The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-02-06

N .Vf4r4Eut1001 WHICH 18u Notu H>40h iu1
the plans which bad been formed.
4 How brigbt. the world bod seemed but .
\ fsw inuipeAtx before, and bow kscnIy !
| had anticipated its pleasuresi And now II
wnsail over. 4 must think no moro Of en-
tsring again the bright region above and
sharing In the Joys that awaited me there.
] was doomed to die-to die lonely, rsoli-
tary, horrible death, and to he In watery
grave ASH held on to my feeble support
and thought Of all this, my brain reeled
within mo and / feared that my reason
must give way.
Death instead Of marriagel What q con-
trasti Just when ought to be leading
my bride to the altar and stepping across
the portal Of married life, to lat go my hold
here and fall into the cold, relentless arms
of DEATH And what Of Ada them Surely
she would sorrow and grieye and be dis
consulate
But Horace Rishtonl What Of himY
Might they not become man and-but, no,
the thought was torturing and drove me in
| f1t Of frenzy to shout again with all iny
might But 1t was all In vain, for no one
[ heard
| How the night passed ! cannot tell,
| neither do / know how the morning hours
dragged on, for ] was numb with cold and
faint with hunger and fatigue / only
| Knows that after what seemed to me to be
| ages footsteps drew near and voice call
| cd ont from above; 81. ,t .s.
I Are you there, Fred9"
Ny heart leaped into my mouth, and for
moment was unable to utter a sound.
At last I murmured In a faint voice:
I'm heavens name, get me outl I'm
dyingp'
y ''Can you hold on another minutef' the
voice asked. ".I've got q rope here Keep
up till fasten 1t to this stake. Can you
slip loop round your body, or shall
come down to your 4,
"Send the rope down. I'll manage to
pass 1t round" shouted eagerly.
In another minute 1t was dangling be-
fore my eyes and was soon passed under
my arms, after which I gave the word to
draw up. Slowly assembled and at last
emerged into the light and freedom Of the
upper air.
AS lay upon the ground-for my legs
were useless to mel looked at my deliver
or and wept for very joy at my release.
1t was Horace Rishton who had saved
me, and II ever my heart went out to my
rival, IL was then. &
cannot sufficiently thank you'll be.
gan.
"Giye me no thanks" he interrupted
harshly. "Thank heaven instead Heaven,
and hell have been fighting over you, and
heaven has won. But you little know
how near you have been to death"
looked up In wonderment at him, for
his words were unintelligible to me. He
took no notice of my look, but continued:
II guessed where you were-oall 1t In
stipct or whatever you like. No one else
did. They will seek everywhere but here.
But I seemed to know, and-well, the
devil tempted me, nay, he fought with
me. Don't you know whyp You love Ada
Miller, do you noR Then, SO do l. Yes,
with love that Is all consuning-a love
which gives me no rest night or day,
love which makes 1t impossible for me to
live without her. You have won her hand,
but don't you think envy your Don't
you think even hate you at times? And
when guessed you were here, don't you
see that the devil tempted me to leave you
here and to say nothing whatever about it9
But Ada has chosen you, she loves you.
Your wedding day draws near. Go-take
her and be happy, But for me happiness
In this life IL over.
He turned away to unloosen the rope
which he had made fast to one Of the
stakes of the fence. as.
Watched him wonderingly with dazed
mind, when all in moment, before I
could think or speak, he reeled, fell o7er
and toppled headlong into the pit whence
he had drawn me, carrying the rope with
him.
GOOD heaven, he's gonei' shrieked,
and springing to my feet--for the numb
ness left me for a mement-I rushed to
the mouth Of the shaft, crying frantically;
"Horacel Horacel''
But no answer came to my cries. A
loud splash succeeded his fall; then all was
still and silent as the grave. I looked
around for help, and no help was near,
and overcome with weakness fatigue and
horror fell senseless to the ground.
When came to, found myself In the
same position, and knowing that 1t was
extremely improbable that any one would
pass that way put forth all my strength
and dragged myself with great difficulty in
the direction Of home.
When had gone a mile or SO, entered
upon more frequented road and soon fell
in; with those who rendered me all the as
sistanee required.
My story caused great sensation, as you !
may be sure, and for a. time was the one |
object Of interest in the place. i
Ada looked upon me as one given back
from the dead and rejoiced over me accord
ingly. Her joy would have been complete
had 1t not been for the unfortunate death
of Horace Rishton, for that naturally cast
gloom over us all
OF course his death was put down to &C
cident and much regret expressed at the
painful occurrence, but I, who had seen
the whole thing, knew that it was no ac-
cident though, rightly or wrongly, kept
the knowledge to myself.
Why should 1 blazon abroad the fact
that Horace Rishton, after calamity saw
ing my life, had deliberately destroyed his
ownP
1t would have been poor return for the
service he had rendered me; twould have
done no good to those who knew him and
who revered his memory, and, above all,
1t would have been source of constant
pain and grief to my own little darling
wife.
BY accident therefore let 1t be, and may
his soul rest in peace
Every year We pay visit to his grave,
and as we gaze upon tho silent tomb we
think with gratitude and yet with regret
of a rivals loye,--Household Words.
r,;Iol Aeton All |