Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-11-29
FINDING A HEART.

would lock IOr III NEW EuSldAu tuo
last week in December. The thermoln-
eter stood at SO degrees and the sun fell
warmly Oh the bare, wet earth, draw
ing ND little breaths of vapor on the
sunny slopes There was look Of
WEAKNESS on the face Of nature as if
the quiet were the coma of exhaustion.
1T certainly was a reaction. For "A
hours the rain had fallen in torrents,
breaking up the ice and choking the
streams The wind had been almost
gale, and field and highway were strewn
with evidences of the storms power.
At the gate of handsome house stood
its owner, MI Ambrose Winchester, ac-
counted one of the wealthiest men il
the town. Ee seemed to be taking in
the magnitude Of the storm as his eye
swept oyer his we'll kept domain from
4he thrifty orchards in the rear and the
woodland beyond to the smooth mead
Ows in front, where miniature river
seemed to have sprung into existence.
| A young man i'll buggy drove up
and stopped
GOOD morning, Mr.. Winchester"
said he.
| "Gocd morning, Hutton!'' said the
other gruffiy.
"I've driven over this morning, Mr..
Winchester, to ask you to extend the
time ON that payment. I've done my
best to raise the money
/ sit doesn't matter, Hutton. I've made
up my mind to foreclose that property.
Hutton grew pale.
/ 'Surely, you wouldn't do that's
There was entreaty III his voice and
eyes. lyon know the factory shut down
to BALI time all summer. Even at that
4 was saving toward the payment when
my wife's long illness began. Doctor
and nurse bills ate up what I'd saved
fer you.
''Same old story! A man has no right
Ito get married until he can support a
family, Doctors bills and all. I've no
sympathy with such nonsense People
marry on nothing and then expect other
people TO support their families. Sooner
they find ont it can't be done the bet
tier. Now, take good care Of my fam
lily without anybody else's help, and I
always expect to- If you can't do as
much, then it'g your fault, not mine.
See? I shall foreciose. and now let us
have 40 more words about it. -
/ With this the farmer strobe into the
house, the young man driving Oh slowly
with bowed head.
The farmers little girls, Ruth and
mabel, came dancing out, and their
mother followed them on to the porch.
It'Now. be sure and leave grandma's at
a O'Clock, so as to get here before dark. y
| eyes, mamma, we will, they prom
5sed glib]y and started off on q run.
! Grand7as Winchester lived about a
mile away, oa az unfrequented road,
but the children had made the trip Of
teH since they were quite small. So
now they chatted happily along ti1e
familiar path. possessed with a child
|ish interest in everything around them,
even to the washouts the rain had made
in the road and cutters. But when they
tinearess Blue creek they stood in sheer
surprise.
| The little SUMNER brook they had
sometimes waded across had grown to
Jan angry torrent and eyerfiowed its
steep banks and was rushing madiy
along, bearing ice, foam and branches
pf frees. In fact, tree had lodged
against the bridge, and its limbs SO
NEARLY covered it that it was difficult
for our little travellers to get across.
"Oh, how the bridge tfemblss u cried
little Mabel.
/ Sits all this ice pushing against it, -
said Ruth.
! The wind began so rise, and the blue
gray clouds settled down, darkly obscHr
ing the SUD, which had made the day
seem SO fair. The children shivered III
uRis9p with the change and quickened
their pace.
{ At O'Clock that afternoon the two
little girls stood appalled, at the Blue
creek crossing. The brook had swollen
Is1iGre and was now raging torrent.
The place spanned by the bridge ,yas
4ile nalsowest, and the narrow plaatzs,
with the frail side ratings, held to each
bank as if by thread.
"See, Mabel, we must hurry" said
Ruth, SOY our bridge will be gone
Take my hand, and we'll run across
quick. F"
"I'm awful 'fraid," said the child,
svith anjyering lips.
"Weli, III go first, - said her sister
iencouragingly, 'and you'll see how
easy it'll be. Now, then, one-two-
AhreeI' and clasping hands tisa two lit
tie girls started to run across the res:s
ing Bridge. Perhaps it was their weight,
perhaps it syas at that very moment the
5fastenings were ready to give way, but
ce=tain it was that when they reached
5the aeitddle Of the bridge it snapped its
councillors at each side, and with light
ming velocity SHOT down the stream, the
little ones clinging to each other and
She band rail-.
The fxightful speed at which they
were going, together with the awful
Soar of the water and the suddenness
with which the whole thing came
about, gave the children no chance to
feel the egtreme terror that their hazard
ous position would naturally have liz
Epired. They had only one thought,
only one jpstjnctiye feeling, and that
was to cling with a death grip to the
bridge and each other. 1t was reserved
fos 2 spectator to the scene; who arrived
ON a FL tie knoll that commanded yieW
of the wis2le transaction just as it CO.
CURED, to experience the full agony OF
their terrible situation. This was their
father, Ambrose Winchester,
like one gone mad, he ran desperate
ty along the bank after the small bark,
his eyes fixed On the two little swaying
figures, dark brown and faxen euris
aningling as they ygere tossed by the
wind. until s1nala patch of woodland
cut off bis view. Still he raa9, snrttering
cries, prayers. until his breath gave esaF
and his gasping throat could only give
vent to something like sobs.
When he passed the little patch Of
woodland, he SAW the bridge had STOP
ped, caught by the branches of tres
fallen across the stream. But the bridge
itself was ready to fall to pieces nov.
The rail- to WHICH the children hung
Svoc cxvavipo asG 9,4.ssdiup and threaten