't there,
l began to breathe MOI freely. But
eonidn't feel easy till Itould know for