The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-10-24
AN AWFUL MOMENT.

merry party gathered at the railway
 s,,t;ou, whence they were soon whirled
 .~av to the village chosen as the scene
 .g the days pleasure-a picnic being the
 s..taI object in view. There IS no need
 S,r me to describe the doings of the day,
 nor what happy combination of circum
 s,,uces brought about, with the approach
 cftwihght. the isolation ot a tiio com
 .c<ed of Miss Gerrish, her cousin Nj Matiie
 .od myself on the ascent to the brow of
 he famous cliff Matte, much as l, as
 ve all, liked her company as general [ ule. was, and think she fel; so herself,
 de trop Not that was in love" with
 her cousin or that young lady with me,
 vet under the circumstances the old
 .dage as to the limited number requisite
 tn make company had full force. Bu,
 any approach to seutimentaltty with
 Hattie as one of the party was out of the q question, so converSing upon the most
 matter oEfact topics, we wandered on from beneath the trees to the open ' ground at the brow of the cliff and pres- I ently turned toward the extreme edge, whence one could look down upon the
 high road winding along a couple of 4 hundred feet below in a narrow pass be N tween two walls of rock rising almost * perpendicularly. Within a yard or so of T he top, the side on which we stood sro- \ iected out in the form of a natural cor z nice, and overhung, the point at which
 the rocky ground terminated being con- < cealed by a growth of moss and low
 shrubs with long wiry roots stretching
 away back beneath the turf.
 It was not altogether pleasant though S to look down over the brink-where 1t S was safe to venture sufficiently close to ! do so, the prospect brought too vividiy to * ones memory tales of death of which the * ueacherous cliff had been the cause but 1 still when Matte expressed wish for piece of the delicate m @iden hair fern, scarce and costly in the city cluster of shich was to be seen amid the wild growth, about an arms length below the edge of a pro ecting point to one side of where we had now seated ourselves, and especially when Maltie's cousin joined in the longing, there seemed but little danger Tn leaning over far enough to reach it for her; so, carefully, for the ground sioped downward somewhat, and Ws limit was as l have said uncertain, c1awled to the edge, and lying down at full length, stretched over first ore arm and then the other. The two girls at distance of three or four yards back stood up and watched my movements, uttering wo.ds of caution, as, Tn my endedvors to reach further over, stones and earth were looseped aud fell with scarcely audible sound into the dep:h below. Thus lay for space of perhaps three or tour mln- uIes, striving in vain to touch the fern, conscious that my position was by no means a clgnihed one; and also that unless ] projecie1 myself more than cared to do, 1 could not possibly reach sufficiently far. So in the hope that Miss Matte and her cousin would not press their desire, turned my head-already dizzy from the downward gaze-and called to then, asking whether i, would not be better to wait, and see If by going on further we could not discover some maiden-hair easier of access. But no, Matte "must have that; i, was so scarce you know and besides, 1t would soon be too dark to distinguish it t"-the sun was then sinking in the west-so once more l turned my face downward into the now thlckening and misty twilight, and tried again, but still vainly, until angry at failure in what seemed so trivial matter, exerted myself to the utmost and this time with success, for within my grasp was the prize.
 "l have it r shouted, and with the word I tussed violently 2. the roots so that might secure the plant entire.
 The action was-as might have known had thought a moment supremely foolish, ard in its results, an avalanche as it seemed, of stone and earth loosened from their bed, l realized as had not done before, the extreme peril in which had placed mysei, and there flashed across my mind in an instant the story told us in the morning by an old village dame, of the fate which year before had befallen young bride. beneath whom as she stood incautiously upon it, the brink of the precipice had given away carrying her body, with that of the new ly made husband, who in his distraction had leaped madly after his last love, over and almost striking a wagon load of rus tics, on the road beneath, where second later two mangled corpses lay. With the thought instinctively tried to draw back from the edge. To my horror and fell the cold drops rise upon my forehead-l found that not only was utterly incapa ble of doing so, but that the movemen, of my legs seemingly caused me to slide forward an inch or two. The idea wa: so horrible that do not think quite grasped it at first. ceased moving and lay absolutely still, and finding that the sliding was not continued, tried to be iieve that had been mistaken. and agair made an effort to draw myself back ward by means of my feet. A moment more and knew that it had been no delusion
 almost percepti6ly, for my fee, with th. toes pointed downward acted as brake powerless to stop myself, with my arm already hanging in mid air my head anc shoulders proj .cting beyond the brink,
 was slowly shding over the c.iff into thu dark vale, the valley of the shadow c death;" how real that valley seemed tt me nov! sometimes it comes to me il