The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-01-09
He Who Reada May Run.
Robert |. Rur,ir,te ,

Possibly, dear reader, you never gased into the ncthermost depths Of abysmal space pAlled In eternal. starless, rayieSs gloom You never dld1 Then it Is of no earthly use for me to try to tell you how dark 1t was that night. And It was raining 10 keep up with the dark. That, g just how dark and vel it was. had lec- lured in Pennington, ILL, delivering an address which for spontaneous humor, brilliant wit, masteTiul eloqucncc and un- answerable logic has never been equalsd since began writing my own press no tices Alter this effort oi my lie had to drive to a station on the railway ten or dozen miles away. We started at mid night. The darkness described above set In at dusk yes, Ii was that dark a, twilight, and il had been growing darker ever Since. And the darker t grew the harder 1t Taincd, and the more 1t rained the darker Il grew, until at lerRth the darkness could be soft felt and the rain was beaver or some kind of aquatic pelt Waterproof blanket and robe sheltered us from the rain but 1t was hard work to lay rish; h the teeth of the storm and the horses kept trying to turn away from it In tho inky darkness wo lost our bearings
 In the dim light, which was barely enough to make darkness visible, ws came to cToss road. and the driver dimly discerned phantom guide board,
 Ne could not read it we could barely make out that |, was guide board. The driver was afraid to trust me with the horses while he went to see if he could read tho sign. 1 looked at the flooded road and shrunk further back into my nest of blankets and waterproofs.
 "lnhrm of purpose" said, "give me the ribbons"
 1 thrust him ou, in the storm, and laughed a laugh of exceeding comfort to see him ge; his feet wet and muddy. watched him climb the post, and rub his nose along the guide board l listened to him sw-r. By-and-by 1 heard him drop into the mud. He climbed into the buggy, bringing with him about four acres of Great Dismal Swamp, and said |:
 "l can't make out single letter. its an old board, and all Greek to me and | don't know where in thunder we are"
 With hollow groan yielded 10 my fate. crept out of my dry, warm nest. The pitiless storm made a straight shoot down the back of my neck, supplying me with a shudder A yard long. 1 waded through ten or twelve linear feet of mud and flood. My fec, were soaked .o he corn piastsrs. 1 was mud to the eyes {; my comfort was gone but must get home. Painfully climbed the pole. Vainiy groped along the guide board with my nose. In the desperation of de- spair. tried to light pocke,ful of VIC, matches by rubbing them on the sleeve Of dripping India rubber overcoat, while clung to the board with ono hand. knew if once l slid down that muddy, slippery pole never could get up again. 1 wept, 1 groaned, 1 sighed, Is Is said -I-oh, dear me said what the wicked driver did! At last, just as my benumbed, wearied arms were losing their hold. widening rift in a cloud let a pal lid finger of light reach through and touch that delaying guide board. "Noww shouted the driver, encoursgingly. l rallied, pulled myself up close, and eagerly, hungnly picking out the letters, 1 read:
 "Use Cambrel's Spavin Cure. ."-Ex- <k1n1A