The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1897-04-09
lust emerged into the light an,l fraalon,

Inst emerged into the light and fraalonl
of the. upper niE
As I lily upon the ground fol ny legs
were useless to me--l looked ut my de-
Ellserer md Wept for very joy Ut te--
Itswas Horaee Rishton who Ind s.,yess,l
me. and fever my lleart Went out y NY
81 cannot sufficiently thank yoa, Y / be-
'"'tsive me no thinks. s s lie interrupted
harshly. ..Thank heaven, Instead,
Heaven and hell have been fighting over
you and heaven has Won. But YOU little
know howSnear You hnye been to DEATH
1 looked np. in Monderment ut him, for
took no notice OF my look, but continued:
II guessed where YOU We're. call it in
stinct or whatever you like. No one else
did. They will seek everywhere but
here, But | seemed to know, nnd-Well,
the, devil tempted me, nay, he fought
love Ada Miller. do you not? Then. so
do l. Yes, with u love that is 'tll-con-
smling-a love which gives me no rest
night or day, love which makes it Inn
possible for me to live without her. You
have Won her hand, but don't you think
| envy YOU? Don't you think l even
hate YOU ut times? And when guessed
you were here don'tyou see that the devil
tempted me to leave you here and 70 say
has chosen you, she loves you. Your
wedding day draws near. Go-~tAke her
and be happy. But for me- happiness in
this life is over T.
He turned away to unloosen the rope
which he had made fast to one of the
stakes of the fence.
/ watched him wondcringly. with IL
iV,I oil in, 1...-
fore l could think or speak, he rccled,;
fell over, and topplcd headlong into the
pit from whence he had drawn me, car
rying the rope with him.
Good heavens, he's gomez l shricked,
and springing to my fcct-for the numb
hess left me for Il moment--1 rushed to
the mouth of the shaft; crying frantical-
ly. Horace! Horace:
But no answer came to my cries. \
loud splash succeeded his fall then all
was still and silent as the grave. /
locked around for help, but no help was
near, and overcome With weakness. ia
tigue and horror, l fell scnseless to the
ground.
When I came to found myself in
the same position. and knowing that
it WAS extremely improbable that any
one wou|d pass that way. l put forth
all my strength, and dragged myself
with great difficulty in the direction Of
home.
When l had gone mile or so l en-
tered upon more freQuentcd road, and
soon fell i'll with those who rendered ne
all the assistance | required.
My story caused Il great sensation, lis
YOU may be sure, and for 4 time | was
the one object Of interest in the place.
Ada looked upon me- as one given back
from the dead, and rejoiced over Inc nc
cordingN. Her joy, woIlld have been
com l,lete had it not been for the I'M
fortunate death of Horace Rishton. for
that naturally cast Il gloom over us all.
OF course, his death was put down to
accident and much regret expressed at
the painful occurrence. but |, who had
seem the whole thing knew that it was
no accident. though, rightly Or wrongly.
| kept the knowledge to myself.
Why should l bllzon abroad the fact
that Horace Rishton. after calamity say
ing my life. had deliberately destroyed
his own?
1t would have been Il poor return for
the service he had rendered me: it would
have done no good to those who knew
him ana who rcvercd his memory: and
above all, it would have been source of
constant pain and grief to nay own little
darling wife.
By accident therefore let it be, and
may his soul rest in peace,
Every year we pay Il visit to his grave,
and as we gaze upon the silent tomb,
we think with gratitude and yet with
regret of a rivals lovc.-Houscllold
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