The Forrest City times., 1891-06-12

wondered at WInny's unusually long absence, and the man becoming seriously alarmed when the weather grew stormy, on venturing a short distance down the path to discover, if possible, had anything gone wrong, though unable to proceed much more than half way down the steep, all but impassabledescent, yetwent far enough to catch glimpse of what had occur red. To get the almost helpless woman up by thepathway, then beset with the additional dangers caused by a fierce strong wind, was not to be thought of; but summoning without a moments delay the hardy peasants of the place, and by means of trum- pet shouting directions to Winny from the nearest hearing-p point, they succeeded in lowering to her crcel and two long wattles, with which they desired her to balance herself from dangerous contact with the pro- jecting rocks. and as O'Kennedy yet listened to his informant, the exclama- tionS of the crowd warned him that the perilous ascent had commenced. His head grew dizzy, as he tired to look down from a lutting point of land little to one side of the exciting spot towards which all eyes and hearts turned in dread. He grew sick as he caught an occasional glimpse of some thing swaying and swinging between earth, or rather sea and heaven, en- veloped every moment with showers of thick spray thrown up by furious raging waters, and occasionally lost to sight from the juttings and pro- | lections of the green, slimecovered | rocks
 The wind had risen fearfully. even | within few moments, and fortunate 1t was that 1t had not done so before the men, holding the coil of rope at tached to the creel, had trumpeted their orders to the hapless voyager. Three men, who had formed them selves into a sort of human chain, had | themselves to be held and supported by others. lest their strength or cour- age should give way, and lest they might be drawn over the precipice. At | last, the basket and it's occupant seemed to near the top of the height, and already the impulsive Irish peas ants commenced their loud hurrahs of 1 joy and triumph. O'kennedy could now see her distinctly as she knelt in | the creel, holding in either hand the poles of her destiny, and guiding her | frall conveyance.
 "A few moments more, and she Is saved" cried the foremost of the men who hauled the rope; but the words were scarce uttered, when strand of the treacherous rope gave suddenly way.
 Yielding at the pressure from below. and the hearty pulls from above, and heated and wasted by the sharp colli- l sion with the shelving rock at top, | which had acted as a sort of windlass to the rope, and partial defense | against the precipice to the basket, l the cord began to untwist in his hand. Ere the cry of horror had time to is- sue from the llps of the crowd another strand had loosened, and quickly be- gan to unravel itself from the rest of the cordage The life it sustained now almost literally hung upon thread. In terror and agony almost equal to poor Winny's own, they | ceased for a second to attempt draw ing her up lest the thread should snap on which her life depended. There she was. suspended some twenty feet from the landing-pIace; swayed hither and | thither by the wind. and each instant expecting to be dashed to pieces, ere she could even reach a grave in the waters beneath. She felt thread after | thread giving with her-down, down, she felt impelled by her own weight. But terrible as was the situation, the 1 intrepid crags-woman' presence of mind did not desert her.
 She knew that for the remaining | cords to bear her in safety to the top would be impossible but her courage rose with the occasion; and as the un- twining rapidly proceeded, she took | her resolution.
 | Fixing firmly first one, then the other of her two crutches on jutting | ledge of rock, on which there was room for her to land in safety, if her head could be kept steady, and so remain till another rope could be let down to her, she cautiously stepped from the creel; carefully retaining it, however, she placed it between her and the outward edge of the shelf on which she stood, whilst she leant back against the wall of precipice behind her. The last remaining threads of hemp would l not have borne cats weight, and 1 Winny dared not trust them even to hold the empty creel; she therefore cautiously placed one of her oars | within 1t, and thus steadied it, and her own perilous position; here she remained, for at least thirty minutes, shaded partially, by adjoining pro- 1 jections, from the fury of the storm. 1 Each one of these minutes appeared & life to her. During this dreadful pause in her fate, the thought of the girls helpless, unloved position was
 her only worldly care. But 1t brought pang with 1t as severe as if the child were really her own. As the cold spasm passed through her heart, a raven, croaking hoarsely, passed close to where she stood. She tried to shrink into the rocks behind her, as she felt the brushing of his Tapping and ominous wings; but a happy re- collection ncounteracted the impression ] of these thoughts and this incident He feeds tine young ravens" said she; "Primrose will not perish, and neit her shall l, if am not chicken hearted.
 A minute afterwards. she could hear grating sound, as down. down, there l descended another basket and another rope The men above knew not if the first creel were still safe, and
 they took the procaution to lower another; 1t passed the bewildered