Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-11-05
CHE Sturw Teller.
THE ROCK OF WRATH.

A small band of pioneers went out to es-
tablish new homes in the wilderness, nearly
a hundred years ago, and chose spot near
the eastern slope of the Alleghenies, distin-
euished by a peculiar landmark. This land
mark was lofty pile of rock jutting up and
outward in such way that it seemed to
threaten with instant annihilation any one
who stood looking at it from below.
One of the leaders of the party, Salmon
Drew, vigorously objected to the locality.
II say it's risky" he declared. ''Ihere's s
plenty of free land round here, and II we
build under that big tower of stone 1t may
topple over on us some day."
Pennel Harding, another leader, treated
his protest with contempt. A hot argument
ensued. But Pennel--a tall, stalWart,
ploomy-browed man-leaning one hand on
his fint-lock, gazed at the frowning mass OF
stone with frown of defiance as anylelding
As itself. and said: "It stood there long be-
fore our fathers were born or thought OF, ana
guess it will stay where it is long after we
are all gone. Them that's afraid, though,
can move off to one side"
This settled the question. Salmon accept
ed the covert challenge, and, when they
made their clearings, he placed his caoln
RIGHT opposite Pencils, under the shadow
of the Rock Tower, from which the village
that ultimately sprang up there, took IT'S
name. But it was not long before the rival
ry shown i'm this first dispute between Salm-
on and Pennel extended itself to every i'm
portant question that came up. Ihey quar-
relied over land, live stock, traps and game.
Only one thing kept their mutual hostlll.
ty within bounds, and that was the TACT that
Pennel's son, Luke, loved Salmon DreW,s
daughter, Julia, and had declared that, with
her consent he was going to marry her. AT
length, one day favorite dog OF Pennel
Harding's was found dead on Salmon's land.
Pennel came over to the cabin, carrying his
gun. and inquired for Salmon; but his
neighbor had gone hunting. Pennel went
hunting. too; but the object of his hunt was
nothing less than his neighbor. ne was re-
solved to have satisfaction, even II IL were
human life, for the death of his dog: Strik-
ing into the forest, he found trail, Wnicn n
he believed to be Salmon's and followed 1T
with rapid strides. 1t was hard to trace and
went about circuitously; but the keen
woodsman, spurred by passion, succeeded
in pursuing all its deviations., >.
At last it turned taking the homeWard dl-
rection. and then Pennel redOubled his
speed. as if fearful that if once the other
man reached the settlement his purpose OF
holding him to account would be frustrated
Night approached and storm threatened !;
vet, by some fatal instinct, Pennel managed
to make his way unerringly. FINALLY, JUST
AS the storm burst in rain, thunder ana
LIGHTNING. he came up with Salmon at the
TOP of the Rock Tower, preparing to descend
a Steep slope at the side.
Resting his gun in the bend of his arm he
called to Salmon, who turned and faced MIN
unhesitatingly.
"Why did you kill my dog?" Pennel de-
"I didn't kill him." said the other. "If
had I'd give you leave to Kill me-"
"Well, I'll take leave anyhow" Pennel
declared. Headvanced threateningly, with
his gun in both hands.
but. retreated out upon the rock, protesting
his innocence and warning the other not
10 attack him. The wind blew the rain
around him like winding sheet; thunder
broke in furious detonations, as II 1T would
wrench the mountains from their base, and
in the gathering darkness it was hard for
Salmon to he sure of his footing. The ter
rife tempest did not seem to appal Pennel.
If had any effect it increased his unrea-
sonable violence.
With further oaths and accusations, he
raised his weapon and leveled it to fire. At
that instant prodigious blaze of lightning
dazzled the ewes Of both men. Salmon,
however. saw the gun barrel pointing to-
ward him and the fierce face at the other
end of it. He started back involuntarily !;
he was very near the edge; his foot slipped
and he fell over backward to his death, the
one loud shrek that he gave being drown
ed in an overpoWering burst of thunder
which followed the lightning as he went
down into the depths.
Stunned by the strageness of this catas-
trophe. which accomplished his murderous
purpose at the same time it prevented him
from actually killing his enemy, Pennel
recoiled. He dared not remain alone on
that rock in its awful desolation. A mo-
ment before he had the companionship,
such as it was, of the man whom he meant
to slay. Now he felt himself utterly for
saken, an outcast, overpoWered by a sense
of the crime he had contemplated. He fled
from the spot, moving rapidly through the
woods. in the midst of the tempest that
marked out wild path for him by it's
vengeful CLEANS of lightning. The rain
pouring down savagely, washed out all
trace of his footsteps. 1t was late in the
night when he returned to his rude dwell
ling.
The body of Salmon Drew was found next
day at the foot of the overhanglng cliff, hor-
ribly crushed, but bearing no discernible
mark of stab or bullet wound. There
was absolutely no evidence against Pennel,
though there were many suspicious. The
rapid frontier justice which might other
wise have overtaken him was batf1ed, and
he persisted in declaring himself guiltless.
Nevertheless, DreW's daughter Julia refused
to marry Luke Harding. And neverthe-
less, Pennel passed the rest of his days in
secret misery. The high Rock Tower loom
ed up always in his sight, reminding him
of his responsibility for Drew's death. Some
times it looked to him like an immense
eravestone set up over the body of the man
Whom he had virtually murdered.
At other times it seemed on the point of
falling, as if it would crush him in venge-
ance. But somehow he could not resolve
to move away from it. There was a fascina-
ton that held him. Besides, he kept try
ing to persuade himself that, after all, he
was not really guilty, and if he left the
place it would be an admission of guilt.
Many years went by. Luke Harding
married and Julia Drew married. Pennel
lived down the old suspicious of his neigh
bors, and finally died in outward peace and
respectabilty An incredible change came
over the rough settlement. Hundreds of
new people gathered there and Rock Tow
er grew to be tiourishing civilized town,
with mills, factories, stores in abundance,
and railroad station. But, notwithstanding
all the change and movements and the mi
grations of former inhabitants, the de-
scendants of Pennel Harding and Salmon
Drew remained fixed there, owning some
of the most valuable property in the place
close around the foot of the rocky height.
In the hustle of American life feuds be-
tween families sometimes find 1t hard to
perpetuate themselves, but this case was
one of the exceptions. The great-grand-
daughter of Pennel, Losette Harding,
"A