Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-01-12
THE PEOPLE
 OF THE MIST.
By H. RIDER HAGGARD.
TCopyright, 1898, by the Author.l CuADTEP WY

was explained. In her madness and the fury of her love for the mistress whom she had outraged and betrayed, Soa had striv. en to throw herself upon the stone with them so soon aS she saw it commence to move, :Gs too late, for feeling herself slip. ping forward she had grasped dcspairingly at the flr0o thing that came to her hand, which GhGnced to be Leonard's ankle. Now she must accompany them upon their aweso1ne journey, only, while they rode upon the stone, she was dragged after them upon her breast.
 A flash of pity passed through Leonard s brain as he realized her fearful plight. Then for awhile he forgot all about her, since his attention was amply occupied with his own and Juannas peril. Now they were rushing down the long slope with an ever increasing velocity, and now they breasted the first rise, during the last ten yards of which, as in the case of Otter, the pace of the stone slowed down so much ill proportion to the progressive exhaus- tion of its momentum that Leonard thought they wcr" coming to standstill. Then it was that he kicked out viciously, striving 10 free himself from the weight | of Soa, which threatened to bring them to a common ruin, but she clung to him like | an ivy 10 q tree, and he dcsistcd from his efforts lest he should cause their sledge to l alter its course,
 On tn" very top of the rise the motion l of the stone decreased almost to nothing ness, then littIr by little increased once | more as they traVcrSCd n short. sharp dip the same in which they had lost sight of | Otter, to be succeeded by a gentle rise. So far, though exciting and novel, their jour- l nCy had been comparatively safe, for the I path was broad and the icc perfectly I smooth. Its tCrrOrs were to come. Look 1 ing forward, Leonard saw that they were | at the commencement of a decline so steep l that, even had it offered a good foothold, | human beings could scarcely have stood | upon it, and measuring 400 or 500 yards in length. As yet tho tongue of ice was | 30 paccs or more in width, but it narrowed rapidly as it fell till at length near the | opposite shore of the ravine it fined away | to point like that of a great white needle l and then seemed to break of altogether. Now they were well under way, and now they sped down the steep green ice at pace that can hardy be imagined, though l perhaps it is sometimes equaled by an | eagle falling on it's prey from some vast | height of mir. Indeed it is possible that | the sensations of an eagle making his | hcadlong descent and those of Leonard l may have been very similar with the i'm 1 portant exception that the bird feels no | fear, whereas absolute terror are the only words wherewith to describe the mental i state of the man. So smooth was the ice and so prccipitous its pitch that he felt as l though he were falling through space un- supported by anything, for travelling at that speed the friction of the stone was l imperceptiblc. Only the air shriekcd as | they CloVe it, and Juanna's long tresscs, l torn by it from their fastenings, streamed | out behind her like veil.
 Down they went, still down, half-two- | thirds of the distance was COvCrcd; then | he looked again and saw tho horror that lay before them. Already the bridge was | narrow, barely the width of a small room. | \ hundred yards farther on it tapered to | so fine point that the stone would almost cover its breadth and beneath it, on either | side, was that unmCasurCd gulf wherein Nam was lost with the jewels. Nor was this all for at its narrowest it was broken | away for d spacc of 10 or l2 feet, to con- | tinuc on the farther side of the gap, for a | few yards at q somewhat lower level, and | then run upward at q steep incline to the l breast of snow where Otter sat in safety.
 On they wLizzcd. ice beneath them and | before them, and ice in Iconards heart, for he was frozen with fear. His breath | had left him because of the rush of their l progress, but his senses remained painfully acute. Involuntarily he glanced over the edge of the stone saw the sheer depths be- low him and found himself wondering what was the law that kept their sledge upon this ribbon of ice when it seemed SC easy for il to whirl of into space.
 Now the gap was immediately in front | of them. God help us!' ho murmured or rather thought. for there was no time for words, and they had left the road oi ice and were flying through the air q: | though the stone which carried them were a living thing that. seeing the peril, haC gathered mp its energies and sprung for
 ward for its life.
 What happcned? Leonard never knew for certain, and Otter sworo that his hear
 came and stood before his eyes so that h, could not see. Before they touched tho farther point of icc-while they were 1T the air indcCd-thCy, or rather Leonard
 heard a hidCous scream and felt jerk st
 violent that his hold of the stone was loos
 encd and it passed from beReath them
 Then came a shock, less violent thar
 might have been expected, and, To! the!
 were spinning onward down the polished
 surface of tle ice, while tho stone that haC
 borne them sped on in front like hors
 that has thrown it's rider.
 Leonard felt the rubbing of tho ice burr
 nm lkc nor iron. 11C 16lG JnaG ms aukl
 was freed from tho hand that had held it
 then for son.o minutes he felt no moro
 for his senses left him. When they re
 turned, it was to hear the voice of Otte
 crying: Lie still, baas; do not stir for you
 life come, '
 Instantly he was wide awake, and mov
 ing his head ever so little saw their situa
 tion. Then he wished that he had re
 maned asleep, for it was this:
 The impetus of their rush had carrie
 them almost to the line where the ice stop
 ped and the rock and snow began, within
 some , feet of it indeed. But those l
 feet were of the smoothcst ice and yer
 sheer, so smooth and sheer that no ma
 could hope to climb them. Below theT
 the slope continued for some 13 or
 yards till 1t met the corresponding inclin
 that led to the gap in the bridge. On thi surface of ice they were lying spread eagled
 For a moment Leonard wondered how
 was that they did not slide back to tn
 bottom of the slope, ta,ro to remain ti
 they perished for without ropes and proI
 CT implements no human being could seal
 it. Then he saw that q chance had befalle j them which in after days he was wont t { attribute to the direct intervention P | Providence.
 | It will be remembered that when the
 started Leonard had pushed the rock O
 with a spear which Olfan had given then - This spear he drew in again as they bega \ to move, placing it between his chest an , the stone, for he thought that it might
 of service to him should they succeed 1
 crossing the gulf. When they were jerke
 from the stone and left to travel along th a ice on the farther side of the gap in obed t ence to the impetus given to them by th
 frightful speed at which they were trave
 ing, the spear, obeying the same laws
 motion, accompanied them, but being of
 less specific gravity Jagged behind in th
 race, just as the stone, which was heavies -