Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-12-25
MYSTERIOUS NIGHT RID.
lie Crossed n Bridge Where There Wa
No Bridge to Cross.

WI y CiNIOoS iNIoT'l NV -
Tie Crossed Bridge Where There Wa
No Bridge to Cross.
The most famous Of the AlirOn-
lack gorges is the Au Sable chusnn,
which is not far from whore TIE AU
Sable river flows into l;,i.c Cham.
plain. The galleries, caves and cas-.
tellated columns attract thousands
of tourists yearly, but ~ Yeas ago
it was comparatively un.slown. IL
those early days the lCcipitou
cliffs were spanned by Il wooden
bridge, over which the falntrS had
to pass on their way to Au Sable
Forks. The bottom of the cht.s.n at
this point was sheer descent IF y,
feet. In those early days the rio
neers We're not skilled in the art Of
bridge building, and SO one night.
when a fierce storm Numbered
through the mountains, the bridge
was swept away, with the exception
of the main stringer, beam OF
ABOUT Is inches square.
One pitch black night, about ten
years after the storm that had de-
molished the bridge, stranger drew
up his horse in front OF the tavern
at Au Sable Forks. 1t was about II
O'Clock and the taproOm WAS well
filed with villagers drinking, smok
ing and playing cares. The en-
trance of IL stranger caused the USUAL
commotion, and as he sat in one
corner eating a hastily prepared
supper he was the cynOsurc OF I'll
eyes After the meal the host, as
..". tho ,.atnn,, onsused tho s,run
ger in conversation.
Ozark, nasty night outside, sin"
Eyes, pretty black
Have any trouble i'll finding youl
wayi"
"Oh, no. used to live in this
neighborhood 20 years ago
"Sot Well, you'll find thin2s
pretty well changed since you lett.
Eyes, | expect so. Tie old blidgo
is still standing, though, and | am
glad of that, tor l helped to build
it,"
1.-The old bridget questioned the
tavern keeper, and every ono in the
room looked up in amazemcnt.
"Why, yes" rejoinod the stran.
ger, tho bridge acl oss the chasm
down the road IL half mile"
What! Are you crazy - shouted
the host. There is no bridge across
the Au Sable There has been nc
bridge there for the past ten years. "
but you are mistaken, my friend
I rode my horse across it not three.
quarters OF an hour ago.
"Impossible, sir. tell you that
the bridge blew down ton years
ago"
Again tell you, my friond, that
| rode across it this very night,
was the imperturbable answer. 1t
was too dark for me to see, but
heard the CHATTER of my horses feet
on the planking and the noise of the
water i'll the chasm below
The argument waXed warmer and
warmer until the stranger said that
they would wait until the next
morning, when it could easily lie
settled if there was II bridge OF not.
He made a wager with the landlord
that it was still standing across the
chasm.
The next morning every man,
woman and child in Au Sable Forks |
was at the chasm. Sure enough, in |
the soft sand of the ruuu there were /
footprints of IL horse, and the trail
led from the stringer across the J
chasm up to the tavern porch. One
young daredevil walked across the /
narrow stringer and made a star
Ting discovery.
There was similar trail on the .
other sidei
The stranger had told the truth.
In the darkness of the night his
horse had crossed the chasm on Il
single beam.
But that is not the strangest part
of the story. When that forenoon
the stranger rode down to the Au
Sable chasm to settle his wager with
the keeper of the tavern and he saw
the perilous path over which he had
travelled the night before, it is said
that he was stricken with Il trem-
bling that never left his limbs until
death, and that within the space OF
60 seconds his hair turned from jet
black to the color of the driven
snow.-Chicago Times-Herald.