The herald., 1893-12-09

AS the height to which l was being
lifted increased, SO my terror increased
also. / dared not look downward. One
glance made me turn sick and faint.
The palms Of my hands were moist,
and perspiration stood in beads ON my
forehead. What fool had been to
consent to go upl
The ascent could not have taken many
minutes, but it seemed as If it were
never going to reach the top. Once
there, the steeplejack helped me to get
on to the little platform, where ]
crouched down and clung to the stand
ard of the weathercock, trembling in
every limb.
My guide signaled to his assistants
to let down the cage, and turning to
me few moments later said:
my men have now gone down the
road for drink. / told them that we
shouldn' t want to come down for an
hour.
IAN houri" l exclaimed. "Am
fixed in this horrible place for an hour ?
Explainl'
al thought you might like time to
examine the view carefully. Pretty,
isn't it."
.'Do you mean to--is this brutal,
practical joke2"
"No. / was never moro serious in
my life, Herbert Ridley Morris!"
"You know my namef Who are you?
What is it you wantl"
Il will answer all in good time.
Just make yourself as comfortable as
you can, and I'll begin by telling you
a little tale. 1t isn't out of story
book, but it's just as good and long
sight truer.
Listen! Once ON time there was
a little village. 1t was in Bucking-
hamshire. The population was small,
but none the less virtuous on that ac-
count, you understand. In this village
lived maiden, who never had her
equal in this world and never will. Her
father was market gardener, and her
mother had died when she was baby.
Well, in the next village, some two miles
off, lived young fellow who would
gladly have laid down his life for that
maid, so madly was he in love with
her. He was dairy farmer and was
said to be very prosperous. Certainly
he was in position to provide COM
Portable home for the maiden that ev-
erybody understood he was to marry.
LAS l have said. he loved ,he girl
madly, and she professed to love him in
return. She had promised to become
his wife, and in the coming spring they
were to be married.
But she never was his. Do you sup
pose he threw her over? Do You think
he tired of her? Good heaven! He
loved her even more-more madly,
more fiercely. because she could never
be his wife.
What, then, do you suppose sepa-
rated them? l will tell you. A smooth
tongued villain from London came be-
tween them. He fiattered her and lied
to her and spread his vile net to entrap
her. The poor girl was fascinated.
bewildered by the sleek scoundrel. and
he carried her off.
IA year later she was in her grave.
Her deserted lover was broken hearted,
desolate, desperate. His business be-
came neglected and ended in ruin. AS
a boy he had tried the sea, and he now
took to the life again, but not for long
He fell in with a steeplejack, worked
with him and has since adopted the
calling. Still, the great sorrow of his
life hangs heavy on him, and he once
swore vow-which he means to keep
that if ever he met the enemy of his life
and of the life of the woman he loved
the great score between them should be
settled one way or the other.
do you understand the story? That
dairy farmer s name was Richard Will
son, and the name is also my own. The
girl was Margaret Snow. and Herbert
Ridley Morris was the scoundrel. We
have now an opportunity of paying off
old debts without fear of interruption. "
The determination in his manner,
the madness in his eye, told me he was
in deadly earnest.
'You wrong me-" l cried. II never
intended to harm you. AS for Marga-
ret, loved her passionately, and the
marriage was a perfectly happy one.
God knows that when she died it near
ly broke my heart. Poor Margaret! If
you loved her as you say. you have my
deep sympathy"
Course your sympathy"
He struck at me with his fist, but by
a quick movement | avoided the blow.
''One of us has to die-one or both
of us!" he shrieked. "If you go first,
shall throw myself after you. If go
down, you can live and run the risk of
being hanged for my murderl Are you
ready?"
He fixed his eyes on me, and I saw
he was no longer a sane man, and l was
doomed to engage in "a most horrible
encounter-a fight for life round the
of lofty church steeple.
/ gave one loud cry for help. 1t was
echoed by neighboring hill and star
tied the birds in the trees beneath.
You foolp' he laughed in derision.
'What help do you hope for up here?
II any one attempts to come up, one
stroke of my knife will cut short his
tried to pacify him, but my words
seemed only to infuriate him, and sud
denly. with loud execration, he sprang
on me like tiger. The platform that
we were on was formed of rough planks
and was only few feet square. Be-
yond the standard of the vane and the
four short ends Of scaffold poles, to