The Van Buren press., 1898-02-26

q
ing eur fest til Il felf nav 3 Sock ..
5eal-grsst by besut5ful fellow
swept pfef IA. flying toward fhe laks.
utieflng loud, dlaeordaHt cries. AqH
and lhen che e lie number would Ia
- tie ground. Us Wigs pefhaps.
a5nged b. tie flames ever NAleh i had
passed -Four beautiful deer. 4 massive
stag viii magnificent ani1ert and thfes
sgfi-eFed does, eaue 81 fHN bound fr9m
ne eosert te fhs eft Of tie road. ne
ouek leading Ia frightened rau au1
tie females following with ihat star
Ted. almost human. loo1 10 their laHge
e1es that one notices ia animals e. bay.
4 long. e1ossY black snake writhed ia
swift SAY through the uncer5rpsh.
across ahe road aus a. iost te fieaR il
al instant. ! scarcely 4rg7f BOW man
aged 10 ste al these minDf features in
tie plsg wbieb afterwards came near
being s tragedy. bat eferE l1fle tbiag
is indeiblf Impressed upon my 1siHd.
eseH So this t0ur-
Our cid boHse Wak noM fully alive 10
the danger We mefe ia- He tnembleo
and shook in every limb ard drew The
rie1efg Cd vehicle along At a rate il
bad 1etsf gone before. ] held The refns
aad spoke eaeoura glng Nords &c him.
and ffied TO comfort the brave eifl at
n4 side. Tees was tfgiug 70 keep ibe
einders CT rs with 3 Little silk paraeQl
one q HaY g1fig 10 her-bu4 6oan there
were 10 many holes burned jig that
dainty relic q Civilization tbaf 81 be-
f-slule fefitable oolandef. through
81 hlea poured q fed-hDi binding hoad
Of sparks and smoke s great missing.
traek5ug efpdef lighted On her Tam
B'zShaufef and that soun Ma 50 near d
blaze ah1t ] shatehed Is oH and threw
4 anaF Tess looked like an angry
goddess Her long brown hair had e.
capped fHem Is fastenin2s and swept
ous behird ia tie wind our passage
created A. she held TIE feins while
] Naree1 Of q great blazing fjr b0pgh
mat came hurting down upon Is. with
Ter eyes sparkling with excitement, her
face pale as asbeg and Der lips sci. she
booked ike a1other Queen Boadieea
driving her chariot Of wrath over The
Herkk Of her proud Roman iDsulters.
Even in those moments Of agony WON
dered hom she kept up 50 marrelously.
Ne were row about half way home
AID almost 10 ibe belt Of fame. Things
might now get better. and If We could
bold out for another half hour there
nss chance Of our getting of with eur
ives. ] tried 70 speak. but my throat
was SO psrebed that | could not utter
sound.
The heat nas ffiqhiful Clouds Of
dense white smoke settled about Us In
snffoeating elogeness. while the tb0n-
der - the falling giants Of The forest,
together With he sharp fnsillade pro-
dueed by their swapping branches and
The eseF-inereaeiag roar Of the flames.
made up grand and awful diaps4on.
And tie fire came closer and Closer
and fually-it reached Is.
Tess | shouted. as / put my arm
about her waist and drew her down be-
low the sides Of The crazy Old vehicle,
dear girl, our time has come! Good
by
Dear Ben, good-byl' / read rather
than heard from her lips. Il Vas inn
possible to hear her words.
And after that. as The noyelifts say.
al was Ike a dream. ! have a confused
recollection Of heat So terrible az 10
almost force my eyes from their SOCK
eis and shriyel my skin up TO parch-
ment-of the old horse dropping 10 the
ground-of standing over my brave
Tess fighting of the blazing branches
Of agonizing burns on nay head, face
aud hands. And then there came ter
ribie crash. seemed 10 see 10, 200 stars
and all was darkness!
never knew just how long | Was I'M
conscious, bur it must have been for
many hours, for when consciousness
again mounted her throne in my soul
ii was broad day. At first / could not
open my eyes at all. Then managed to
just separate the lids, but II was the
acutesi torment 10 do so. afterwards
found :hat they lad been horribly
burned.
Full sensibility came back very slow
ly. For awhile was dazed. could not
think-only gaze upward stupidity at
the clear Sky and wonder what had
happened. Soon, however, il all came
baek-all the horror and pain-and
attempted TO start up.
MY Cod Tess!" / groaned. as re.
allied fully where was and what had
transpired. But ! found 1 was too
weak to do anything except barely
move my head.
When ! could see about me, what
desolatc scene ii was that met my
blurred and crippled vision AS far as
my poor sight could reach there was
nothing but biackness, except overhead
"A landscape in jet silhouetted sharp
ly against the soft azure Of the clear
sky. A few feet from me lay the fig
ure Of a human being! Ny Godl IT
was Tess. And was she dead? Merci-
full Heaven! About half Of her clothes
were gone aud she lay motionless, as
though dead.
How ! suffered at that sight no one
but myself can ever know. 1t was
worse than my own misery. But 1
could not move, and the hot tears, Of
which / was not ashamed, distilled
from my eyes like drops Of liquid fire
and plowed red-hot burrows down my
scorched cheeks. And then | again
lapsed into INCONSISTENCIES.
Whole ages nigh; have passed before
I knew anything more. Then suddenly
I opened my eyes and saw. ! was in
bed al home. by the bedside sat my