The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-07-03

opItuS DllShly 70 his Itet.
'As soon as you are rested, Mi
Chamberlain, think we had better sta
back. II looks as thoughwe might hay
a squall, and perhaps some snow. Tn
is one of the changes that are commO
here at this season of the year. W
foolishly left our wraps behind. Ii wa
my fault, though, for you know nothin
OF these changes, of course"
She had risen now and started
speak:
Don't you breathe easily P'' he ex
claimed with some concern, noticin
that she pressed her hand TO her ches
She had paled a little, and now gaspe
two or three times before she answered
with smile:
ut seems as though | couldn't &c
quite enough air in my lungs. hav
felt it several times this afternoon. IT.
tritiing," she went on roassuringly; 60
will take your arm, though, please, be
cause l am really very tired.n
What very heavy fOg,r she con
tinued, shivering, after they had walket
a short distance; land how damp it is.
"You could hardly call it fog" he said
1--WE are in the midst of cloud, and
is an unusually thick one,n he added
after pause, glancing about ner
vOusly.
The great gray mass had caught then
now and had closed in upon them OF
every side-beneath them, above them
around them, pressing against thei
faces and brushing their hands with it
cold, clammy fingers, leaving moisture
and chill with every touch.
There was no thought of fear il
Madge's mind. Why should there be
They were only short distance from the
hotel-a mile or so perhaps. One could
almost hear shout that far. Then, too
she was leaning upon strong arm, anC
she enjoyed the sensation of being in the
midst of cloud as she enjoyed every
thing that was new.
"Why, see ~ she exclaimed brightly,
''its so thick one can almost grasp
handful Why, dear mel l can see il
pass between me and your hat" she
laughed as she threw her head to one
side and glanced upward. "And see the
moisture on your coat!" she went on
rubbing her hand along his arm and
Tipping the water from her fingers.
Bob's eyes were fixed in front, and
while she was wondering why he did not
answer and seemed so quiet, sudden
gust of wind tore her hat from her head
and in an instant whirled it out of sight
into the all-surrounding gray.
| With short "Stand quite still,
please" he hurried after it.
| How odd it was to be there all alone
There was something so solemn, so
awful in the silence, the isolation, and
the sombreness of the placel To be able
to see and feel nothing save the rocks at
her feet and the noiseless mist floating
by, to hear nothing but the moaning of
the wind, to realize that she might be
within few feet of precipice and not
know it!
1t was like standing upon impalpable
air and grasping at it helplessly with the
world slipping away into the distance!
Madge shuddered; and there must have
been something in the look that she
turned upon Bob, who had appeared out
of the gloom at her side so suddenly and
noiselessly as to almost startle her, that
showed the relief she felt in having him
with her again, for his face, that was set
and serious, softened into reassuring
smile; and the swift, eager glance of the
eyes that she had noticed once before
during the afternoon might have warned
her that he, at least, was on dangerous
ground. But it only caused strange
little futtering of her heart as she re-
placed her hat and took his arm without
word.
In utter silence they traversed now
what seemed to Madge to be long dis
tance.
1t had been but a short time since the
change had taken place, but already the
wind bad risen to a gale and the gloom
had deepened into black wall around
them, while in the distance could be
heard the roar and rattle and crash of
the approaching storm that was already
heralded by a few wandering flakes of
snow that were whirled along too fast TO
find resting-place.
Their pace had unconsciously slack
ened and now they were simply cropping
their way over the logs and stumps,
around the powders, and between the
swaying pines that arose one after an
other through the mist like struggling
column of retreating soldiers, when sud-
denly Bob uttered a surprised exclama-
ton and stood still. Motif feet in front
of them arose solid wall of perpen-
dicular rock, its boundaries lost in the
mist.
Madges glance of interrogation re-
vealed to her the perplexity, anxiety,
anu lITlbdJlOu OublluGu III DOD ltC6 anu
caused her to ask earnestly:
"Why, Mr.. Barker, have you lost your
way9"
Her only answer was jagged, CULVER
ing glare that seemed to envelop them
from every side, Frightening up the
scarped cliff in front and showing them
upon its surface the cold, dank tufts of
dark green moss between which the
-. plaNrr1v f,.salrltVar 60 fha
base. The very earth under them trem-
bied' the air recoiled in terror, and the
mountain seemed to split to its base with
the almost simultaneous crash that fol-
lowed
The stoim had overtaken them!
Madge tried to smile after she had re-
linquished her hysterical grasp of Bob's
arm, but there was no answering smile
from him, and vague fear swept over
her
81 don't recognize this rock" he NUT
tered in low tone. 81 seem to have
lost the trail. Let's work our way along
the face of this little"
Once more the slow and hesitating
march was resumed.
The fluttering flakes of snow had
changed to tiny hail-stones that were
rapidly whitening the ground. The first
grand rush of the wind was over, and it
had quieted down into a sullen moan
that was merely an undertone to the
great orchestra Of heaven whose rever-
berating notes were ringing from peak
to peak and rolling majestically down
the valleys.
Faster and faster beat the hail, now
rapidly changing back to snow colder
and colder moaned the wind as they
wearily and silently picked their way
along in the shadow of the dreary cliff.
Madge shivered perceptbly, and Bob,
turning quickly, tore off his coat, and
with peremptory "Put it on, please"
threw it over her shoulders and buttoned
1t around her neck, paying no attention
to her mild expostulaton.
She did not persist in it, for his man.
ner and voice allowed no refusal. She
felt by this time that they were in some
danger, though she could hardly tell
how or why. True, 1t was growing very
cold and was showing heavily, but such
a combination was not new to her, al
though she was rather lightly dressed.
And what if they had temporarily lost
their way2 The storm would probably
soon be over, even if they didn't find the
trail before then. She might catch a
very bad cold. And that would have
been about the extent of her anxiety If
it had not been for her companion's
actions. She had never before seen him
so quiet and preoccupied. He seemed
to avoid looking at her-which was GER
tainly very unusual forhim. His almost
constant smile was gone and his mouth
firmly set He seemed TO be watching
and listening like an animal who knows
there are enemies ahead. If he would
only talk TO her reassuIingly it would re-
move this vagus uneasiness.
She could stand it no longer, and she
asked, rather timidly for her, who had