, 1889-04-28

further in hat direction
may, dear Miss Sibyl; l will not hear
you blame yourself for our being here"
l replied. you simply did not sec the
danger in the same light that 1 did-or
perhaps / should rather say that you did
not see the danger at all"
"Only as we see danger when it light
ems" she responded; 1--WE know we may
be struck, but we can scarcely be said to
fear 1t. o, Mr.. Naples, if there is my
way by which you tar save your life do
not give a thought to me, but make the
effort alone, and I will pray for your
success"
"Ahl now you do indeed wrong me,
and wound my sensitive nature, by as
summing in all seriousness that / am q
coward" said l r~eproachfully.
80 mol moi meant not that" she pro-
tested. at vas only that, if there is but
one life to be saved, 1 would nave it
yours instead of mine"
80, dear Miss Sibyl, dare 1 understand
hat you would save my life at the sacri-
nee of your ownY'
yes" she family sighed, after n mo-
mentary pause.
l quickly drew back from the verge of
the dread abyss, and there, In THAT ray
less darkness and that awful tomb of
death, l caught her in my arms and
pressed her to my heart.
"You love me then, Sibyl-dear, dear
est Sibyl-you love mel" 1 exclaimed, as
/ ~passionately kissed her tremulous lips.
Eyes; here, in the presence of death, l
frankly confess that l love you, dear
Henry" she family murmured.
Heaven bless you, darlingI' 1 re-
turned; lit makes me happy to hear
these sweet words, even though death be
near us bothl What is death, darling, if
we are loved by our beloved and know
we shall die with our love? for death
here Is only life hereafter. But we will
not die now, if any effort of our W can
save us, and so let us work together for
lifei"
With this, keeping n firm hold of the
lear girl, 1 began to feel my way in
another direction; and so we wandered
about in the darkness, hour after hour,
seeing nothing and knowing nothing of
our course, whether 1t were right or
wrong.
/ said all l could to cheer my sweet
companion, but at length she began to
uthDilIg anu Il W ltl lht L uLl, IOSL III
hope Of ever leaving our prison pit alive.
If we could have known that we were
going in the right direction there would
nave been so little encouragement to per-
severe; but when we considered that the
chances were equal to our getting still
farther away from the point we wished
TO reach, there seemed no reason for
this cxertion, and we sat down COM
pletely disheartened
"Well, darling, it will be as God willsl"
l sighed. 81 nave no other consolation
to offer"
"And l nm to be punished for my
boastful presumption, in the suffering Of
ono whose life is dearer to me than my
ownl'
80, Sibyl darling, you must not accuse
yourself, for that tortures mer' cried L.
sour being here is one of those misfor-
tunes which were to be. We have reached
n point where the air seems less poison
GUS, and we may possibly exist here for
days; and who knows what time may
do, when there are so many anxious
souls above who will not rest day or
night till they shall have explored the
mine in search of the living and the
dead?'
In that rayless darkness we could not
make a note of time, nor tell whether it
wcro day or night in the world above.
We only knew that, after n long period,
wo began to feel tho pangs of hunger
and thirst; that we gradually grew
weaker; that we slept at times; and that
at last we began to have strange sensa-
tons in our brains, and see dancing
lights and phantoms, and wonder, in a
vague sort of way, whether we were
tenants of this world or the other.
That is the last l remember till l found
myself in n room ON n bed weak as an
infant, and numbers of anxious friends
standing around me. Even then my first
thought was of my dear companion,
and my first words were an inquiry for
her. When assured that she was safe, 1
remember feeling as if l were in heaven,
and at once fell off into a dreamless
sleep.
1 subsequently, learned that we both
had beer found, after n three days
search. in an unconscious state, and that
of all the parties as far down in the
mine as ourselves, we were the only
ones brought tn the surface alive. Ono
hundred and nine persons had persisted
in that awful explosion, and the whole
village was in mourning.
l have only to add that my lear Sybil
and l both recovered, and in time re-
gained our health, and that she is now
my loving wife.-True Flag.