Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-01-14
aid of its diving light we hostened Z, crawl

aid of its diving light we fastened {, crawl
ont OF the little chamber anu Chamber up
the side Of the great stone.
As we did SO the light went out.
me dlilerence IN our position was n s'lf-
nciently remarkable one. Below. In the
little chamber, we had only heard the roar
ing of the gale overhead; here. lying on
IL races on the swinging stone, we were
exposed TO Its full force and fury. as the
draught drew first from this direction and
then rom that, bowling acainstt he mighty
precipice and through the rocky cliffs like
ten thousand despairinr souls. We Law
there hour after hour in terror and misery
ot mine so deep thai | Wlil not attpntnt to
describe II, ara listened to the wild Storm-
voices If that Tartarts, rs set g. the dpcu
unueitOne OF che spur opposite, AGAINST
which the wind hummcl Ike some awful
harp, thcy called f. each other from preci-
plce 10 preCipica. No ni~htmqre Greanel
by man, no vi Il invention OF the r0manc +
can ever equal the living horror Of ;hGt
J place and the weird crying OF those voices
Of the night rs we lay, like shipNre"fod
mariners on a ra't. and tossed on n black,
I~iHiathomed WilderncsSof air. rur'unGto-
" lllc temperature was MOI ~ low one-in-
nred, the Wial was warm. or we should
nave persisted. Well. we lav and listened.
and while W" stiil were stretched ont upon
the rock a thing hcpGcncd that wgs SO
curious and suggestive in itself. though
doubtless il WNs q mer' coincidence. that.
II ANYTHING, i added 60 rstaerthan deduci-
ed from the baden on oar nerves.
II will he remembered that when Ayesha
was standing on tn spur, before we crossed
10 the stone, the wind tore her ClOpk from
her ana whirled il away into the darkness
az the gulf. we could not see whittier.
Well hardly like to tell the story, il j. SO
StranGe-as we lay there upon the rocking
stone. this very cloak came f9ating out Of
the black space, like n memory from TIA"
deai. and fell ou Leo 50 that II covered
aim nearly from head TO foot. We could
not ii first make ont what it was. bat sos n
discovered by is feel. md then poor Leo
for the first time gave way. and | heard
him sobbilg there upon the stone. No
doubt the cloak had been caught uDon
some pinnacle OF the cliff, and was thence
blown hither by II chance gust, but still il
was a most curious and touching incident.
Shortly after this, suddenly, without the
slightest previous warning, the great red
knife of light came stuhbing the darkness
through II through, struck the SWavinx
stone on which we lay, and rested its sharp
point upon the spur opposite.
Now for it, sail LcO-"nOw or never"
We rose and stretched ourselves. and
looked at the cloud-wreaths, stained the
c.l pr Of bloc! by that red ray, rs they tore
through the Sickcning depths beneath, ana
then at the empty space between the sway
ing stone and the a1iyering rock. and in
our hearts dtspaircd and prepared for
death. Surely we could not clear ii,
desperate though we were.
who Is TO 90 fir~t?' said !.
ID you, Old iCilu - answered Leo. 81
will Sit upon The other side % The stone TO
steady Il. Won must take rs mach run MS
You can, and jump high: and God have
mercy On Us, say ~
arQuiesccl with q nod. ana then ! dila
thing | had never done since leo was q
little boy. ! turned aGl put my arm round
him. and Xxi icd him on the forehead. II
sounds rather French, hut aS a fact was
taking my Last farewell Of IA man whom !
could not have loved more ii he had been
my own son twice over.
"GoOd-byc, my boy ] said, 4 hope that
we shall meet again, wherever ii isthat we
% o.
The fact was / did not expect to live an
other two minutes.
Next ! retrcated 10 the far side Of the
rock. and waited til one of the %choppins
gusts Of wind got behind me, ana then
commenting my soul to God, | ran the
length Of the huge stone, ONE three or
four and thirty feet, and sprung Willy out
into the dizzy air. On, the %sickening ter
rorS that | felt as | launched myself ut that
little point OF rock, AMI the horrible sense
Cf despair that shot through my brain rs
realized that | had juHlpcd snort! Bnt so
ii was: my feet never touched the point;
they went down into space, only my hands
a:lu DDNy came IN contact WIN II. / grip
ped at il Wit II yell, but one hand slipped,
and | swung right round, holding by the
other, SO that | faced the stone from which
| had sprung. Wildly | stretched mp with
my left hand, and this time managed to
grasp a mob of rock, and there | hung in
the fierce red i light. with thousands OF feet
OF empty air beneath me. My hands were
holding TO either side of the under part OF
the spur 50 that its point was touching my
head. Therefore even If | could have
found the strength ! could not pail myself
up. The most that | could do would b. to
hang TOR abJur a minute, and then drop
down, down into the bottomlcS, pit. Ii
any MAJ can imagine Il more niieons posi-
ton, let him speak. All | know Is that
the torture Of that bali minute nearly
turned my brain. / heard Leo give "A cry,
and then suddenly saw him in mid-air
%springiag up and ont like Il cham0is. 1t
was a splendid leap that he took under the
influence of Ills terror and despair, clearing
lac horrible gut as though IL were moth