The Monmouth inquirer., 1924-01-31
A Defeated
ConquerOr

opinion, for / had not only entered
into possession of a decent little leg
acy lett me by my uncle, but had
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 cy.ae
In for a handsome fortune at his
death, but what cared | about that?
For had / not sufficient for as 10th,
even If she were penniless. And did
not love her with the whole strength
Of a pure and dlsinterested love?
cannot begin to describe her to
you, for the task is quite beyond me.
Suffice it to say she was admired by
all who knew her. and loved by not a.
few. The latter circumstances ceased
to disturb me when once / became her
accepted lover, though before that
time it occasioned me great deal OF
anxiety. and caused me to spend many
restless night
OF one lover In particular had !
been jealous, for to my excited and
fear-laden imagination he seemed to
possess everything that young lady
could desire. He was tall, broad
shouIdered. handsome, with pleasing
manner and fauitless dress, and in adj
dttion to all this, he was endowed with
more than an average share OF this
worlds goods
He was madly in love with Ada,
but conducted his wooing in q 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 l
spend, fearing that his superior at
fractions would put me In the shade.
Fate. however, decided otherwise,
for when I summoned up courage to
nut 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 / was In ecstasies, and scarcely
knew for the next few months wheth-
er 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 time had al
most elapsed, and nothing had occur
red to mar the harmony Of the scene,
when, quite unexpectedly. something
happened which filed me with the
deepest horror, and which causes me
to shudder even now as recall it. 1t
has partly to do with my rival, Hor-
ace Rishton, whose existence for the
time I had almost forgotten.
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 affect
ed by it, but in the event am about
to describe, was enabled to see how
deep and tragic the effect upon him
really was.
The revelation came in this wise:
1t was but two days to our we'd
ding, and I had occasion to go on a
little business connected with it to
neighboring town, a place some four
miles distant from my home. Having
accomplished my errand, and finding
that had some considerable time
to wait for train, resolved to walk
back. 80 striking out, soon left the
town behind me.
/ had gone somewhere about two
miles when the moon suddenly cloud
ed over, and was left in comparative
darkness. AS / knew the way, how
ever, I thought nothing Of It, but
trudged cheerfully along, thinking
only of Ada and our approaching
union. Suddenly, and without mo-
ment's warning, the ground gave way
from under my feet and l felt myself
falling headlong down, down into the
depths of the earth. How far | fell |
knew not at the ti1ne-I learned after
ward that it was about thirty feet
but I expected instant death when
reached the bottom, and without
doubt that would have been my fate
had not the bottom OF the hole been
filled with water to considerable
depth. This broke my FAIL and also
by LIS coldnesa restored me to my
senses.
struck out on coming to the sur,
face, and swan around to find some
thing to which could hold on. After
a considerable time spent in search
ing, during which the full horror of
the situation began to dawn upon me,
I knew at once the place into which
/ had fallen, and as the knowledge
flashed across my mind cursed my
self for having been so careless as to
stumble into 1t. It was an old, dis
used shaft which had been there for
generations. Not many people were
aware Of its existence, for it was in a
Wild and solitary spot scarcely ever
visited by anyone. /, however, had
seen 1t several times in my moorland
wanderings, and had always regarded
1t as a dangerous place. 1t was par
TALLY fenced around, but ] must haye
wandered in through one of the gaps.
There was no footpath any where near
It, so I must, in the darkness. have
lost my way.
However, here | was, and the ques-
ton confronted me how was I to get