The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1907-04-27
). with q emile that reflected


might at any moment return to Bonport
and hear of his sons accident, and the
inquiries thai had been made for him.
l, at least, must get up tc The cottage
before he arrived
The alteration in my manner, as the
necessity for immediate action occurred
to me, was perceived at once by my
watchful companion, and comprehending
that for some reason / wished to get
back into the other cave quickly, she
guided me with swift steps back to the
inclined plane by which / had descended
so precipitately, and showed me some
notched steps which she herself must
have cut in the chalk. With surprising
agility she ran up the slope; scrambled
laboriously after her, and she once more
gave way to light laugh at my expense
as she stood at the top waiting for me.
We passed through the gap and began
the descent into the large cave. But
now found the difficulty and danger
greater than in climbing up. l made
Psyche take my hand, fearing that an
nadvertent step might start a boulder
from it's place and roll it down upon her;
and well it was that took this precau-
ton, for before we were half way down
my weight tilted a block, and the rubble
slipping beneath it set other boulders in
motion, and these starting others in
their course the greater mass moved for
ward and Numbered down in perfect
avalanche to the bottom. Happily the
great block on which ! drew Psyche back
at first movement remained finn. Gradu-
ally the tumult ceased. and the cloud of
dust that choked us subsidized; but still at
intervals a block fell with d sudden thud
upon the ground below. Psyche chung
close 20 me, with her frail arm raised as
if to ward off anything that might fall
from above. But in this | am certain
that the dear little creature was con-
cerned less for her own protection than
for mine her upturned hand was over
my head, not her own, and she kept it
raised until the peril was past. Then
she looked at me, nodding gravely, and
turning her arm showed me an old scar
on it, from which l concluded that this
was not the first nor the worst slip Of
the cliff in which she had been concerned.
The track she naDitually followed was
now oblterated, and we had to find a new
one Bubble and dust lay thick every
where, and one or two huge fragments
timbers had preserved the main body of
the large cave, and the roof indeed looked
safe and sound. In the lesser cave no
damage whatever had been done, and
there, to her great joy, Psyche found her
jackdaw, who had probably hoped off
from the other on the first sound of dam
ger.
And now 1 had to make Psyche under
cto y,l hat thn hot md
leave the cave. She quickly comprehend
ed that l could 90 as l had come, but
she was utterly unable to grasp the idea
that she also was to go. 1t was more
incomprehensible to her, who knew no
other place than that in which she lived,
than the suggestion of quitting this planet
for another would be to me. Indeed, such
incomplete, defective explanation as I
could make by signs or gestures she was
not in a condition to understand or &C
cept, for she no sooner compcehended
that | was about to go away than she
burst into tears ana. throwing her arms
about me, chung to me with the strenuous
energy of despair. 1t seemed to me
cruel to leave her there, even for brief
space, after such a terrifying episode az
that we had just passed through; but
how heartless must it have seemed to this
poor creature who believed that | was
leaving her there forever! I waited pa
tiently for the paroxysm of grief to sub
side, quite at loss to know how | might
reassure her. She grew gradually calmer
rs she found l made no further attempt
to enter the passage leading to the shaft.
and smoothed my hands with Der cheek
and lips. Suddenly conceiving a strata
gem to retain me- she darted into the
inner cave and returned with her hands
full of the colored ribbons torn down
from the bed-place, and these she put into
my hands, looking into my face with an
entreating smile.
1 took the rubbish and kissed her in
nocent, sweet brow; then l drew her to-
ward the passage. She yielded with a
long futtering sigh as If accepting an
inevitable loss. When we neared the
well | sprang on to the plank and, put
ting my feet in the bucket and the candle
between them, / beckoned ner to come
to me- Then at last comprehending that
she was TO accompany me, she flew to my
side. l put my arm around her and
tried to draw the rope; but it was use
less, for, light as she was, our united
weight was more than L could lift with
one arm encountered. After one or two
trials | gave up the attempt with a shake
of my head. She recognized tie difficulty,
and, sinking on her knees, again burst
into tears.
could wait no longer; to save her
| must make my own escape without de-
lay.
| drew myself up, hand over hand,
with Psyches fading sobs ringing in my
ears, until the flame of the candle grew
pale in the light from above. Suddenly
the light was intercepted, and looking up
/ saw face bending over mo with n hor-