The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-06-17

tlon. It smote my nearr with awe when /
| pondered upon the deed / had in contem-
! plation. l could discover, from its rush
/ ing sound, that it was much swollen, ow-
! ing to the recent heavy rains. The stream
( in fine weather was seldom more than a
/ couple of feet deep, and could be crossed
| without difficulty: there, however, were
| places where it was considerably deeper
/ On the occasion in question it was more
| dangerous than / had ever known it.
/ There was no bridge constructed across it
/ at this place, and people were obliged to
| get through it as well as they could.
| Nearer and nearer we approached. The
! night was so dark that it was quite i'm
! possible to discern anything. I could feel
! the beatings of my heart against my
I breast, a cold, clammy sweat settled upon
my brow and my mouth became SO dry
| that fancied that / was choking. The
moment was at hand that was to put my
resolution to the test. A few yards only
| separated Us from the spot that was to ter
inmate my journey and perhaps the mortal
career of my incomprehensible companion.
| The light of the lamps threw dull, lurid
| CLEAN on the surface of the water. It
rushed furiously past, surging and boiling
as it leaped over the rocks that here and
there intersected its channel.
Without moments hesitation I urged
the mare forward, and in a minute we were
in the midst of the stream 1t was a case
of life or death! The water came down
like a torrent-itS tide was irresistible.
There was not moment to be lost. My
own life was at stake. With the instinc-
tive feeling OF self preservation I drove the
animal swiftly through the dense body of
water, and in few seconds we had gained
the opposite bank of the river. We were
safe, but the opportunity of Kidding myself
of my companion was rendered, by the
emergency of the case, unavailable.
|. I knew not how it was, but / suddenly
became actuated by new impulse
Wretch though he was, he had intrusted
his safety, his life, into my hands. There
was, perhaps, still some good in the man;
by enabling him to escape, 1 might be the
instrument of his eternal salvation. He
had done me no injury, and at some period
of his life he might have rendered good
offices to othsrs. l pitied his situation,
and determined to render him what assist
ance l could. l applied the whip TO the
mare. In moment she seemed to be en-
dowed with supernatural energy and
swiftness Though he was murderer
though he was henceforth to be driven
from society as an outcast-he should not
be deserted in this present emergency.
On we sped; hedges, trees, houses were
passed in rapid succession. Nothing i'm
peded our way. We had task to perform;
duty to fulfill; dangers and difficulties
fled before us. A human life depended
upon our exertions, and every nerve re-
CURED to be strained for its preservation.
On, on we hurried. My enthusiasm as
sumed the appearance of madness. I shout
ed to the mare till was hoarse, and broke
the whip in several places Although we
flew over the ground l fancied we did not
go fast enough. My body was in constant
motion, as though it would give an i'm
petus to our movements. My companion
appeared conscious of my intentions, and
for the first time evinced an interest in our
progress. He drew out his handkerchief
and used it incessaptly as an incentive to
swiftness, Onward we fed. We were all
actuated by the same motive. This con-
centration of energy gave force and vital
ity to our actions.
The night had hitherto been calm, but
the rain now began to descend in torrents,
and at intervals we heard distant peals of
thunder. Still we progressed; we were not
to be baffied, not to be deferred; we would
yet defy pursuit. Large tracts of country
were passed over with amazing rapidity.
Objects that at one moment were at a
great distance in another were reached
and in the next left far behind. Thus we
sped on--thus we seemed to annihilate
space together. We were endowed with
superhuman energies-hurried on by an
impulse involuntary and irresistible. Ny
companion became violent and appeared
to think we did not travel fast enough.
He rose once or twice from his seat and at
tempted to take the remnant of the whip
from my hand, but resisted and prevailed
upon him to remain quiet.
How long we were occupied in this mad
and daring flight | cannot even conjecture.
We reached at length our destination; but,
alasl we had no sooner done SO than the in
valuable animal that had conveyed us
thither dropped down dead
NV companion and l alighted. / walked
up to where the poor animal lay and was
busy deploring her fate, when l heard
a struggle at a short distance. I turned
quickly around and beheld the mysterious
being with whom l had ridden so fatal a
journey in the custody of two powerful
looking men.
''Ha! hal thought he would make for
this here place." said one of them. He
still has a hankering after his mothers
grave. When he got away before we nab
bed him here"
The mystery was soon cleared up. The
gentleman had escaped from lunatic
asylum, and was both deaf and dumb.
The death of his mother, a few years be-
fore, had caused the mental alteration.
The horrors of that night are impressed
as wildly upon my memory as though
they had just occurred. The expenses Of
the journey were all betrayed, and l was
presented with a handsome gratuity. l
never ceased, however, to regret the loss of
the favorite mare.-Anonymous