The Globe-republican., 1893-03-03
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lne DTlOSe! 1ney N0 tTleQ 10 cross II,
and have fallen through
1t took them ten minutes fully to re-
trace their steps, running around the
bluffy timber stretch. They reached
the bridge. Horror-eyed. appalled,, they
stared blankly at the trodden snow and
the gaping hole. through which the
darkling waters showed twenty feet
below
He went down. saw him in the
water" muttered one Of the men.
But the other?"
What other"
The giri."
1Ah, yes, I forgot There was a
girl with him. Jem, they're gone!
Man and woman both, sure as fate!"
They glanced far down the river
banks. They even lined the stream for
some distance, but found no trace Of
the supposed victims of terrible mis-
take.
Thus it was that rumor, speculation
and horror were rife at the little rail-
road settlement that evening. when the
two men returned thither and told their
tragic story.
This man remembered seeing the two
arrive on the late afternoon train-that
one described the gaunt, solemn faced
stranger seeking conveyance to take
them across country. A party was
made up to make search for some trace
of the bodies of the unfOrtunates, but,
after lining the bleak shores of the river
for hours, they returned bootless from
their task at midnight, the swirling
waters and increasing storm bidding
fair to sweep away or cover up forever
more the identity of the man and the girl
who had seemingly met death at the
bridge.
AS the reader Knows, Edna Deana's
guide alone had sunk through the broken
planking. Edna herself, frozen with
horror, had remained for a moment
chilled to helplessness by the sudden
disaster. Then, frantic with terror,
hoping to reach some habita-
ton and summon its denizens to at
tempt the rescue of her guide, she
dashed blindly from the scene.
Through the heavy snow she ran, the
landscape showing distant
light. Towards it she bent her steps,
lost 1t as copse interviewed, struggled
on again, crossed a gully. reached
rise in the ground. and then leaned
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staring wild-eyed and alarmed all about
her.
Her bedraggled dress, soaked shoes,
chilled frame and anguished heart drove
every sense to vivid suffering. With
moan of distress she realized that her
companion was past earthly help, that
the river had swept him away. The in
stinct of self-preservation, the fright of
the moment dulled her memory of that
terrible scene at the bridge; for utter
loneliness and desolation spread before
her; not habitation, human being or
light showed. She might have been a
thousand miles from civilization for all
its evidences that existed in her imme-
date proximity.
"Oh! where shall I go-which way
shall turn? 1 am lost"
Her tones were hollow, the utterance
despairing, affrighted. Nurtured amid
delicate care. scarcely clothed to endure
the rigors Of such exposure, she felt
that her strength and her will were fast
deserving her.
She tried to summon all her fortitude
and calmness. She decided that the
town they had left an hour previous
must lie beyond level waste bounded
on its farther edge with ridge Of trees
and bushes. In that direction she
knee-deep in drift, swaying like a
reed in the wind, she wavered, fairly
In the center Of the vast meadow.
Snow was all about her-earth and
air seemed full Of it. It dazzled her
vision, it penetrated sleeve and hood,
it choked and blinded her
A fearful night. truly. The noise Of
the rising tempest rang out like the
waves of angry sea. The storm had
tapped out the baleful light of moon
and stars. In the strength Of a mighty
glee, the wind raved and roared, sweep
ing the drifting snow about her like a
Shroud.
"1-can-go-nO-fur
With moan that was a prayer, the
delicate girl sank down. Her strength
had given out completely. The snow
came thicker, the winds blew faster,
the CHASTITY white stretch before her
began to be fiecked with fire, as her
nerves drove the fever
blood from heart to brain.
"Oh, the rest-the quiet" she MUIR
as she closed her eyes in that
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haustion bring, to lure the deluded
victim to the last long sleep. Ray
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES! goodnight
good night"
A rare, ecstatic smile stole over her
face. The suffering of life was merg-
ing into the delirium Of dreamland.
She had lain down to desc young, SO
fair. so little realizing how near death
grazed her bonny heart!
oh! let me rest: am SO weary
A rough contact, blast of warm
breath sweeping her face reused the
benumbed girl to look up.
Then, with a frantic scream, she
to her feet ard stood trem-
blingly staring at an intruder, the shock
happily dissipating the lethargy that be-
her senses. and bringing her a
anew of the perils that
her
The hideous form that her uncertain
vision had exaggerated into some ter
rible creation of her fancy, brushed
close against her, its rough head swept
her hands and face. thrilling them to a
sense Of feeling with the animal warmth
Of its rough caress.
A great homely faced horse, lost or
strayed from home. like puzzled