Year: 1871

of the sky, / should get good wet
ting before / got back to fathers. l
replied that l would be willing to take
that, if we could only have the rain
we so much needed, and then l set
out leaving him standing in the door
way, with his eyes fixed upon the sky.


NY face was now towards the noun
tains, and the great mass of clouds
piled above them, and it almost made
me trcmblc as / gazed upon them in
their blackness, and watched the light
ming that every little while darted out
from their folds. had lived among
the mountains since / was little
child, but had never seen anything
like il before, and / could not help
thinking that some fearful thing was
about to happen. Il


was not more than halfway back
to fathers before the rain came down
in torrents. 1t hardly seemed as
though it could be night, yet the dark
ness came with it, and in a little time
/ could not see rod ahead, along the
way l was going. In less than five
minutes, / was wet to the skin, and the
water was dripping from me in streams.


made good use of the stick car
ried, and as the old mares head was
towards home l made good time, and
in the course of an hour from the time
it commenced to rain, l reached fa-
theirs, as wet as though | had swan
that distance in the river. / found
him easier than when / set out, and
giving mother the medicine | had
brought, and hastily eating some sup
per she had prepared for me, | set out
over the mountain for home, against
the advice of both-they declaring
that / could not keep the path in the
storm and darkness.


| knew that it would be hard work
to do so, for the rain came down as
though we were going to have another
flood, but l had promised Marty that
l would come back that night, and ]
meant to make my word good to her,
if | could do so. And then | was
afraid of the water. If it continued
to rain as it was doing now, l was
afraid that the water would rise, and
come so near the cadin, as to give her
alarm, and put them in danger,


l knew every step across the noun.
tain well, as l had been over it many
times, both night and day, but found
as ] began to ascend that l had never
undertaken the job when it was SC
dark before. To keep in the path, |
had to go slowly, sometimes feeling
for the track with my hands, when my
feet were at fault, and all the time the
rain was falling in such torrents as
have never known before.


l came to a small brook about half
way up, which l had crossed that
morning upon its dry bed. Now it
was foaming torrent, ready to over
flow its banks, and crossed with diff
Guilty, but | got over by holding fast
to the bushes that grew on either side,
and kept on toward the summit, where
knew my greatest difficulty lay, as
it was destitute of trees, or even bush
es of any size, the path leading over
the bare rocks, with nothing to guide
me in the darkness, and prevent my
losing my way. q
| When | last came out of the woods
upon the rocks, | was completely at a
stand still. In vain it was that | tried
to see through the darkness, the like OF
which / had never seen before was hall
mind to turn back to fathers, but
the thought of Mary alone with the
baby, waiting for me, urged me on
and I advanced blindly in the dark
ness, trusting in my good luck TO guide
me Alright.


My luck faild me this time, for by
the time 4 had got down to the wood,
upon the other side, / found that I
had lost the path, and had got into Q
tangled mass Of fallen trees and bush
es, through which l could hardly fore,
my way. Still l did not feel lost, fol
| knew that / had only to force my
way down the mountain to come out
somewhere in the valley near my cab
in, which I could soon find, when once
on level ground. But it would take
me longer to pick my way along, and
there would be greater danger of stun
bling and getting fall, than though
had managed to keep the path. But
there was no help for it now, as you
might as well have looked for needle
in a hay-stack, as to have searched for
it.


/ had got what I thought was about
halfway down the mountain, when !