New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-28
DOWN SOUTH.
On A NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAIN.

Limestone Township Oct. 22LTherc was limo
when considered It would be very romantic thing
10 be lost a mountain. Think OF the grandeur
and sublmityi Think Of the heroic devotion Of the
lover who is necessarily always lost with you, you
are woman. He shelters you with his coat not
minding the cold himself He always has ma'ches
on his person, and when darkness has como down.
and It is useless to try to find your way any MORE
the lovcr-hc has not yet declared himself, but ne
wi-gathers branches OF trees and sets nre 10 tne'
When the cheerful FIRE blazes up and makes inc
usual Rembrandt Nights and shades, he throws MIN
self at your feet and you both silent for sno
time The silence is full Of a strange and subtle
sweetness, and of heart beats. He Is IN MS shr'
sleeves because you have hts coat ou' MS uarA ae
and picturesque moustache seem even more a''rac''o
than they had been when you las. saw MIN In oven'
ing dress and waltzcd with him. The strains Oh 'n"'
last "waz Of Won Weber come back 10 YOU, W
gcther with the memory Of the BLONDE girl Va oi"o'
who made such a bold, dead set at the man a. your
fect At thought of her, your face harochs- no
look, lid At YOU tossing his dark hair from his 1910
hoad with that gesture you have learned 70 love
The above paragraph will give hint OF the way
had always intended TO be lost on mountain !" 49,
am sure the only proper way for woman 70 %
lost-thc only womanly way
instead, however of any such experience Detailing
Au,abel and me, here were in broad dayhsn' IN
surrey going partially spokes, horse said 10 De
worth three hundred dollars and boy who was not
worth a cent, and who was now so bewiiooreo .n"'
he had ceased even to DUN the folkses as had
stopped up all their DUN roads"
Anck had lost all his confidence and appearance
Of knowledge He had even ceased to whacf At
his horse with his stump of q whip After we had
left the cabin where we inquired for Mr.. Ayers
house, AIick had huddied forward on his seaS'
and had said dunno" to everything we asked MIN.
Once he had tried explain to us that II we haon !.
er been in sich a hurry when he started, ne shouio
er had more wits bout him now, he reckoned.'
We felt this to be hard TO bear, coming from one
who had kept waiting nearly FIVE hours in grocery
store In addition TO other comforts while iost
on the mountain, We must not forget the redbird
He was with us Also his cage. Every time the
Carriage lurched this side or that, which was every
moment the cage must be kept from too violent a
movement Amabel confessed that life seemed 700
precious TO be devoted entirely to bird cage But
as she had brought the bird so far and endured so
much for It, It did seem too bad to give IL up just as
we Mr.. Ayers.
Here she interrupted herself 10 say that perhaps
we had entirely mistaken the range OF mountains
among which our friends dwelt She asked AhcK
how many ranges of mountains there were In North
Carolina The question plunged the boy into the
most ptiable confusion He gave IL as his opinion
that there were millions Of but he wouldn't care
ef thur war eff he only didn't lose all his spokes
He avowed that II It hadn't ben for thum spokes,
n kinder breshfn' an thumpin' thur ground, he
should er ben clearer In his mind somehow. an
shouldn't got lost.
"Then you own you are lost" said Amabel That
r. satisfaction, any way for we've known 1t for an
hour What will be ultimate fate. do you thinK3
This last Ques ton was directed TO me. AS 1t was
put the horse suddenly stood STILL for the twentieth
tme before pile Of young felled pines which shet
urps road, lying directly across It. We were so
shut in by the woods on the mountain side that wo
could only occasionally have Gmpses Of heights
rising beyond, of the deeps OF narrow Valleys
where streams rushed foamng
II was impossible TO guess what would be our ulc-
mate fate. Alick was blubberng softly to himself
and muttering about spokes. The rdbird was
futtering madly. 1t fitting moment for rescue
from some source. But 1t is curious and sad fact
that only stories the rescue effected at the proper
time. Alck whned the remark that he didn't
know as his boss could find the way back to the
Junction now COS we'd ben maxim him 90 on so'
We thought of the Junction boarding house. Was
n possible that should be obliged when night came
10 occupy one Of the beds in the Junction general
sitting room?
al guess said Amabel desperately. that you
may take the horse Of the shafts, Alck and ride
him home But leave the wagon. We will
camp out In It. We Will set snares and catch our food,
which we will eat raw. We can't 60 back to the
Junction because II we do we can never leave IT. We
will dwell here, near to Natures heart Go, AlicH,
hut leave us the surrey II in future years any
one should inquire what was our fate, say nothing
Let veil Of silence drop between us and posterity.
don't know how long we can live on raw rabbits and
squirrels without salt. l don't even know whether
corset Iacings will make good snares. When we die
hone we may die in sight Of Mount Pisgah. Go.
Alex
The boy stared stupidity. he did however. catch
the idea of riding home BE said he was durnd ei
he didn't think he'd 90. He'd cit some men ter
come after us. He'd git UNI right yer RICH; soon'
too. When we asked him how he could find his way
back to he began to assert himsef again. Win TIC
bullying air Of boy.
Should we let him GOT LOOKED at Amabels
strained and anxious face She said she believed the
carriage would wanted she believed in time some
body would And we might be very near
house without knowing it. These roads led to farms
Meanwhile Alck had scrambled out and was
severtshly taking the @gcars" from the horse. lie
did not speak He wanted to get away. And he
went We saw him go. and that he let the horse
take its course.
After that silently. the bird frisk1ng as II In
great 10y II trying to see the Joy Of that bird
The sun came round in front of us. and we became
very hungry But not yet ready to set snares
Somehow snares did not seem available when we
looked down the vast slope of the mountain at our
left
At the end Of two hours, as we were looking thus.
We saw something that reused greatly. 1t was a
horse carrying what decided TO be a woman on
IFS back 1t slowly climbing toward US We
were out Of the carriage, for we had been exploring
As far In every direction as we dared to 90, without
finding anything We were at distance from
our vehicle and we stood still, watching. The steed
was a " clay bank and 1t was certainly woman on
him: a woman sitting mans saddle, wearing a
bright pink sun bonnet and, for the rest, In very
ragged condition. She had in front OF her and
apparently laid across the horses neck some kind OF
bundle from which faint cries occasionally issued.
Every time the bundle cried 1t little
slap.
As long as this fair eQuestrenne continued TO come
toward us we would not call to her. We remained
quiet watching see the effect on her OF a surrey
found I'm the wilderness. She came directly upon the
carriage before she IT, for cape bonnet performs
for ts wearef the same office which bnders perform