The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-22


OF the raft, placed his shoulder against it
and with his feet resting on the rock he
pushed until we began to sheer off. and
theh spfang back into his place.
| curing the next, few minutes l thought
thdI nothing could save us from destruc-
tlon. We. crashed against the side of the
cilH' rebolnded, whirled round and round.
struck rock after rock with the force of
4 patterinS ram, then rushed straight for
Ward at racehorse speed. A cry of terror
escaped me as the stern of our craft was
lHted in the air Half blinded bv sprav
Down we. plunged into the foaming mass
! oeioW. When the waters closed over me
ana the daylight was gone a giant SEEM
! ca trying to tear me from the raft I he
| HsNeu my time had come; but Just as /
I thought that l could no longer hold my
breath our brave little craft lifted her
DOW ABOVE the foam, and the danger was
past
| Why the fall can't be more than eight
Aeet hlgh, l shouted as l looked back
Eight feet or eighty it nearly did for
me, replied John Harlow, holding on
WIN one hand and wringing the water
! II II ms beard with the other I've had
| 'ne longest teetotal drink 1 ever had in
my life, and don't think much of it,
John used to say these sort of things
with a ridiculous solemnity that made
I them really funny. But we now entered a
| part of the canon where even his cheer
| full spirits became depressed. Peaks. cliffs
! ana rocks were stained vermillion; the
same color was reflected on to everything.
| ana once when | withdrew from the river
| dripping pole with which | had been
! steering, / instinctively wiped NV hands:
| Tor the clefts, and caves appeared like nor
| rlple wounds the water dripping from
Them. human blood A few minutes more
ana we We're out of the binding glare of
! the awful place. Then we came to a long
stretch of the kind of formation for which
we We're looking; and all at once John
Harlow pointed to an opening or fiat of
! semi-clrcular shape and shouted:
There's our landing place"
| 1hen ne Piled his pole so vigorously that
! our craft came close enough to the land
for him to leap ashore. We made fast TO
rock with strong rope and our boat
| swinging out of the current lay along the
| bank After landing some provisions. our
! rifles, and few other things, we looked
round US. No sunlight could penetrate the
/ dismal place; for high above our heads
| great mass of rock covered it in, and
| reached so far over the river itself that
/ we were unable to see the top of the oppo-
site precipice Huge fungi-white. yellow,
| brown, and red-clung along the base of
the surrounding cliffs: while grey wool
| Unlocking substance of the same family
| depended like drapery from the jutting
crags, and waved about with every breath
of air.
As we dried ourselves at a fire of drift
wood, a sudden gust of wind swept
! through the place. Then in the silence that
| ensued, the ripping of the river sounded
| unnaturally sharp and clear. Soon we no.
| ticed that the gloom round US was becom-
| ing intensified; and at last we could see
! little of the riyer-twenty yards away-ex-
cept flocks of foam that hurried past, and
! white lines where the water surged
against the rocks. Suddenly a vivid light
ming flash darted along the face of the
| opposite cliff. In the glare the grey and
| ghostly drapery which hung round the
| cavernous place where we stood, appeared
| so gruesome that I shrank 10 my part
ner's side. Almost at the same moment
| crouched with fear as an awful thunder
clap reverberated along the canon; the
! echoes threw back the sound from wall
! to wall, and mighty crashes and awful
| rumblings seemed to shake the earth.
The dazzling lightning flashes followed
each other so rapidly that 1 was able to
| see John Harlow approach the river hank
| and make our raft more secure with a
| second rope, The necessity for this pre-
| caution soon became obvious. A wave sew
eral feet high came rushing down the
| stream, followed by a large number of
! broken trees which, as they sped past,
| lifted their naked branches in the air, like
| the twisted limbs of huge monsters drown
| ing in the flood Imperceptiby il had be-
! come lighter; the storm had passed and
| soon died away in distant mutterings. Still
| I'm that cavernous place there was not suf-
! ficient daylight remaining to enable US to
| commence our search for emeralds, and
| as the ground was damp, we began to look
! for some cave in which to pass the night.
| l Had taken one side of the fiat and John
/ Harlow the other and l was standing
somewhat respondent a my want of sue
cess when my partner called to me and
| pointed to a narrow cleft in the wall.
See there he said: that is the en-
trance to a cave so vast that when I was
| inside it and first Shouted 10 you fully
minute must have passed before the
~echoes died away. The floor slopes up
wards, so we are sure TO find dry spot
to sleep on, and Jem, old man, if there are
emeralds round here there's the place TO
find them"
After short consultation we decided to
bring all our things ashore, and for this
purpose we approached the bank of the
river
All at once John Harlow clutched my
arm. Great Heavens" he cried, point
ing 20 mass of branches which were be-
lhg carried rapidly Gown the stream.
There goes our raft; some floating trees
have become entangled with it and torn
it loose"
My heart stood still. What an awful
fate awaited us imprisoned in that loath-
some place. Our small supply of provis-
ions would soon be exhausted, and then.
Desparingly / stood and gazed at the
great rock overhead, and The towering
walls that shut us from the world. once
l tried TO speak, but the words stuck in
my throat. Presently John Harlow put
his arm through mine and said:
at strikes me we've been and gone and
done ii"
l was already somewhat hysterical, and
such a remark at such a time sounded so
ridiculous that l laughed till the tears ran
down my cheeks,
That's right; cheer up, old man." he
said. heartily. "And now as it will soon
be dark, you take the things up to the
cave, while l collect some driftwood for
our fire..
BY the time l had carried my last load
into the cave, my partner had laid in
sufficient supply of fuel to last us through
the night AS soon as we had eaten our
supper we made our fire blaze, and exam
ipod o,4r t,,7I,aa6iatp e1Irr0undings rrbare