The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1885-03-12

neryeless from despair; '1r. after those
first few moments Of purposeless plung-
ing beneath ovcrhangiug cruel lodges.
which seemed to frown backly Mt his
impotence, Dick vaguely realized the
utter futility of further efforts, even as
he stretched his eager hands now right,
now left, with the blind instinct of
self-preservatiOn strong in every hui
man breast: for the treacherous ice
gave way beneath his clutch. and the
additional impetus thus lent the waters,
seemed but the more efiectually to
overwhelm their puny victim.
An II was terrible, this rendering up
OF precious life whilst one was young
and strong, and brave and bold. The
utter impossibility of resigning himself
70 the inevitable, for one moment pos
sessed Dick with the absolute force OF
frenzy: let the old. the ailing, the used
up die-uot him not him In the full
strength and glory Of his manhood, the
fragrant flower of his youth and perfect
health. lie could not, would not yield
up his breath before the lifelong fray
was more than well commenced: before
he had lived. and loved. and suffered to
the extent Of one 1.-THE Of the tell or
Nature had allotted to him MS his indi-
vidual share Of earthly experience.
But now consciousness suddenly he
came dim and haZy, cloudy indennable;
earth and heaven, the past and present,
the possible future, all became alike in
volved in vague cold mist dcfying an
alyzation. 1t seemed to Dick he was
Heating on his back ON the surface of
the waters with his face upturned
towards the clear, pale, pitiless sky;
that n dealh-cOld hand closed his tired
lt1gs thuf a tau tNaifrht ~ nf
rooted mountain had settled upon his
breast shilling pulsation and respira-
ton, forbidding his lluttering heart to
beat, the life-stream to culver longer
through his numbing veins. Then all
was peace and calm; a measureless
tranquility became his portion; the
briefagOny Of resistance over, Dick felt
no desire to struggle longer against his
doom.
Surely n hundred years at the very
least must have elapsed before. on re-
opening his eyes, Dick became dimly
conscious of laying on bed of snow,
with blankets piled above him, with
two rOugh-faced men bending over him,
whilst "A horny hand pressed between
his lips the mouth of Il bottle contain
ing iii seemed more than probable) the
famous elk of life itself. for, certes,
eAisAb llbll' bNllNl WAN AllI lAlNlI lllf-
stream it distilled through his every
vein.
"Ah! II fancicd all was over. that
II WAS drowned he murmured faint
ly. even rs he reclOsed his weary eyes.
Not this time, master; not list yet
awhile. Though near enuif squeak it
wur, an all; an if so be as yen TAX adj
vice, yen not 90 fur { try it ON aginl
Hen do moo, Jack-right as a trivetl
Lend hand and then lead on"
Subsequently. it seemed to Dick, he
was borne alOft on angels pinions
through the clear cold air; then again
surely he was sailing through realms of
ether and measureless space in "A gilded
wheclless car. which Glove the night
with murmurous thrill, as of swal-
lows ON the wing.
But he was far too listless to make an
effort To unclosc his eyes Just then. in
order to convince himself of time. local
ity, or circumstance; he resigned him
self utterly TO the inevitable, dimly rec
ognizing the futility of struggling
longer against his fate.