Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-10-04

whole pack Of wolves wero at thsir
heels. But neither wolf nor any other
creature was thoro.
Theu a strange horror, which ho
could not himself understand, began TO
creep over tho lonely man US no stood
watching there. Aud even while ho
looked he was startled by another por-
tent more awful md mystcriou, still.
Although not breath Of wind was
stirring, the smooth surface of the lako
hcavcd itself all at once into angry
waves, which surgcd furiously to and
fro, while the trees were shaken as if by
tho rush of storm.
Ludwig took out his spyglass in Or
der to observe this extraordinary com
motion moro closely. But us he glanced
through it he gave start, and his sun.
burned face grew pale to the very lips,
as well it might.
For MS long us IFS oldest inhabitants
could remember. small stream had
come lcapng and flushing down tho
mountain side just beyond the village,
bounding from ledge 10 ledge of the
great prccipicc i'll an endless success ion
of tiny water falls; and when he had
passed through the valley only a few
weeks before he had seen it there him
self, just the same as ever. Where was
il now'
Where, indccd' He rubbed his eyes,
thinking that they must have deceived
him; but no-hc had seen only too tru
ly. The bed Of tho torrent was dry.
Never before, even in far hotter and
dricr summers u:an this, had that
stream been known 10 fail; and even had
the sun had the power to parch it up,
the heavy rains which had lately fallen
would have been more than enough to
swell Il to its wontcd size again; yet
now not trace of it was left
As Ludwig stood gazing II. this unac-
countablc phenomenon hcsuldcnly saw,
or thought he saw, the outlines Of the
great mountain wall that ovcrhung tho
village begin TO quivcr and trcmblc ms if
seen through wet glass. lie wiped his
siyg!rss with the skirt OF his coat, and
looked again. In hat one glance the
fearful truth burst upon hi,n--thc whole
mountain was falling.
The cry of horror that broke from his
Fps was drowned by II crash as if he
earth Itself had been rent in twain. In.
stantly az was dark rs night, the air
'rcmblcd, the ground SHOOK beneath his
feet, and he fell heavily To the earth.
How Ion" he lay there, helpless and
unconscious, he never knew; but when
he began to come 20 himself again, and
rose t" his ict, shaking oil. as he did
so, Il thick cloud of dust that covered
him from head to heel, the unnatural
gloom had passed away, and the last
rays OF the setting sun were lighting up
the surrounding andscarc.
But oh, what scene those rays re.
vcalcd to his shuddcring sight! The
beautiful green valley, tie happy vii
lagc, the smooth, shining Lake. were
gone rs il they had never been; and in
their places lay outsprcld beneath him
one wide waste of hidcous ruin-brokcn
locks, vast mounds OF earth AMI gravel,
Shnt'cicd trunks Of uprootcd trees, and
great sheets OF muddy water; for so
mighty mass Of iuin had been hurled
into the lake that its waters lad been
actually forced from Their bed, and
dashed over the surrounding country in
one gigantic wave. sweeping 20 instant
destruction every living thing that lay
i'll the path Of its rush or the ill-fatcl
village itself nothing WAS ever seen
again, except the bell of its church,
which WAS found amid heap of earth
and stones fu.lj mile and Il half away.
Years have Passed since ;ha. fatal
evening. and alnong the wrecks of tho
tremendous iondslip other villages have
sprung up But its traces are as plain
az ever, and many people still live there
who have heard from the lips of white
haired old man named Ludwig Stein
how his life was once saved by broken
rap.--Unpcrs Young People.
Beigfum's UdtIcSs Monarch.
Leopold, King of the BE lsians, is a