Sharp County record., 1888-02-09

path. Naturally, his first impulse was
to fly with the warning to his wife and
child; surely no man could hold him
blamable if he should bear these first
to q place of safety!
Yet the path by the ridge was moi
the one direct to the factory settle.
ment. Should he turn aside, there
were hundreds of lives further down tC
be put in peril. When Jonah wasarnt
to Nincveh what had been counted tor
him in the scale against the salvation
of y city of people? What if the lives
of Janet and the child were more to
him than the lives of the scores OF
neighbors and friends for whom God
had commissioned him to make this
sacrifice?
us the servant better than his Lord
that he should refuse to pay the price
demaded for the ransom of the mlnyP'
The words were thought rather than
spoken, as he dashed past his home.
Every muscle he was straining TO the
utmost, but there were those about the
mills who, marking his frantic ge5t-
ures, came running to learA of him
what they portondcd.
"The lake, the lake! Fly. ly!' was
the half-articulate cry they caught
from his lips.
A wave of his hand toward the creek
filing the mill wheels interpreted the
direful cry. From mouth to mouth it
flew. There was hurrying to and
fro, and gathering of treasures in hot
haste. Messengers of warning gal
loped along the doomed valley. The
weak, the cid, were seen climbing the
heights. Dwights sacrifice had not
been in vain, but, his duty done, he had
turned back to see if, haply, he might
yet save his own treasures. The tor.
rent was lcaping against, and tearing
at the abutmcnts of the bridge as he
reeled across it, and with spent
strength climbed the path to the cot
tage. Through the door he had 4
glimpse of Janet with the child
cradled in her arms, and above the
roar of the torrent he could hear the
mother grooming her lullaby.
MAX, Max! Oh, my dear what is
it?" ......"
He lay across the threshold exhausted.
She stepped past him to the porch.
Below the cliff the Otter was pounding
the bridges supports. She had seen
the stream as high once before, though.
What was it Max fearedP A sound
reached her rs she waited. The de-
tonation, sharply distinct, came from
distance, but was Immediately fol.
lowed by q horrible crunching and
grinding, producing a quivering in the
ether about her. In the same instant,
almost, she beheld, far up the Divide,
white wall rise up from earth TO
heavon; it was rs a cliffs -escarp:
ment, scoopcd and bowed over,
and, ponderous as it appeared,
it was bearing down the gap at ter.
rife speed. Janet's face blanchod,
but it was brave smile she gave her
husband as she lifted him into the
room and closed ,he door.
Il know what it is, Max" " she whis.
pered as she sat down by him, with
the child in her arms, and tendorly
raised his head to her lap. at will
not be hard for us to brave death TO.
gethcr"
The roar stupcfcd their senses; the
ridge shook to its foundations; the
house quvered like an aspen, as tor
rent descended upon it, and pool Of
water, churncd to froth, gathered
about the group They sat still, un-
needing. What time the work of de-
struction was wrought they knew not.
Max crept TO the door r,senlly but
as he looked out he uttered q cry, and
turned back to Janet. she hurried to
him, and this was what they saw: Il
sheer precipice dropping from their
door into the turbulent waste of waters
boiling along the length and breadth
of the lately smiling landscape of the
Divide.
"Ihe bridge is gone, and with it the
ridge has been clean shaven away up
to our very threshold, Janet" said
Max, awe-Stricken.
Yes, the waves and the pillows OF
destruction have gone over us" she
cried, with Thanksgiving of heart.
But oh, Max what of the poor poo-
pie at the mills and in the villages?"
He told her, shivering, how he had
gone to them leaving her and the lit
tie one to perish. She stood for
moment silent.
"You would have perished with us
at the last, though, my Max" she
said, her hand in his, "only Col in
His goodness has left us to each other
Let us accept Hs loving kindness rs
the reward Of your duty faithfully
done. MRS NJ Shefey- Peters, IN ~
y Observer
Money No Object.
Nnllnrh- My frinnl JiurArS is about