The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-10-17
A Strange Presentlment.

l.
Hon. W. c.. Benet, of Abbeville, s.
c., comes from country where super
stition holds strong way, yet there are
few men, perhaps, who are Influenced
less by this folly. The hobgoblin stories
and wierd tales of the old folk Of his
native heath had but little effect on
his mind, and the breadth of his IN.
derstanding and his liberal views have
never been circumscribed by its mar
rowing influences.
At his birthplace was an ancient
chapel with its well-filled graveyard
that held all that was mortal of a
wicked friar whose memory lived in
tradition; the remains of a Roman
camp; a haunted tree beneath whose
boughs the midnight ghost of MUIR
dered man appeared, and lonely spot
on the river bank where the spirit of a
suiciding lover fingered, listening to
the murmur of the waters. These for
saken spots had no dread for him. He
knew no ghosts and had no fear of ever
making the acquaintance of any. One
night at midnight be visited the old
graveyard and sat on the friar's tomb.
The solitude .awed him aud the tomb
stones looked ghostly III the starlight.
He wandered then to the Roman camp
and here he thought of Caesar's ghost
as it appeared to Brutus before the
fatal battle, but be had determined to
pay all the spirits a call and did not
turn back from here. He heard the
rustling Of the leaves in the haunted
tree as he stood beneath it; then going
to the river be sat on the silent bank.
For a while there was no sound save
the ripple of the waves, and the ven
turesome youth was about to return,
when he was startled by a plunge. He
turned, half fearful, lest he should see
the suicides ghost, but was relieved on
discovering that it was only a water
rat that, disturbed in its prowlings,
had retreated into the river.
No spirits were met on the way
home, but young Benet did not again
visit the haunted spots at midnight.
Skating was a favorite sport of his
and never did day pass when the ice
was strong enough to bear his weight
that he did not mark his course upon
it.
Benet had presentiment one day
that he was going to be drowned. He
dared not tell it to any of the household
for fear that his skating would be i'll
terTe ed with. He went to the lake
in the morning with his skates. The
ice looked thin, but far out from the
shore he saw two figures skating along
without any apprehension. Feeling
assured, he stopped down to buckle on
his skates. He arose in time to see one
of the figures disappear beneath
the ice. with that desire to
save human life, which" says Mr..
Benet, "happily all men have" be
started across the lake. He felt the ice
yield in places beneath his weight. He
knew that to stop meant death for he
would havegone through and drowned.
AS long as he kept skating he was safe
and as he sped along the ice rose and
fell with an undulating motion.
AS be neared the struggling man in
the broken ice be slackened his speed.
Reaching the spot he prostrated him.
self on the ice and began to attempt
the rescue. The mans companion ap.
peared to lose all power of assistance
A large Newfoundland dog was with
them and at every move made by
young Benet toward the man in the
water the dog would prance on him and
scratch him with his paw. The animal
was finally led off to the shore, and
Benet, taking the, long muff1er from
his neck, threw one end of it to the
almost exhausted fellow. BY this
means he rescued him from his dan
gerous position, and together they
crawled prone on the ice to firmel
spot, where they arose and skated
swiftly to land.
This was the last Of the presentiment
which, having been ignored, was the
means of his saving life.