The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1892-06-30
THE GREAT HESPER.
TALE OF A BIG M0ND
How an Immense Gem Was Lost
Recovered. and Lost Again.


Il
to pull myself hand over hand up the
wet rope, for the slightest relaxation
OF my hold might allow the rope to
slip, and / should be lost assuredly.
Dear, are you there still?" Lola
called from above.
Yes" | replied.
"Here is the ope,-when | call, you
can trust yourself to it,
At the some time | felt the knotted
rope dangling against my shoulders
Nov she called.
1t was not an instant too soon.
felt the wet rope slipping through my
hands. Leaving go with one hand,
clutched out wildly for the knotted
rope, and by the happiest chance sue
ceeded Ill Selling it.
got cross-piece between my feet,
and | was comparatively sale, ii Lola
had strength to hold on for few mo-
ments. But that might not tax her too
greatly, I still grasped the wet rope.
Saved" | called out to her.
"Not for long" shouted Van HoecI
from the opposite side, and heard the
snap of the spring :as he closed the
breechloader, and then the "ciick" as
he cooked the piece.
Would he shoot me or the girl?
asked myself in that moment.
He fired, and the ringing shot was
followed by q sharp cry OF pain from
above, and the cross-piece on which |
stood gave little jerk, but no more
She must have escaped, despite that
cry, or she could not still have held
on to the rope.
But terrible as these thoughts that
passed though my mind in those brief
moments were, they were banished
from my mind by yet more terrific
: appeal to my senses.
Following almost Immediately upon
the crack Of the rifle and Lola's cry, q
mass of rock, probably disintegrated
by the frost, and started from its
place by, the vibration OF the shoot,
slid down the face of the
precipice, hurtled against a rock,
and some moments after fell
with deep pong" into the water be-
low.
But, as if this had been the keystone
of the fabric that upheld the mighty
weight of the enormous rock that COW
cred the chasm, its fall was followed
by the crumbling away and precipita-
ton OF others at intervals rapidly de-
creasing their fall eventually becom-
ing a continual down-pour, marked
now and then by O. louder crash as
some larger block gave way.
The roar OF artillery, the peal of
thunder, was not to be compared with
the awful din as the great rock jerked
downward as the quartz splintered
and gave way under it, shattering and
grinding the opposing rocks, and
brushing away huge fragments that
struck from side to side as they hurtl-
ed down, tearing and splitting the very
heart Of the mountain, as it seemed.
The fall was most violent at some
distance away from us further down
the ravine; only an occasional block,
ground under the great mass as it
Jerked down, was shattered to pieces,
and fell in dust and rubble about us.
But our turn was at hand.
1t seemed to me as if the last day
had come, and the world were crumbl-
ing to pieces. To the terror of an
earthquake was added the horror of
impenetrable darkness, and the con-
seriousness that the gigantic rock
that vaulted the abyss was slowly
jerking down upon us. | must have
kept my hold upon the rock by in
stinCt: had no consciousness of vo-
lition.
The awful eruption had continued
for some moments-scarcely so long
as one might take to read this des-
cription-with increasing intensity,
when suddenly, with an appalling
crash, the great roof tilted up. saw
the earth slowly cape above me, let
ting in the binding sunlight; and then
the upper lip of jagged rock, reaching
its highest elevation, shot sidelong
away, making visible the long strip of
blue heaven between toweri e peaks of
the mountain.
One last "pong" as the rock wedged
itself afresh lower down the precipice,
and then all was still. The sight of
the blue sky, the sense OF the relief, were
too much for me. l trembled vio-
lently, and, for q moment thought l
must relinquish my hold. But u
piteous cry from Lola nerved me to
fresh effort.
| saw now the two cut ropes, and,
grasping one in each hand, ] drew my
self up, using the knotted ropes as
could; and so presently | scrambled
upon the ledge.
Lola was lying upon the ground,
drawn against the rock around which
she had passed the knotted cord.
The ball had struck her, and she had
fallen; but the devoted girl had passed
the moose around her body, and so
saved my life for the second time. l
knelt beside her, and raised her head.
She opened her beautiful eyes, and
smiled, as she took my hand. She
could do no more.