Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1894-07-28

have been regarded well-nigh as an in
Engagement OF the rites of hospitality
O any visitor ventured to disobey.
And indeed. l know not that any felt
the inclination, saving, perhaps, the in
evitable exception necessary to prove
the rule in the shape OF Dick Carlisle.
who hailed, ;" as we know. from that
seethlng whirlpool Of %iniuuity. popular
~ dubbed town." and was consequent
ly prone to evil tendencies happily
confined to metropolitan sinners.
IL must at any rate be confessed that
after two full hours OF what he stigma
tised as "Gncomnonly poor fun" Dick
! beQan TO weary OF the monotony OF The
prescribed course and cast longing
glances in the direction Of the smooth
uncut Ice, cleaning like a silver ribbon
In and out among the trees.
There might be some amusement now
In exploring the windings of the frozen
stream, and imagining oneself miles
away from the haunts Of civilization
and the j0stling, ''madding crowd"
Dick argued mentally. BY the way,
unless he were much mistaken. the
water extended as far as the gardeners
hut, q coign of vantage where he had
spent many happy hours, when first he
had been a visitor on probation at
Bleak House, some balf-doZen years
ago.
AL! to be sure, there was the twinkle
OF a lighted pane visible, even now, be-
tween the branches of the trees; he'd
q mind, a devilish good mind"
But at this juDcture, thought became
merged in action; one glance to right.
to left, before, behind, and, behold
finding himself momentarily unob-
served, Dick swooped round on his
blades, and, executing a skilful retro
grade movement, giided away under the
shadow OF the trees, unperceived alike
by host, sisters, friends.
Then away-away over the CLASSY
surface, swift as arrow from the bow.
bending, swaying, now right. now left,
aSthe cream m~eandered in and out, till
TfeTkth Dick paused, ~momentarily
out Of breath, and, by way Of variety,
began cutting hieroglyphic Fights,
threes. thoughts, in the centre Of the
ice.
1t was pretty, too, from here to watch
the effect Of the freight scene beyond,
with the muffled figures in the dark
apparel skimming the lake like gigantic
birds, the blazing braziers casting high
bright tongues of living flame, and
shedding a lurid rosy glow on the MIN
ic sno mountains piled around,
such the prospect on the one hand.
whilst on the other all was dark, mys-
ferrous and drear; only ever and again
betwixt the interstices of the trees, the
solitary lamp in the gardeners cottage
twinkled frostily like a fallen star.
Well! he'd a mind TO wish old Daw-
kins the compliments Of the season; so
Dick veered round. bent his head TO
the breeze, in order to escape some low
hanging branches Of the naked alders.
which in summer interlaced their leafy
arms over this portion of the stream,
then onward, onward, through the
clear cold night, cleaying space like
some winged thing.
Until
Never after could he succeed in accu-
rately defining wi next occurred.
Was it that he tripp,4 over some jag
ged unseen stone embedded in the ice?
that his skates became suddenly en-
tangled In some fallen twigs? or, that
In any case, without preliminary
sign or symptom, without the vaguest
notion that his equilibrium was en-
dangered, Dick pitched head foremost
heavily to earth, coming down with a
monstrous crash which starred the ice
for yards around, and shivered the froz-
Ell surface Immediately beneath his
weight.
1t rent. it Glove, it gaped asunder, the
jagged edges springing wide like the
two ends of a ribbon sundered sharply
when tension Is extreme. and into the
dark yawning chasm thus exposed,
head foremost Dick was plunged.
Widely, vainly, his iron-shod feet
struck out tiercely right and left; he
but succeeded i'll charging the hideous
aperture, and greedily the prisoned
waters sucked in their unexpected
prey.
Was it fancy, or even as he fell, did a
sharp. smothered human cry reach his
ear from the nearest bank? The voice
of a fellow-creature. telling of sympa-
thyFsnd commiseration at that moment
of supremest peril, when in the heyday
of health and strength a brave man re-
Allies he is face To face. nay, surely in
the very jaws or remOrseiess Death
himself.
just then Dick might not pause to
ponder; he was graphing with his cru
ell foe, fiercely. wildly, as those only
struggle who recognize that the issue is
one of life or death; that no interme-
date course is practicable, that the die
is east, and a few brief moments must
irrevocably decide the fate of the
writhing. terrified human soul. thus
suddenly plunged up to the lips in the
seething whirlpool of despair.
All! it was awful-awful. He was
sensible of the ice-cold waters closing
above his head. whilst lower, lower, he
felt himself downward drawn as though
into a bottomiess abyss, q freezing vor-
tex, from which escape there could be
none.
His very soul turned sick and numb,
whilst physically he grew positively
neryeless from despair; for, after those
first few moments of purposeless plung-
ing beneath overhanging cruel lodges.
which seemed to frown blackly at his
impotence. Dick vaguely realized the
utter futility of further efforts, even as
he stretched his eager hands now right,
now left. with the blind instinct of
self-preservation strong in every hui
man breast; for the treacherous ice
gave way beneath his clutch, and the
additional impetus thus lent the waters,
seemed but the more effectually TO
Overwhelm their puny victim.
All! ii was terrible, this rendering up
of precious life whilst one was young
and strong, and brave and bold. The
utter impossibility of resigning himself
to the inevitable, for one moment pos
sessed Dick with the absolute force of
frenzy; let the old, the ailing, the used
up die-not him-not him in the full
strength and glory of his manhood. the
fragrant flower of his youth and perfect
health. lie could not. would not yield
up his breath before the lifelong fray
was more than well commenced: before
he had lived. and loved, and suffered TO
the extent of one 1.-THE of the tether
Nature had allotted to him as his indi-
vidual share of earthly experience.
But 10Y consciousness suddenly be-
came dim and hazy, cloudy, indefinable;
earth and heaven, the past and present,
the possible future, all became alike in
volved in a vague cold mist defying an
ally zation. 1t seemed to Dick he was
floating on his hack on the surface Of
the waters with his face upturned
towards the clear, pale, pitiless sky;
that . death-cold hand closed his tired
lids; that an icy weight as Of an up
rooted mountain had settled upon his
breast-stilling pulsation and respira-
ton. ~f0rbidding his luttering heart to
beat, the life-stream to culver longer
through his nnmbing veins. Then all
was peace and calm; q measureless
tranquility became his portion: the
briet agony of resistance over, Dick felt
no desire to struggle longer against his