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Article THURLOGH, THE MILESIAN. ← Page 5 of 18 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
So far all was straight and smooth ; and the hatcher of destruction kept his stratagem within his bosom , because there was as yet , no opportunity for its execution . When , however , they approached the bank , and all were equally emulous to leap ashore , this dark emissary of mischief , conceiving that he had just caught the ebbing tide , watched Thurlogh until he saw him about to spring , when , with a sudden jerk , he slipt the boat from under his feet , to precipitate his victim into the depth of the water .
Fortunately , however , there had grown upon the shore a huge forest tree , which covered the boat by its overspreading arms . On one of these , by a most miraculous exertion , Thurlogh seized ; and continued suspended from it , in mid-air , until the boat was brought back to release him from his j eopardy . An apology from the offender hushed up the matter for the present ; — but it did not terminate here—the cream of the story is yet to follow . The whole party having landedthey bent their the mountain
, way up along the narrow pathway that led through the craggy defile to the bottom of the cascade . Here they stopped to admire the awful grandeur of this immense torrent , descending a height of at least sixty feet in uninterrupted column , and then losing itself , as it were , below , in a bottomless receptacle excavated from the rock by its indenting fall , entering it , precipitously , with the clash of thunder !
Having tarried here for some time , they resolved to prosecute their route still farther , —every heart big with the expectation of some indefinite discoveries . To this end they must cross a little rivulet formed by the egress of the water out of the first bowl into the other cavern underneath , into which it a second time empties itself with a dizzy and thrilling speed . This insatiate villain flattered himself that , if foiled before , the lucky moment of destruction had at length appeared , when he might perpetrate with unerring aim the machinations of revenge .
Keeping his eye upon Thurlogh until he was about to spring across this rivulet , he then tript him , as he rose , with a view to prostrate him along the stream ! Providence , however , interfered for Thurlogh , and over he was carried untouched ! while the design of the murderer re-acted upon himself with a vengeance ; for , his body giving way , as he lost his balance , by the circumstance of his foot having nothing against which to spend itself when it had missed its mark , he fell into the current with a rctributorjslideand was swept downout of presencewith the velocity of lihtning
, , , g into the boiling waters of the unfathomable eddy ! The scene would have been pitiful , were it not for its cause ;—as it was , it could not appear otherwise than as mournfully terrific . The entire assemblage spread themselves around the reservoir—there was no sight , no vestige of their late companion . —The angry element foamed , with the consciousness of a triumphant indignation ; and the absorbing pool ,
intoxicated with us prey , instead ot descending as usual through its subterraneous recesses , stood still for a while , then reversed its course , and poured forth the sign of its joy and its nausea , in a projecting volume of liquid lava !—When at last , tossed about by the waves and loosened in the vortex , they beheld ! what ? their comrade ? No ; but the empty wig , which , having but lately recovered from a fit of sickness and had his " head shaven , the unfortunate wretch was obliged to wear ! Shortly after he was seen floating towards the surface : and
Thurlogh himself was the person , who , darting forwards with a bound , had the honour and delight of rescuing his misguided enemy from a watery grave , or , at least , from a premature death . The moment was not one for merriment ; yet , so easily is the risibility of young people excited , I recollect well how difficult it now was to refrain from laughing ! Even his own brothers , and there were two of them amongst the group , were not altogether proof to the contagion . I draw a veil over the subsequent history of this ill-favoured youth . I may remove it again , by and by , to unfold another instance of equal or even
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
So far all was straight and smooth ; and the hatcher of destruction kept his stratagem within his bosom , because there was as yet , no opportunity for its execution . When , however , they approached the bank , and all were equally emulous to leap ashore , this dark emissary of mischief , conceiving that he had just caught the ebbing tide , watched Thurlogh until he saw him about to spring , when , with a sudden jerk , he slipt the boat from under his feet , to precipitate his victim into the depth of the water .
Fortunately , however , there had grown upon the shore a huge forest tree , which covered the boat by its overspreading arms . On one of these , by a most miraculous exertion , Thurlogh seized ; and continued suspended from it , in mid-air , until the boat was brought back to release him from his j eopardy . An apology from the offender hushed up the matter for the present ; — but it did not terminate here—the cream of the story is yet to follow . The whole party having landedthey bent their the mountain
, way up along the narrow pathway that led through the craggy defile to the bottom of the cascade . Here they stopped to admire the awful grandeur of this immense torrent , descending a height of at least sixty feet in uninterrupted column , and then losing itself , as it were , below , in a bottomless receptacle excavated from the rock by its indenting fall , entering it , precipitously , with the clash of thunder !
Having tarried here for some time , they resolved to prosecute their route still farther , —every heart big with the expectation of some indefinite discoveries . To this end they must cross a little rivulet formed by the egress of the water out of the first bowl into the other cavern underneath , into which it a second time empties itself with a dizzy and thrilling speed . This insatiate villain flattered himself that , if foiled before , the lucky moment of destruction had at length appeared , when he might perpetrate with unerring aim the machinations of revenge .
Keeping his eye upon Thurlogh until he was about to spring across this rivulet , he then tript him , as he rose , with a view to prostrate him along the stream ! Providence , however , interfered for Thurlogh , and over he was carried untouched ! while the design of the murderer re-acted upon himself with a vengeance ; for , his body giving way , as he lost his balance , by the circumstance of his foot having nothing against which to spend itself when it had missed its mark , he fell into the current with a rctributorjslideand was swept downout of presencewith the velocity of lihtning
, , , g into the boiling waters of the unfathomable eddy ! The scene would have been pitiful , were it not for its cause ;—as it was , it could not appear otherwise than as mournfully terrific . The entire assemblage spread themselves around the reservoir—there was no sight , no vestige of their late companion . —The angry element foamed , with the consciousness of a triumphant indignation ; and the absorbing pool ,
intoxicated with us prey , instead ot descending as usual through its subterraneous recesses , stood still for a while , then reversed its course , and poured forth the sign of its joy and its nausea , in a projecting volume of liquid lava !—When at last , tossed about by the waves and loosened in the vortex , they beheld ! what ? their comrade ? No ; but the empty wig , which , having but lately recovered from a fit of sickness and had his " head shaven , the unfortunate wretch was obliged to wear ! Shortly after he was seen floating towards the surface : and
Thurlogh himself was the person , who , darting forwards with a bound , had the honour and delight of rescuing his misguided enemy from a watery grave , or , at least , from a premature death . The moment was not one for merriment ; yet , so easily is the risibility of young people excited , I recollect well how difficult it now was to refrain from laughing ! Even his own brothers , and there were two of them amongst the group , were not altogether proof to the contagion . I draw a veil over the subsequent history of this ill-favoured youth . I may remove it again , by and by , to unfold another instance of equal or even