The Irish standard., 1895-06-29
Young g BeIangeF, a
n s'ss a ~ s Cor. Central Ave. 8 Main 81.

4 tho mouth Of the shaft, that shs. could
4 only; grope her ;wsy Ia despa to tho
black abyss before her. >ss Hi II
4 But she found tho ladder ii last, with
4 its top fort unateiy prot csing above tn
door 81 the gallery. I III 5 ...f5s5. IN
1 Very slowly and painfully and ID ut
1 tor darkness, che made hen. way down,
her delicate hands torn with .splinters
4 from the halfdecayed rnngs Of the old
4 ladders, and her feet, protected only by
her frail shoes, aching with 8 burning
pain. 4 J, ,.s.:. .s Il IA:
Once more she reached the ground,
''Wilders! Wilders!" she screamed.
1 The echoes Of her voice rolled through
those subterranean Governs with awful
distinctness repeated in the hollow
/ chambers, till it seemed To her heated
brain as though fends were hooking
her. .. ;-s f1s.,.s
Then a terrible, ssul-sickening ST.
| 1ence. t 5El 4 sg 1
She could hear her heart beat as she
strained her ears to catch some faint
reply, but all in vain. The terrible
| step must be taken, the lastladder must
be descended. 5 8;tscs II
Flinging herself on hands and knees
she gr oped her way to the edge Of the
precipice. Ali, what is this? A wall.
She knew that she: had taken wrong
direction and was wandering into ono
! Of the intar1ninab passages Of the de-
serted mine where q sure and lingering
death awaited her. Many were the
stories that flashed across her burning
| brain Of miners, who, once having lost
| themselves in these subterraneous lab
! yrinthS, could never win their way back
to safety. What could she then, a
weak girl, hope. for? ALL sense Of To-
| cality seemed to have deserted her.
| Gathering herself for one supreme eff
fort, she shrieked:
"Wilders Wildersl Wilders!'' ~ !. ! !.
The echoes once more died away in
the distance. Then could she believe
her ears? "a long, low, agonizing groan.
The direction Of the spot where some
thing human was in agony was now
| known to her. Once nnore on hands
and knees she CROPPED till she felt with
trembling hand the Shiny wall Of the
last gallery. sg,ass 4.
With eager eyes she pierced this dark
! chasrn.
Seventy feet below, like a star,
glitterea a storm-lantern, and close by
| It she thought she recognized human
body lying prone on the ground. - II
| "Wi]ders! Wilders!' She cried again.
| All! This time an answer
From the depths below came faint
cry for help, then al again was silent.
| Then Elsie knew that the last peril
Gus step must be taken. Better had she
retraced her way up those feeble lad
ders and sought for help, but her gen
erous Impotence broolzed no delay.
She did not hesitate, though she knew
that some Of the @rungs had been tam
pered with and that one false step
would hurl her to destruction. Calmly
but quickly she reasoned that each
stave must be tried before she trusted
her weight upon it, and TO effect this
most readily she tied. the long shawl
she had heen wearing over every rlng
above her head as she descended, not
loosening her hold Of it until security
of foothold was positive. 49,. 4,
| Suddenly as she rested for a moment
the rung which had just borne her with
apparent safety snapped like broken
reed, and but for the shawl to which
she desperately chung she would have
shared the fate of the prospecsor.
With one desperate effort she let.go
the shawl and chung to the sides Of the
| ladder, which for four yards was moth
ing bus two bare poles, and, letting her
body swing, hand over hand, inch by
inch, she lowered herself to earth. It
was the feat Of q ,gymnast, done by. q
frail girl, thoughtless of the peril,
which was nrercifully hidden from her
eyes by the friendly darkness.
The light guided her to the pros
trate figure of him for whom she had
dared SO much. How lucky The