Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-31

and there. soom!n' doun ny mo'
something that lookit like a man. hut
"My bert was burstin' WI terror "a
thinks I. here's a droonin' po"y' f. az
maun try and save IL. 80 ssare sae
far as I daured. though my iee'
cauid that they bowed a-hs,un "a fsch-
"Ahint me / heard a splashin anu .',,a
Tin, and then I saw the nowt, fair wiz
wl' FRIGHT. standln in the water on -
,,ber aide o. the green bit. and iooknn
,nuckia feared cen at something IN 'h'
water afore me. oot
"Doun the thing came. and aye 4 so'
caulaer as / looked. Then II was ny ny
side. and l caught at 1t, and pud IL ai'ei
me on TO the land. n,,
"I heard another splash. Tne now.
aaed farther into the water ana s'oo"
shakin' like young birks In Storm
81 got the thing upon the green Dans
and turned IL over. 1t was a oroon.
man. WI his hair hingin pack on n,s
broo, and his mouth wide open. pu. ~.
7 saw his cen. which glowered IKE scra,
MI lead out o. his csy-cauld face, ana
had in them a. the fear o. death ana neil
which follows after.
"The next moment ] was up 10 my
waist among the nowt. fechtin' IN the
water aside them, and snokin' into thei,
,cet hacks TO hide myself like reared
BARN.
MAYBE half an 'oor stood. and then
my mind returned to me. i misca Gu my
sell for fule and q coward. ana my
legs were sac numb and my strength sae
far game that / kennel fine tnat couiu
ma lang thole to stand this way IKE
heron In the water
II lookit round, and then turned again
WI n stert for there were thae leaden
M, dot QfaT1n'
still.
For anither quarter hour / stood and
shivered, and then my guild sense return
ed. and / tried again. l walkit back
ward. never lookin' roond. through the
water to the shore. whaur l thocht the
corp was lyin'. And a. the time | could
hear my bert chokin' in my breist.
my God. / fell over 1t. and for mo-
ment lay aside it, WI my head touchin
its deathly skin. Then wi skeiioch
like daft man L took the thing In my
Arms and flung it wi a my strength INTO
the water. The swirl took 1t and 1t dip
ped and swan like fish till 1t gaed oot
o. SIGHT.
81 sat doun on the grass and graf Ike
a BARN WI fair horror and weakness.
Yin by yin the nowt came back, ana
shouthered anither around me, an the
puir beasts brocht me vince mair TO my
sell. But / 1sepit my cen on the gruhd,
and thocht o. hame and a thing decent
and kindly, for / daurdna for my life look
out to the black water in dreid o what IL
MIGHT bring.
AT the first LIGHT the herd and twae
ither men cam over in a boat 10 tax me
aft and bring fodder for the beasts. They
fand me still sitting WI my held atween
my knees and my face like peeled
wand. They lifted me Until the boat ana
rowed me over, driftin' far down WI the
angry current. At the ither side the
shepherd says to me in an awed voice:
" There's fearful thing happened
The young laird o. Manorwater.s droon-
ed in the spate. He was ridin' back
late and tried the ford u the Cauldshaw
foot. We ken his wild cantrips, but
there's an end o. them moo The horse
cam hame i'm the NIGHT wi an empty
saddle. and the Gled water rinnin' frae
him in, streams. The corp'n be far on
to the sea by this time, and they'll never
sect mair.'
L ken l cried wi a dry throat. L
ken; / saw him noatin' by. And then
| broke vince mair into a silly greetin',
while the men watched noe rs If they
thocht 1 was out O. my mind!
So much tho farmer Of Clachlands told
me, but to the countryside he repeated
merely the bare facts CT WEAKNESS and
discomfort. / have heard that he was
accosted a week later by the minister
of the place. a well-intentioned. phras-
ing man, who had strayed from his ma
tive city with its familiar air OF tea and
to those stony urlands.
And what thoughts had you, Mr..
Lnklater, in that awful position? Had
you no serious reflection upon your life?"
"Me?" said the farmer; mo me.
lust was thinkin' that 1t was dooms
cauld. and that / wad hae gum aguid
deal for a pipe O. tobaccy." This i'm the
racy. careless tone of one to whom such
incidents were the merest child's-play.