The west shore., November 16, 1889, Page 300, Image 13

WEST SHORE.
was like Dibdin's (tailor, he would not believe that
heaven could have designed to nnatch him, o young,
from the woman he loved. Down, down, down an
other panting, hreathleHH, agonized Hecond or two, with
the roar of the ilili-HH fall crashing upon his ears
and deafening him, and then a terrible jerk which al
most flung him ofT the face of the slope, and then he
found hiniHclf caught and Heated astride on the pro
jection of Home rock. And then the rush of the clay
and the marl went on without him, and for a moment
he wiih wife wife, if his rock Htill held its place, safe if
the landslip went no farther, nafe if any human power,
any helping hand, could come to Iuh aid in time. For
a moment he felt inclined to relieve Iuh feclingH by a
burnt of tearH. For a moment he could think of Marie
again, and the hoc of Hiving her once more.
He lay there, horned iinii bin peak of rock, enable
to think of anything but the fact that the landslip had
gone by him and that he might yet be Raved. He did
not yet dare to move, or even to look around. His
whole Mill wan ahnorhed in the one denperate desire to
cling fant and to cheat the rapids and the folk He
found hiniKelf in the condition of a child who ban cov
ered it head with the Is-delothes, in fear of Home nup
kiw i apparition, and who durcH not uncover its cycH
and look out to me what iH really going on. By de
grees he felt bin nerve and bin courage coming back.
He wan a very plucky young fellow, trained to alt
manner of athletic sports and well nkilled to make the
bent use of what strength ami nerve he had. Hut the
bra vent man may admit that under certain condi
tions of unex'rienccd danger he can Imh-oiiic for a
while as a little child. Hugh knew all this, and he
waited without movement for hit nerves to come back
to him and bend themselves to his control; and he
soon found that they were coming back. He dared to
lift his head, and even to turn round, griping the while
for dear life oh, how inexpressibly dear and sweet to
him now I and to survey the scene and get to know
hit chances. Well, things did not look badly for the
moment, if he could only stick on. The moon ntill lit
up the greater part of that ghastly and terrible scene.
He was far In-low the level of the Mad. He was near
ly half way down nearly half way down to the rap
ids 1 Ho ditl not dare, as yet, to turn his eyes to the
great full on his right. He only looked down to the
rapids that were rushing far -ah, not so very far lx
low him. He cwlly surveyed the situation and the
chances. It was late; the landslip had Int-n slight
ami noiseless; every one in the houses altove had long
sine been aU-d and aslei-p; there was not the slight
est chance of any assistance coming to him Isfor the
early morning. Would it come even then ? Even in
that moment of terror he remembered hearing the old
man in the museum say that he always made a study
V:;
' IIK WAS niarlv half way down HALF WAV down to
Till RAPID '
of the bank and the falls first thing in the morning;
that from long dwelling on that Hpot he had come to
think of himself as a sort of watchman or owner of
the place, and loved to look after it. The old man
would come, then, early in the morning, and would see
at a glance that there had been a landslip, and would
bring jtcople to look at it perhaps would even remem
ber the young stranger who had left his house the
night iM-fore-and if help could then be of any avail,
w hy, surely help would oome. The problem easily re
solved itself into shape and explicit statement. If
Hugh could cling to his rocky seat all night all
through the night and could keep his senses about
him, and no further landslip should take place, then,
oh then, he might be saved and might bo welcomed
by Marie in Quebec. Hut suppose his head should
reel, supose his nerve should give way, suppone hi
brain should turn, suppose ho should be overcome by
that terrible drowsiness which he had often read of ai
the accompaniment of exposure and exhaustion and
nervous strain, suppose he should fall into an unnat
ural sleep, what was to become of him then ? Mtb