The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1907-03-22

1 WHICH udG tOTD tue tree aJdtt uae
at the same time formed the tarn
If the occupants of the building
had fled to the open for safety, al
was probable, they had been en-.
quilted and were now under tht
surface Of its waters. Apparently
the only one that had escaped Of
all that evil household was the
dog, a great white animal thai
howled a mournful requiem above
the dead. | went into the kitchen
and replenished my stock of pro
visions with the cornbread and
dried venison found there. | also
procured a much needed supply
of salt.
When | had completed the re-
punishment of my commissary,
seated myself upon the bench in
the hallway to await my new-found
friend. In few minutes she APP
peared comfortably. clad and with
various articles she. required for
camping out, but to my surprise
she also carried in her arms a
ROSY checked child not over two
years old. Its fla ce was tear
stained; its head was covered with
a mass of short ringlets the color
of Guiena gold.
"See what ! have found" she
said as she stepped from the door
and held the child toward me. II
heard it breathing while | was
dressing, and discovered it in a
little trundle bed in corner into
which it had crept and cried itself
to sleep, after the house was de-
serted, | suppose. The saints must
have taken care of it, for had it
gone out to look for its mother or
nurse it would have fallen into
the lake"
"Poor little fellow" / said as it
turned from me to nestle closer in
the arms that encircled it, do you
know If it can talkg"
1T can say a few Spanish words,
but | am sure it is not of Spanish
birth; its auburn hair, blue eyes
and fair complexion forbid that
superstition.
There was no time for delay, SO
restraining my curiosity for the
present, carried the articles we
had selected out to the horses, not
forgetting the sack of coins and
The treasure in the saddle bags,
leaving her to attend to the wants
If the child. / adjusted the loads
n such manner as not to hurt
he backs of the horses and not to
with their riders. In a
short time all was ready and we
and rode away through
he bare woods. There had been
several slight tremors in the earth
n the course of the afternoon, but
n our excitement and anxiety to
ret away they had passed almost
innoticed. AS we reached the top
If the hill the earth began to
hake as if with an ague. Our
lorses screamed. We dismounted
md looked back. Along the side
# the ridge, perhaps forty rods
below us, a great creyice opened
n the earth and running parallel
With it for some distance swept in
vide semi circle across the valley
o the farther side of the tarn.
We saw the house begin to settle
nd then slide into the water. The
tables followed; then with a roar
Ike the breaking of ice in river
be earth on the other side of the
hasm sank down, carrying with
trees, logs and rocks, and there ;
'as only waste Of water where
efore had been solid land. The J
90 also disappeared in the down
ash of the earth. We found our
slves looking down into a vast
rcular pit half mile in diam !
.er, with perpendicular walls 80 /
,et high. 1t was like the crater I
I an extinct volcano with a lake t
its bottom. turned and rode t
way along the crest of the mar I
Nv ridge, which seemed to have B
cen disturbed but little by the a