The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-09-22

opinion, for I had not only entered
into possession of a decent little leg
acy left me by my uncle, but I hac
also won the hand and heart of Ada
Miller, the prettiest and most charm
ing young lady in the whole county
People said her father was i'm
mensely rich and that she would
oome in for a handsome fortune al
his death, but what cared 1 about
that? For had I not sufficient for Us
both, even if she were penniless:
And did I not love her with the
whole strength of a pure and disin'
terested love?
I cannot begin to describe her tc
you, for the task is quite beyond me
Suffice it to say she was admired by
> all who knew her, and loved by not q
few. The latter circumstances ceased
to disturb me when once I became her
accepted lover, though before thai
time it occasioned me a great deal OF
anxiety, and caused me to spend
many a restless night.
Of one lover in particular had ]
been jealous, for to my excited and
fear-laden imagination he seemed to
possess everything that a young lady
could desire. He was tall, broad
s%houldered, handsome, with a pleas
ing manner and faultless dress, and
in addition to all this, he was en-
.lDu-al NTH pnnrn than on ovorq orc
share of this worlds goods.
He was madly in love with Ada,
but conducted his wooing in a way
with which not even his closest rival
could find fault. Kind. ~considerate
and gentlemanly, never obtruding his
presence unnecessarily, he yet man.
aged to pay her considerable atten-
ton, and many an anxious time did
Z spend, fearing that his superior at
fractions would put me in the shade.
Fate, however, decided otherwise,
Tor when I summoned up courage to
put my fortune to the test, Ada shyly
accepted me, informing me in a most
engaging manner that she had never
loved anyone else. You may be sure
that I vas in ecstasies, and scarcely
knew for the next few months
whether I walked upon air or upon
solid ground.
Our engagement was to last a
year, at the end of that time our
marriage was to take place. The
lime had almost elapsed, and nothing
aad occurred 20 maj the harmony Of
the scene, when, quite Unexpectedly,
something happened which filed me
With the deepest horror, and which
sauses me to shudder even now as 1
recall it. 1t has partly to do with
my rival, Horace Rishton, whose ex-
istence for the time I had almost for
gotten.
He had received the news of our
engagement in an apparently calm
and quiet manner, and his subsequent
behavior had not led us to regard
him as being more than ordinarily
affected by it, but in the event I am
about to describe, I was enabled to
see how deep and tragic the effect
upon him really a.
The revelation came in this wise:
1t wanted but two days to our we'd
ding, and I had\ occasion to go on a
little business connected with it to
a neighboring town, a place some
four miles distant from my home.
Having accomplished my errand, and
finding that I had some considerable
time to wait for a train, I resolved to
walk back, so striking out. I soon
left the town behind me.
1t was a fine moonlight night, and
az it promised to continue so, I de-
termined to take a short cut across
the country, which I reckoned would
ave a quarter of an hour at the least.
The road would be very lonely, for
it was a path that was seldom used,
but that troubled me little. for my
thoughts were company enough that
night.
had gone somewhere about two
miles when the noon suddenly
clouded over, and I was left in COM
parative darkness. AS I knew the
way, however, I thought nothing of
it. but trudged cheerfully along,
thinking only of Ada and our ap-
preaching union. Suddenly, and
without a moments warning, the
ground gave way from under my feet
and I felt myself falling headlong
down. down into the depths of the
earth. How far I fell | knew not at
the time-I learned afterward that
it was about thirty feet-but I ey-
pected instant death when l reached
the bottom, and without doubt that
would have been my fate had not the
bottom of the hole been filled with
water to a considerable depth. This
broke my fall, and also by its cold
ness restored me to my senses.
struck out on coming to the sur
face, and swan around to find some
thing to which l could hold on. After
L considerable time spent in search
ing, during which the full horror of
The situation began to dawn upon me,
I at last discovered a piece of wood
work fixed in the side of the pit. This
| eagerly grasped and resting par
TALLY on it with half my body in the
water, 1 began to consider my DO
sition.
I knew at once the place into
which I had fallen, and as the knowl-
edge flashed across my mind l cursed
myself for having been so careless as
to stumble into it. 1t was an old, dis
used shaft which had been there for