Show A WICKLOW STORY many years ago two beings dwelt in the ley of Glonda lough 1 e the valley of the two lak lakes one was in his sixteenth gammer summer the other hul scarcely seen her thirteenth sr siring ing thay were the children of two well to do peasants neighbors in thit peaceful valley and their lives hinl had hitherto passed avay a vay as dreamily as the sound of the waterfall beside their doom they were ear together their parents looked on their intimacy and emild and day by day as they wandered out into the fields to gather lowers flowers threading the mazy pathways of the woods or tailing scaling like young mountain chamois the giddy cliffa around they became more into each others being until even la in their early youth they were like two tendrils intertwined with each other and so joseph and agnes grew up one In morning orning in the latter part of autumn they met glet at the old spring under the hillside and set out to gather wild flowers for the coming festival for the valley in those days was not so sparse of vegetation as it la is today the day was bright with autumn glory all down the valley and high up over the blue face of heaven was a glow like that which prophets tell us hangs bangs over ever the golden landscape of paradise ga Leaf tree and lake were steeped in effa effulgence 1 while the wind murmured low and tremulously let us go to Lugn aquilla said joseph for there are the choicest flowers and the day is so beautiful we can go and return before nightfall Lugn aquilla is the highest mountain in wicklow agnes hesitated a moment and then said we ahall lose sight of the mountain aa as soon as we enter the woods but I 1 know the way let us gol and hand in hand they wended bended their way so full of thoughtless happiness were they that they alad wandered from flower to flower until the sun was at the noon without remembering that they ought long since to have been at the mountain of Lugn aquilla all at once however in the midst of their mirth this reflection came across them like a dark adadow on the bosom of some sunny lake they paused involuntarily and agnes gazing up into josephs face with a look of mingled inquiry and alarm said joseph where are we and where is the mountain of Lugn aquilla 1 I burely barely dont know the way answered the boy and this seems like and yet unlike it ahl here is theroan the road no it cannot bell be and he paused bewildered we are not riot lost are we joseph said the maiden in trembling tones drawing closer to her companions side surely we are not riot lost on the mountain oh nol answered the boy cheering his companion though bis heart echoed not riot back his words 1 I have only missed the way a little and will soon find it again rest awhile agnes while I 1 climb this tree to look out tor for the bluff brow of the Lugn aquilla 11 but alas it was wag nowhere to bo be seen with alarm he be beheld nothing on eve every ry hand around but rugged hills and here and there a valley opened out before him but it was strange to the boys eyes and there was no familiar feature in all that wild landscape it were a long story to relate how bow the these two tivo young beings wandered on from high noon until almost twilight threading tangled forests crossing mountain streams and scaling the rugged precipices crossing their path in the vain hope of reaching the valley from which they had set out jos joseph ph never desponded responded despon ded and it agnes burst into tears at new disappointments he would cheer her with new hopes until she grew ashamed to weep and smiled again as as ever mile after mile was thus left behind yet they saw no signs around them of human life all was wild solitary sublime As nigh night t drew on the heart of at joseph bean began to despond though he still strove to smile on ague agnes oh joseph it is not fear she taid said tearfully that I 1 feel for are you not near met roe but it is that my mother and yours too joeph joseph will viii think all night that we arc are dead meantime the twilight had darkened R around und them and the wind which bad been shifting shit ting all around the horizon during the afternoon came out at length from the th bleak north often in those up iw per regions the day that opens with a su eum M anees warmth will set in at sunset with the frost of december poor anes agnes had been brought up with tender nurture and now when the storm came on in ita its fury I 1 pelting fiercely on her unsheltered forat form though ceph covered her tenderly as he roald would a dove in hla his oali cwi mantle yet even that could not keep out the keen breath of the tem pet alakl for the atu atlon of those two innocent young beings alone in the forest with night betting setting in and nd no covering for their heads beads but the tempestuous heavens well might annes agnes cling closer io to joseph josph as s the storm how howled led fiercer overhead and ell might igat the tare tears gush unbidden even into his eyes as he thought of the rail trail beg whose life he had bad imperiled and arid yet 14 save her he lie would have laid down bi bir own i existe existence rim but the storm waxed louder and louder and the cold breeze be eallie intense as when it freezes the lakes 14 u a single breath of the hit hurricane their frail til clothing could not keep out the biting alast tl ast that the next moment froze upon their acir garments they felt that drowsiness waa W stealing upon them and yet they knew that it lt wua 3 death they hat mt halt sheltered against a tree fust fast losing nil all recollection awhile they murmured of their lost way of 0 home of heaven and then there waa was silence suddenly a light flashed over cults foot dimming memory that to to forever and nd rotis B lie agues and con call our 1 aglea gnes F aar A gnes said he wake lie be not motionless dear agnes awake alakel joseph I 1 am very cold she said as she revived ut at his big plaintive e ejaculation lot let me sleep but agnes agne 3 you must not sleep said joseph wildly but abo only smiled ills words were in vain her iler mind was wandering an dering in dreams with agony of heart joseph at length gave over in despair and wrapping his mantle closer around agnes threw himself down under a tree and resolved to share the same fate ate as the girl whose life was fast ebbing away far par away in their happy homes the light still burned in the window for their beacon and their mothers sat broken hearted weeping for them as for the dead and their fathers where were they out on the bill hillside side in the storm se searching archin 9 for their lost ones hunting every well known resort and under the precipices and in the streams assisted a by their neighbors with torches flashing out across the darkness and their warning ballios halloos ringing tar far and clear along the night for an hour they maintained their search until they reached the stream whence joseph and agnes had set out for there they paused bewildered and uncertain where to proceed I 1 every very nook and dell and cliff around had been ransacked in vain and now as they stood there in the torchlight despair was seen on each countenance te nance but did wo we say all despaired no one still hoped the pastor of at the flock for or he be too gray haired though he was had turned out into the pelting storm and now he stood there in the midst of the seekers ee ekers and baring his white locks to the icy wind called on all to join him in a prayer that the loved love dones ones might yet be rescued from death and restored to their parents and even as he closed a smile of hope and holy faith played on his face as it if it were the face of an apostle and just then too a favorite dog of agnes which bad had seemed forgotten hitherto sprang from the group grou 13 and with nose upon the ground ran barking wildly away up the hillside my children said the old priest god hath alrea already Aly answered our prayers and 1 I sent t this his dumb animal to lead us on our way seel he hath bath found the path the dearone dear ones took fearnot fear not Letus let us follow and they followed as he be led and on they went mile after mile up hillside and around the mountain and then down into the valley and up the hillside once more and away and away until the chill air air made even some of those strong men shiver yet never for a moment did the faithful hound swerve from his way nor did his bli followers falter or doubt lut but on they kept until the storm had almost subsided and full two hours time had passed since they set forth on their se search tarch at length with a loud cry of joy the dog dashed madly forward and that eager band old and young together hurrying on beheld at a sudden turn the two dear ones they sought lying side by side in the half sheltered nook shrouded in the icy garments they had bad wrapped around them ere they sank to sleep they sprang as one man to their sides but alas masi though a smile was on each dear onea ones cheek check yet all the color had fled tied from thence and cold and motionless were joseph and agnes like an ice fee bolt through their parents heart camo came the conviction of their deaths but the old priest did heardt n not despair laying his hand upon their hearts is lie ejaculated they live their hearts beat faintly still praised be the loidl my childe my child chil dill was all the parents could utter an as with mingled sobs and thanksgiving they bent over the rescued ones A rude litter was hastily formed for the suf sufferers ferem they were then wrapped in garments torn from the backs of hardy men who bore them on their shoulders home and the first dawn of recollection that broke slowly on joseph and agnes was in her fathers cottage with kind neighbors fostering the warmth in their chilled frames and their parents banging hanging over them with tears of at thankfulness and joy what more have we to add nothing R save sa e that five years later there waa was a w wedding ed in the valley of Glen Glenda dilough lough and that agnes and joseph were the bride and groom barry oconner in new york news |