, 1888-09-15

favored one; but, with the obstinacy of
all blind adorers, / fancied she was gentler
to me than to the others, and thought l
detected in the studied style of her re-
fusal a faint encouragement to persist.
Nevertheless, pretending to be in the ut
most despair, l cried:
Then | have nothing to hope? l Inn
utterly rejected, and must hereafter roam
the world with a bitter heart and a cruel
secretr
81 suppose said Miss de Latore, with
a sympathizing smile, that it is hard to
love in vain But you will soon forget
me, and some 9TH
"TNeverP | cried, fiercely; never, Ninal
1t is heartless of you to say it. Do not
l beg you, add cruelty to disappointment
""Then, said my tormenter, let us in
weigh together against that fate which
makes woman SO beautiful and yet SO
heartless.'
You know, SIR" said Mr.. LIE Quail,
breaking in on his story-''you know how
frequent earthquakes are in this part of
South America, particularly in the sum-
On the day of which l have been telling
you. ever since early morning, the ground
had been trembling slightly. while from
time to time a deep rumbling could be
heard like the growl of distant thunder.
Though at first these tremors had alb
sorbed much of my attention and caused
me no little fear, still my stay at Mr.. de
Latore's had somewhat accustomed me to
them; but during the last words of my
conversation with Mini not eve my agi-
tation could prevent my perceiving how
greatly these movements had increased.
Scarcely had Miss de Latore spoken the
last words, when a large porcelain vase
was shaken from it's pedestal at the foot
of the steps and shivered to n thousand
atoms. At the same moment was thrown
violently to the floor of the balcony,
which seemed to rise up to meet me.
With an energy which only fear can give
staggered to my feet. My first impulse
was to seize Nina in my arms and fly; but
on looking around, stunned as ] was, l
could nowhere see her. With difficulty
retaining my balance, brushed down the
drunken steps and fled from the now
grooming house. 1t was impossible, how
ever, to go far over such rolling ground.
| soon was forced to sink dizzily to my
knees. l saw the house shaking from
side to side; the chimneys tottered and
crashed down the roof, and the window
panes were smashed to slivers; long
planks, wrenched by the strain, burst
from their places, leaving great holes in
the walls; the stairs twisted and gave
way; beams slid from their supports and
fell to the ground in the midst of a debris
of shingles, glass, bricks and plaster. As
the rolling of the ground increased what
remained of the walls, unable longer
to stand, crumbled and swept down
on the mass OF ruin they contained.
In a few minutes the beautiful villa was
reduced to a heap of crushed and broken
rubbish. All this happened in not much
more time than it takes to tell it, but a
still more terrible scene yet waited to be
witnessed; for, of a sudden, the earth
cracked open, and the entire ruin disap-
peared in the chasm. l clasped my hands
in fright. AT that moment l heard Nina's
voice exclaim behind me: God in Heaven,
help mel In a frenzy l fought to regain
my footing, but could not do it. Looking
behind me, though, 1 saw Nina lying not
far away on the ground; but hardly had l
discovered her before the earth opened for
a second time and swallowed heri MY
GodP l cried, in an agony of borrow.
Now, on all sides great rents were appear
ing and disappearing. Before 1 was able
to dread 1t, they extended to where l lay.
A momentary vision of blackness filed
my brain-and then l knew no more"
Mr.. lie Quai paused to wipe away the
perspiration which had collected on his
forehead at the recollection of this terrible
catastrophe.
"Sir," he resumed, eff you have ever
dreamed that you were buried alive, then
you ave had a taste of the feeling which
| experienced on recovering consciousness.
No he'll could be blacker than the place
where, on awakening, l found myself, ly-
ing on my back. l turned my eyes in all
directious, but it was as if l had no eyes.
No crack or Granny gave entrance to a
single ray of Gods blessed light. 1 can
imagine no torture greater than to be
plunged into eternal darkness. The ST.
lence of the place was perfectly awful.
My breathing, magnifed, sounded like the
Kissing of a furnace. l could hear my
heart beat, and almost the blood surge
through my veins. When / attempted to
move, sharp pains shot through my whole
body. but / soon found, to my joy, that
none of my bones were broken. God only
knows why l was not crushed as l fell,
Cor the flooring of my prison was of rock.
How far had l fallen? With an effort 1
lifted myself on my legs, and taking a
locket from my watchchain hurled it
upwards into the darkness. 1t struck,
but not before it's momentum must
have been nearly spent. My God, l muir
INJURED. AT the bottom of a pit certainly
more han one hundredSfeet deepl' sat
down again, overcome by the terror of
my thoughts and the oppressive influence
of the pitchy darkness. After what
seemed to me an interminable time, l de-
termined to explore the extent of the
cavern which was destined to be nv
grave. Even in the midst of my fears I
could not help thinking that my tomb
would surpass the greatest earthly mau-
solemn. 1t is thus that poor, weak hu-
man nature catches at a shadow for con-
ISOLATION. Now for the first time l ] became
aware of a noise seeming to come from a
distance, which to my heated imagination
and sensitive ears sounded like the blow
Ing of some unearthly bellows. AS Imade
a step forward, | felt that the ground
sianted considerably in the direction
whence came the noise.
Walking slowly along on the same
level, and feeling with my hands before
me, 1t was not long ere 1 came in contact
with a rocky wall; retracing my cautious
steps | came upon Just such another. Il