Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-01-28

on the floor, and. having administered
TO him such restoratives as her young
experience suggested, threw somo loose
sacks over him and told him to lie
still.
That night Spride and her lover
Laroche and she had been lovers for
about six hours only-made their way
TO where boat lay moored below tho
falls; and embarking in it, were soon
carried far beyond pursuit 1t was sup
posed by the frightened villagers that
Spride must have been carried from
the platform when the body from the
window above had been seen TO strike
upon it; and as the whirlpool below the
torrent had never been known to give
up its dead, but little search was made
for her, and her friends resigned them
selves to mourning for her awful fate.
Less than six months after this Lam
dry was tried for the murder of a
brother keeper and was convicted and
hanged accordingly. Previous to his
conviction. however, he made a clean
breast OF it to Father Allard, confess
ing that he had murdered the farmer
for his money, killing him with the
stake cut from the hedge by young
Laroche, which, as he stated singular
ly enough. suggested to him the idea
OF committing the crime.
Two years elapsed, and Father Al
lard had been promoted to parish at
distance of some fifty miles from the
one which he had been pastor of for so
many years.
Shortly after his arrival there his du-
ties led him to take a journey on horse
back some miles into the interior of
the parish of which he had charge.
Fart of the road travelled by him
wound through swampy forest re-
gion; and, after ride of several miles,
he came to sluggish stream that had
formerly been spanned by q bridge,
OF which nothing but the abutments
remained, however. The priest turned
his horses head and rode along the
bank of the river, hoping to find anoth-
er bridge, or at least ford, by which
he could cross to the further side; nor
had he gone far when he discovered,
by boot marks. place where cattle
seemed to be in the habit of wading
through or coming to drink.
The water appeared to be shallow, so
he urged his unwilling horse into it,
and had got about half way across,
when the animal began to plunge and
struggle violently, sinking at the same
time, as If drawn down by some invisi-
Bile power. Aware now that he had
fallen into one of those quick-sands
which are not uncommon in that part
of France, the good father knew that
to throw himself from his horse would
be certain death, as the water was not
deep enough to swim in. ana the hun
cry sand at the bottom was gaping for
him. He held upon his horse, there
fore, and shouted for help.
The water was gaining upon him, as
the terrified horse sank deeper and
deeper In the treacherous stream. Up,
up 1t came, until it reached his saddle
flaps, and then his knees; and he had
given himself up as lost, when distant
shouts came in response to his, which
were going feebler with each repetition.
And now man bursts his way
through the brushwood on the river
bank, and, laying his axe upon tall,
slender young tree, cuts it down with
four or five rapid strokes. leaning it so
that it falls down upon the water, its
topmost boughs just brushing the sink
ing horseman in its fall. Grasping the
boughs with all his remaining strength,
the priest was drawn to the bank bv
the woodsman. fainting and senseless,
however, and with hardly visible
spark of life.
When Father Ailard recovered con-
seriousness he found himself in small
but comfortable room. Seeing him
open his eyes, a buxom young woman
who was bathing his temples uttered
an exclamation of joy, calling him by
name; and now, as his dizzy senses
frightened, what was his surprise TO
find his attendant the lost Spride. Elk
PLANTATION ensued, and all was made
clear as day without recourse to mar
vel or miracle.
Presently Laroche, who had boon en-
gagged. with the assistance of some of
tho neighbors. in extricating the priests
horse, came in, and the scene was an
affecting one between the two, each of
whom had been thus wonderfully APP
pointed by Providence to preserve the
other.
my conscience is clear now said
Father Allard. Heaven has surely
pardoned the little fiction framed by
me; else why"
''But hold, reverend Father" cried
Laroche, interrupting him; there was
no fiction in the case. You said that /
was carried away upon an angels
wings, and so was, and this is the an
gel that saved mel" Aud he, laughing,
threw his arms around the pretty wife
and Rugged her to his side.
Poetical justice might now have been
well satisfied, but have few words
further to add upon the subject.
Laroche, who was now employed as
forester upon an estate, was enabled
by the assistance of Father Allard to
return to his native village. where, not
long after, he obtained an appointment
to the very keepcrship formerly held
by the assassin Landry.
Seeing the Phantom Ship.
Ca;lnyo oro nrovarhiollv