The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-05

mountains, expecting 20 get few sheep
Lee was a man Of extraordinary strength,
and was noted in the regiment for his
feats Of muscular ability. We assembled
the mountain by a deer trail. Lee riding
in advance. The trail led up a hog
back until d ran out against the side
Of the mountain, when we had 10 pick our
way over the side hill until we struck
another trail winding in a zigzag manner
toward the summit. We dismOunted and
led our horses for the trail was danger
ously close to the edge Of cliff that
formed one side Of an immense canon.
whose depth we could not guess. Mar
rover and narrower grew the trail as we
advanced, until Il seemed to terminate
a. a point only a. short distance in front
Of us. We moved forward cautiously,
Tor on one side the mountain appeared
TO rise from under our very feet into
wall OF solid rock; on the other side, we
looked into the depths Of the great canon,
which would prove an eternal grave to
either Of US should he lose his fOothold
and topple into e. The apparent termi-
nation OF the trail was due TO a curve
at that point, to round which It required
steady nerves. We passed IL safely, but
had not gone twenty yards when both
horses bent their ears forward snorted
and showed evidences Of the greatest
terror. Before I could ascertain the cause
or II, being in rear Of Lees horse, a shot
was fired that aWoke 10000 echoes.
What followed the sound Of the shot
happened so quickly that did not realize
danger until 7 found myself hanging be-
tween life and death. Ny horse, unable
TO see what was in the path ahead of us,
but whose instinct warned him of the
presence of some dreaded wild beast, had
stopped in terror. and when the shot was
nred suddenly threw UP his head and
began backing. ] had pulled the reins over
his head when had dismouuted and held
them IN my right hand. to which fact /
owed my escape from instant death. The
rapid backward movement Of the horse
ana the sudden tossing OF his head threw
me Off my balance. and before / could re-
cover l was falling over the cliff In
stinctvely l frightened my hold on the
reins and endeavored to grasp the edge
OF the cliff with my left hand as 1 was
rolling over. I did succeed in checking the
shock Of my fall somewhat but could not
secure q hold sufficient to sustain my
weight For moment / hung suspended
over the terrible abyss, my whole weight
resting upon my right arm. Quick as a
Hash ] grasped the reins with my left
also, and there ] hung, expecting death
every instant. for I knew that my horse
would not stand long I'm the position he
then held. l could see him standing above
me, and the beauty of his pose and the
rlgidity of his position. as he stood hraced
against the weight dangling at the end of
his bride rein, made an impression upon
my memory that Will never be eradlcated
] asked myself how much longer it was
possible to hang By so frail a support as a
bit of leather. The grip Of my hand was
so tight that my finEer-ends We're tingling
and burning as though touched with a
hot iron.
Suddenly another shot rang out awak-
ening a myriad of echoes that seemed to
mock me with shrll laughter. Again that
backward movement Of my horse, and, as
/ felt the reins drag along the edge of the
precipice, l thought I must surely let go
and fall. Strange thoughts began to flash
through my brain. mental pictures of
loved ones long since dead appeared TO
whisper prayers for me- there was singu-
ing In my ears, and ! realized that my
strength was giving out. Just then I
heard my name spoken At first l thought
it was but the voice of one Of the visions
my excited brain hal conjured up. But no.
there 1t sounded again 1t was Lees
voice, calm. collected and inspiring. He
was whispering words of caution. Open
ing my eyes, | saw his face above me
what white, sacred face II was,
thought. Slowly oh, SO slowly, his hand
stole down the re.ns until it rested upon
my wrist then there was "a quick grip
of powerful fingers, an exertion of wen
1 derful strength, and ! was in safety.
Lee told me afterward that ] was uncon-
scious when he stretched me out on the
trial.
1 The first shot had been fred at a noun
tain lion that erouched in the trail short
distance ahead, and had sent it crashing
/ into the depths of the canon. Hearing my
/ cry of fear as ! toppled over the brink Of
/ the cliff, he had shot his horse to clear
/ "a path to get back to where l was, and
/ had been in time to rescue me.
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