Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1893-05-05
RACE FOR LIFE.

eternity, said the man from Kentucky.
when the applause which had followed
the Arkansas drummer's bear story had
eubsided. Well, it didn't turn my hair
white, but time has since. You all
know, he continued, that / am a Ken
tuclian by right Of birth, but you are
not all aware that l was born and reared
within o mile of this very spot in which
we o sit. Such is the fact, however.
What l am going to tell you happened
away back in the sixties. / was lust
grown up, as straight and tough as a
hickory saplng.
We lived at the base Of q considerable
hill which rose toward the east and
stretched its narrow ridge onward for a
mile or two. Not 200 yards from our
door old Isaac johnson built a modest
cabin and brought his family down from.
Illinois. Dudley, their only boy, was
just about my age, although not ELI.
dowed with like endurance and strength.
A warm friendship soon sprang up be-
tween Ms, however, and we zpent many
hours together in the woods with our
rifles.
~ NAo AloA AAN Gnu VI DAhNs 4 AEllAtLl~
Der. 1 had been idle for some weeks.
and idleness, You know, just al that sea
son, breeds restlessness in s~uperabun-
dance.
had often heard Of the great Nam
moth cave, a few dozen miles distant,
and / became convinced that the geolog-
zeal formation of the hill in the rear of
our home indicated that another huge
IA must surely exist under the green
turfed mound, for in the valleys which
lay at its feet I found numerous sinks
from which gurgling brooks usually
burst, or from which the warm breath
the internal caverns floated up like tine
smoke from some mountain wigwam.
Isoon confded my conjecture to bud
johnson. We talked the matter over
and decided that on the following day
we would begin a series of systematic
explorations. The succeeding day, which
was bright and clear, though unusually
warm, found us setting out with all
the necessary paraphernalia-candles
matches, a rope, etc. We had poked
around in every crack and Granny, and
near noon, having lost all hope, l was
about to call to bud, who had wandered
off up into n little skirt Of wood, when a
faint shout reached my ears. hurried
off in the direction whence the voice
seemed to come, and was soon stand
ing on the brink Of what appeared to be
the mouth Of our much sought after
cavern.
Away down in the bowels Of the earth
/ could see the yellow flare of buds can
die and family discern his outline as he
bent forward, peering out into the dark
ness before him. The descent TO his POI
sition was easy, and filed with Joy l was
soon beside him. The sweet dampness,
the sepulchral stiffness and the con-
stantly trickling drops that fell from the
beaded ceiling thrilled me with strange
delight. We soon scrambled down from
the precipitous ledge on which we stood
and began to grope forward, our candles
Pickering ftfully, as if in danger Of be-
ing blown out at every step.
We had not proceeded twenty PAGES
however, in the black winged darkness
when we came upon a solid adamantine
wall barring our way and seemingly
ending u journey. However, after
looking around for some time, we de-
cided that we could pass under the ob.
struction just over the brook, which
flowed serenely from beneath its firm
breast. The place was very narrow,
and to accomplish this resolve we had
to get down on our hands and knees in
the water. We didn't mind that some
how, and were soon elated to find our
selves in an opening as large rs if not
larger than the first chamber that we
entered, although not nearly so high.
From this room we pressed on through
n smaller aperture, which gradually as
sumed the proportion of a passage, dan
gerous with jutting rocks and dubious
w~indings.
On we hurried, following the tortu-
GUS stream chat ran pure and pellucid
from the immense cave which we as
sured ourselves must be just ahead. |
can never forget the effect of the low,
sweet murmuring Of that little brook.
loudly audible for the very absence Of
other sounds. We found it terribly
warm work crawling over rough faced
rocks and squeezing through narrow
openings; consequently we every now
and then halted to rest.
l can't say how long we had been
laundering about in the sand and
water-for we still held the course Of
the stream-when low, roaring reached
our ears. A waterfall we at once sur
missed, certain that a miniature but
beautiful Niagara was just before ms.
Gathering new energy we pushed rapid
ly forward, and bad gone a dozen rods
perhaps when the roar, which percep-
tibly gathered volume, seemed to curl
ously shift itself into a position imme-
diately overhead, but we did not expect
sounds to obey the laws Of nature here.
After traversing another dozen rods
or so we suddenly noticed that the
swelling brook was running muddy and
bore a few twigs and dead leaves on its
hurrying surface. Strangely enough,
we were not in the least alarmed, for
we thought il was merely q landslide
ahead, and concluded to push on toward
the goal Of N hopes. But as the water
grew rapidly deeper and muddier l sug-
gested that we should halt a moment,
and forcing a small stick in the bank
Just at the waters edge we watched the