Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-18
escape from that which follower on my

l SuNNSihys ouu WSlle was Sui kicking
and urging on my horse, before the first
flush of fear had left me, 1 heard crash
and cry behind me: but I did not dare
at that moment to look back. only lean
ed the lower. and chung the more tightly to
my horses name, and still pressed on.
BY and by, however, hearing nothing, It
flashed on me that / was riding alone. that
! was no longer pursued; and a little later
taxing courage to draw rein and look back
warily, found that could see nothing. nor
hear any sound save the heavy painting Of
my own horse.
1 had escaped. had escaped and was
alone on the marsh. But as 1 soon salts
ned myself. I was no longer on the cause
way along which had been travelling when
the man surprised me. The wind which
nad then met me was not on my right
heading were no longer visible. The track,
too, when 1 moved cautiously forward
seemed more wet and rough; after that it
neeoed little to convince me that 1 had
strayed from the highway, probably at the
point where my pursuer had fallen.
RMS, since I dared not return by the
way l had come. terribly perplexed me-
l L. oismounted. and wet with shiverihg stood
oy my morse; which hung its head, and
rest!essiy lifted its feet by turns as If 1t al
ready 1elt the engulfing power of the moss
Feerlng out every way I saw nothing but
s.oom ana mist, the dark waste and un-
known depths of the marsh. 1t was a
situation to try the stoutest, nor did Il:
neeo the mournful sough of the wind as 1t
swept the flats, or the strange gursling
noises that from time to time rose from
the sloughs about me to add the last touch
OF. Tear and melancholy to the scene.
Inougn, Tor my own part, I sank in no
Iarther than my arkles, the horse by its
restlessnesS evinced a strong sense of dan
ser and I dared not stand still Rut as
clouds had again obscured the moon and
the darkness was absolute to advance
seemed as dangerous as to remain. How
ever, In fear that the horse If I stood
where l was. would break loose from me.
l lea 1t forward cautiously, and then the
uack growing no worse but rather better
ana the beast seeming to gain confidence
as IL proceeded. 1 presently took courage
10 remount again, and dropping the reins
allowed 1T to carry me whittier it would.
rms 1t did slowly and with infinite eau
.,oa' smelling rather than feeling the way,
ana o1ten stopping to try doubtful spot
observing how wonderfully the instinct of
the BEAST aided 1t, and remembering that
l nsd once been told that horses feared
fan,rn 20 nuch as to be smoored (as the
1enmen call it, and would not willingly
run that risk, I gained confidence myself:
winch the event justified for by and by
i caught the dull sound of sea waves
booming on a beach, and a few minutes
after"ard discerned in the sky before me
ths 1lrst faint streaks of dawn
heaven knows how welcome it was to
me me, l was wet; weary and shivering with
dreary place, which is SO unwholesome
that am told the natives take drugs to
slave off the fever as others do ale and
VINE. VINE: But at the sight 1 pricked up, and
the morse, too; and We moved on briskly
and presently by the help of the growing
ight, and through gray mist which
,repled the size of all objects 1 saw a
7 we wan or bank loom across my path.
l was close to 1t when I discerned it, and
had no more than time to despair of
surrounding 1t, before the horse was al
ready clambering up it. Scrambling and
sIppliiS among the stones. in minute or
oil
summit, and saw below and before us the
smoo1h milky surface of the sea- lifting
lazily under the fog
go seen 1t had a strangely weird and
PGild aspect, as of a dead sea, viewed in
dreams; and 1 stood moment 20 breathe
my horse and admire the spectacle. nor lid
l TAN to thank God that WAS out Of that
dreary and treacherous place Then. con-
sidering my future movements, and not
knowing which way I ought to taka-to
r!eht or left along the beach-to gain the
more quickly help and shelter. was REIN
ing MY mare down the seaside OF the
bank, when welcome sound caught my
ear. 1t was mans Voice giving an order.
matted and peered through the sea haze,
beached at the edge Of the tide, some $50
yards to my left There were men stand
ing In it. I could no: see how many: and
more were In the act of pushing it of the
strand Their voices came to me with sim
gular clea-ness, but thu words were unin-
telligible.
The sight gave me pause, and for n mo-
nfsht l stood accommodating the men. To
advance or hct was the question and /
was still debating 1t and striving to deduce
something from the mems appearance.
when something, never knew what---per-
haps some noise ill-appreheI ded-Ied me
to turn my head Whatever the cause of
the movement it apprised me of something
little suspected. Not fifty PAGES behind me
saw the figure of giant horseman loom
ing out of the mist. He was advancing
along the summit of the sea wall below
which l stood; hence 1 saw him before he
made me out; and this gave me the start
and the advantage
1 had time to take in the thing and
seize my horse by the head, and move
eight or ten PAGES toward the boat before
he took the cue. Then on neither side was
there any concealment. With n cry a veil
rather, the mere sound of which flung me
into mic, the man urged his horse
down the bank, shouting fiercely to me to
stand l, In utter terror. spurred mine
across the beach toward the men I had
seen.
have said that I had some sixty yards
of start, and two hundred or so to cross
to reach the boat; but the horses were
scarcely able to trot, yard was a fur
long, and the sand swallowing up The
sound of hoofs, 1t was a veritable race of
ghosts. of phantoms, laboring through the
mist across the fiat, with the oily Stygian
sea tapping the shore beside us. He cried
out in the most violent fashion, now bid
ding me stay. and now bidding the men
stop me. And for all l knew, they mign. |
be in his pay, or. at best, be some of the
reckless desperadoes who on that coast |
live by owing and worse practices. But
they were my only hope, and l. too, cried |
to them, and with joy I saw them put in
again--they had before set afloat.
Believing Smith to be gaining, 1 cried |
pitifully to them to save me. and then, my |
horse stumbling, I flung myself from the |
saddle, and plunged through the sand |
toward them. At that, two sDrang out to |
meet me and caught me under my arms !
and in a moment, amid a jargon of cries |
in foreign tongue. whipped me over the |
side into the boat. Then they pushed 1t off |
and leaped in themselves, wet to the thighs; |
and as my pursuer came lurching down the |
beach, pistol drawn in his hand, couple |
of powerful strokes drove the boat through |
the light surf Waving frantically he yelled |
to the men to wait, and rode to his boot |
soles into the water, but with ieering |
laugh and a volley of foreign words the |
sailors pulled the faster and the faster and |
the mist lying thick on the water, and the |
boat sitting low. in half a minute we |
lost the last glimpse of him and his passion, |
and rode outward on a gray boundless sea. |
(To be continued)
His Dog Saved Him 5000.
From the Philadelphia Record