The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1890-03-01

ST. u
Ii i5s1 .t1-'ss
There iVsre some black letfsys on IL ,chfej
he spelled out Sloi5ty.
He turned presently to take up hi
lantern. The fame was driven ont sud
lenly by rush OF cold air; there was s
2and as OF distant thunder. The wall
" the tunnel had fallen behind him
70 was buried ia a living gravel
The church bells began to ring. H,
-ould hear them, dulled an sweet, ther
hey were silent. No lower sound coulG
each him. But it was worth recording
hat through the tiaal pain and horror
& the night which settlel down upoa
liLn he heard thu bitd5 tw.ttering in the
trees oyerhe~ J, heard tbs grasshoppera
chirp IN the grass. There were voices
reached hin. too-voicss which haI
long been silent; Bsss calling to her
baby, Wilny singing an old Scotch ls-
'nent OF which she once was fond He
knew it was but the d.lirium of ola
thoughts unclaimed, unraiel by his will.
But the tears wet his eyes fof the iirS
time for many years.
Three days passed, and Heath yet
lived. The candles he had brought
nourislred him for time. When they
were gone he sat down passive. H.
he'd the treasure in his hand, the doedA
70 his place in the world but he was a
alaa in utier darkness, starving to death
'or mouEliul Of food. Thought comes
'leariy sometimes in mortal pain.
Leonard Heath knew now what he was:
homeless, nameless, with neither wife,
child nor friend to search for his bones.
1r to say, with ever SO little regret, He
was here, and he is gone"
The bubble on the river would break
md die not less unmissed than he. The
physical torture of starvation gave him
not so much suffering as to know this at
ast He cried aloud. 1t seemed to
lin, so terrible was the pain Of soul
which thus uttered itself that God him
self must hear and answer. But the
hook of his voice only loosened the
pebbles from the wall. and they rolled
rattlng to the around
Toward the close of the third dav,
when he lay down in new place on
.he bricks. gust of damp air struck
MS face. Then it occurred TO him 20
wonder why the vault had been free
from noNious gases There must be
some opening to the outer air. Reused
and startled, he dragged himself up and
q IN no Al
draught came. Tile earth was lightly
heaped: he cleared it away and found
a passage 1t was, in fact a continue
ton Of the tunnel in the opposite direc-
ton, but Heath was too weak to reason.
How long ho was in creeping through
he never knew.
There was blast of cool night air;
a heavy mass of tangled vines brushed
in his face; he thrust them aside; soft
light glimmered before his eyes: it was
the blue heaven studded with stars.
Leonard Heath orept out Of the break
in the bank and stood in quaint old
fashioned garden about a cottage. A
bird. frightened in its sleep, chirped in
its nest in the cherry tree beside him;
the path ran between rows Of privet
bushes and crimson altheas; the damp
night air was fragrant with the scent of
spice pinks.
But in the evening air there came also
the sound of woman's voice singing an
old Scotch lament. The door Of the house
was partly made of glass, and a bright
tire light shone through ii. He went TO
it. Some figures, which his dim eyes
could scarcely distinguish. were gathered
about the hearth. But in the warmest
corner an old lcathern chair shone cheer
fully, vacant and waiting.
Then he opened the door, aud, with
feeble cry, stood before them.
Later in the night, when Leonard
Heath, warmed and clothed and fed, sat
in the long vacant seat and they all gath
cred about him. he unfastened the copper
case. The lii was rustod into holes.
Joe only smiled, therefore, sorrowfuIly,
knowing what the end must be- When
the box was opened the deed fell from
it, heap of powdered dust which puff
Of wind blew over the hearth.
Joe put his hand on his brothers head:
My poor lad! You have lost your place
in the world, after ALL"
But Leonard's face had brightness
which it had not learned when he was
boy;
II lost it for many years, but came
to IL again tonight"
lie was silent for a little while.
you found the fortune long ago, Joe,
ha said; and he drew Winny's hand
closer in his own, looking out from the
warm home into tho quiet nature behind
which God was waiting.
TIE END.
nrasn's Mini-ter to Washington.