Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-06-05
my,elf for INC lean the moment oppor

They sprUg forward like a SHOT from
a cannon, dragging the wheel horses
from contact with the coach. As the
lash struck The l,a ,cls the driver tight.
ened the Hin> and gave IA yell of en-
couragcmcnt To his team. aud then,
leaning far back, guided them with
taut lines directly down the narrow
road. The four horses at once lcapcd
into a wild run, and then | comprc-
hended that lac MAS undertaking 10
keep III the rad instead Of abandon
ing the coach To lis fate.
1t was nota full second from the CIV
ing way Of the brakes till We were
shooting down the steep incline with
the swiitness and momentum of a
thundcrbplt. The broad solnbrero of
the driver was Snatched away by the
wind and his long hair tossed on the
air like the mauc of Il runaway horse.
How ] saw this detail and others |
know not. What passed was like the
hideous visions of Il nightmare. felt
nothing; ! saw objects near me and in
the distance which rushed by, inter
mingled like the spokes of a swift
moving wheel. My most salient rec
objections are the long hair ~iluttering
about my face, and the horses, which
did not seem 10 be four in number,
but "A flying. solid mass of white driven
like a wave of foam pushed from the
front Of a powerful steamer.
SofarasIcan recall there was q word
uttered after the shout of the driver.
Within and without the coach IA par
alysis possessed all. The only sound
was the fierce pounding Of the iron
hoofs OH the ruckfaccd road, the roar
of the wheel, and the frantic crcaGing
OF the leathcrn springcd coach as it
rocked like "a tempest tossed vessel.
On neither side did anything take
definite shape. We moved. as il were,
between two great walls Of darkness.
somewhat, a> are seen in a swift rail-
way train when passing through a
narrow gorge. There was no differ
cnce between the wall of rock on one
side and the abyss OH the other. |
continued standing, clinging To the
stanchions with Il deadly clasp, pos.
sessed by "A vague impression that "A
jump must Toe made ut some approach
ing crisis. | have an indistinct i'm.
preston that the woman in the driy-
er's seat had both her arms about the
waist of the Englishman, and that he
stood with his face 10 the wall To the
left, and chung 10 the railing of the
seat, like a drowning man to a storm
tossed spar.
| recall that we seemed scarcely to
touch the ground; that we flew; that
our movement vas one of vast leaps,
in which we struck the ground with
a resounding clash like a vessel in a
storm when its bow is met by a wave.
The air pushed against my face as
if il were some demoniacal energy
trying to wrench me from the coach.
All the time, in my hazy consciousness,
the rock which | had noticed in the
distance, lying apparently across the
road, was impending death. l felt it
was the fate which mcnaced us; it was
a black wall against which we would
break, and Decentralization.
l have nc notion of the time; it
might have been a second, it might
have been a century, for aught that |
comprehended during our descent. |
can only recall that we went rocking,
laundering down the steep grade, and
observation-disclosures.
Here the dark man stopped his mar.
ration as il there were no more to say.
You weren'tkilled, evidently. said
one of the listeners. What else hap
pened2'
Nothing much. When | came to
myself we were in front Of a ranch
used for a station. The coach was
stopped and several men were running
toward u, from the stables. The road
along the precipice widened into a
broad, level space. The four white
horses stood, with dropping heads, in
front Of the coach, and were hardly
visible through the dense cloud Of
steam which rose from their heaving
bodies. The driver was sitting in his
seat, his elbows on his knees, his chin
resting on his hands, and himself as
impassive as if cut i'm marble"
''How about that rock you were go
ing to smash up against. that's what
I'd like TO know
That's what I'd like to know my.
self" replied the dark man. II be-
lieve, however, that just where we
rounded the rock there was a deep i'm.
preston in the road on the side next
TO the wall. and it was the dip of the
wheels in this hollow which prevented
the coach swinging outward so that,
as it righted. We had passed in the
open place just Il few feet from the
gulch. II was the tremendous shock
as the wheels plunged into the depres-
sion and the thought we had struck
the rock and ! was killed which made
me insensible."
Anybody hurt"