The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-02-28
from this river when full and raging Bu1

rocks around her, as il singing on some
| hearthstOne And they knew they were coic,
these little criclSets clad in Black. Her lttlc
brown hands had never harmed anything.
/ And nowl They were still and cold now.
/ Patience: pass on soon to the gold
The moon slowly sinking. The moon was
going away. She was going TO leave mo
alone with my dead. The very stars seemed
restless and uncertain, and kept wheeling
about and around the crown aud summit OF
eternal snow before me. lcaught up two hints
| from the rocky little sandbar, and eagerly,
| desperately struck fire. II was friendly
| sight. The flames leaped up in my face, as a
do leaps up tohck your face with his ied
tongue when you lave been long absent.
Oh. the kindly, friendly, familiar fire! IL
/ wa, as II | had known il n thousand years
| this friendly fire leaping in my face. Inc
rel mans fire and the white mans fire, tue
norrhernors fire and the southerncgs fire,
/ are the same Patience, the gold soon
And nov the fire spread and ran to the
/ dead 10 reached out its arms to her where
she lay pal.id and alone on the white and
rounded drift wood
Understood heaped up the white and
I light and abundant wood. The fire took her
/ IN its pure embrace; and she mounted on
stairs Of fire 20 the stars.
TIE sudden and impctuous flame that had
/ leaJed far up against the mighty granite
wall before me had shown n narrow, almost
PERCEPTIONS path leading crosswlse up the
! porilous pass 20 the world above.
And when had lad n circle Of white
stones about the ashes Of my dead | went up
10 this narrow little path and examined II
closely. II was smooth TO the touch. was
thrilled with delight. May be it was smooth
/ from the touch of human feet. At least II
was path Of some wild animal; some sort Of
/ life was surely in the habit Of passing from
this awful depth and narrow spot TO the
/ light and lie above; and surely ! could
climb where either bear or mountain lion
could climb.
/ The moon was getting far around. But
/ felt that if / could climb up for few hun
dred feet could then Get her light full on
the steep rocks before me, and then know
whether or not TO proceed. One thing cor
tain: | could not remain where was. Bear
with me, we row come 20 the gold.
| Tightening my belt, tying my moccasln
strings 50 that NY feet might be certain as
the feet Of the wild beasts Of the forest
about me. sprang desperately up The ledge
One hundred feet! 200 feet! And then my
breath began to fail little, and, hanging Oh
| TO the rocks in the narrow little pass, began
10 look ont end above and over the great,
/ deep waters below.
Not sound; not even single object IN
sight below Death had come and death mad
taken my friends and lied. The fire had come
and gone The Ere had come ont Of The
rocks below and taken my life, M love, the
/ beautiful Indian girl, and gone away. How
alone was nOwi Listenl We come to tine
/ cold now But the moon was with me, lin
cercl with me little still. ! had oyertakcn
/ her in her flight And the stars We're close
/ ebout me now. ] was cOmpanOned with
worlds | shall see hereafter | was set apart,
as it seemed to me, and belonged to space.
| Patience; one moment more then the gold!
The narrow path had not been quite per
/ peniicular II ran up the river, as IL We're,
! but stecp. so steep, Another struggle tor
ward. but now my marrow little path, which
/ | could see by the moonlight, was made in
! tho track Of an old and decayed quart vein.
1t was smooth rs oil TO the touch, this precip-
itous. overhanging path of miuo and Won
dcrcd what rl'>.st c-J7d find pleasure orproiit
in passing up or down this ifishtiul route.
BEGAN to think Of returning. Then !
shuddeled at the tAUlght twas 50 dark, SO
desolatc. so deadly there. Then felt OF the
smooth rock under my feet, ami knew that
there was less peril il going ahead than ~
attempting TO descend Death was before
me, behind me. | frightened my belt
AGAIN with my left hand as | held OH hard
with my right to juttins crag on the edge
/ of nv steep smooth path and then again,
with cenched teeth and set lips, | struggled
up and on
The rath wound out and still further over
/ the dark abyss below. But The moon was
there close about me- closer than before; and
the stars shall never have them 50 close
about me again on earth.
But the path was 30 narrow now So steep
and 50 very narrow that my body could
| hardly be drawn between the smooth hard
| rocks.
And at the last this steep and narrow
groove began TO grow shallow What If II
should come entirely to the surface' What
if it should end entirely here;
had now made at least 800 feet. At al
angle Of IS degs YOU can calculate with pre-
/ ClSiOn now lar aDoNe lue Hdlh waters wa
hanging.
| did not dare look below. | did not dare
dream OF turning back now / hardly dared
breathe On! onl on Slowly, steadily, up!
up upl My fingers We're benumbed. Ny
feet also had almost failed me!
AT last suddenly my outStrotched hand
struck a level spot, and drew myself up and
into little resting place. And with such
/ thankfuness rs few can ever know!
The moon was full in my back now, and
| looking straight into the rounded narrow
little level resting place before me. There
was a pool o: water here in the heart OF this
niche in the awful overhanging precipice.
| And around this little pool of water, with all
tho order OF nature undisturbed, there was
growing little garden OF yellow flowers. As
| II this assure of the earth was some angels
own perfect little garden.
| 1 gathered these flowers. They were only
Il few. and, oh, 50 frail! Then reaching my
right hand out and over the dark waters
below threw them with all my might down
and away toward where heap of ashes lay.
BE patient; the gold now
The moon was going behind the steep wall
very suddenly now. Soon it would be dark.
| Would wild beasts como down the pathway
theel 1t was not wide enough for two Of Us
| 10 meet anywhere except at this one narrow
I a ~