The Traps
page 2
Providentially a hemlock tree grew out of the face of the rock, near to the bottom, into the thick branches of which the girl chanced to fall. The momentum of her descent was thus broken, so that she was not killed by the shock when she struck at the foot of the precipice. She managed to drag herself the distance of a few yards, where she lay in her agony until morning.
During the night she observed a light moving among the rocks where she fell, as though a lantern were being borne in the hand of some person there. Maria came to the conclusion it was her seducer and would-be murderer, searching for her mangled body. In the belief that Ben would yet kill her if he found her alive, she lay very quiet; and her visitor, after clambering a long time among the rocks, went away. In all probability it was Ben Gosline, who had come to remove all traces of his double crime. He doubtless concluded that she had escaped alive, or that some one had discovered and removed the body; in either case his only safety lay in immediate flight. Ben was never seen in the vicinity afterward.
The next morning, by dint of great exertion, Maria crawled over the broken ground towards the nearest house, when her cries of distress were fortunately heard. When found she was nearly exhausted, and her bowels trailed upon the ground as she urged her way along. Strange to say, she recovered from the effects of her fall; and it is believed is yet living in comfortable circumstances. Her child, born not long after the above adventure, Lived to grow to maturity. The incidents of the attempted murder, and her miraculous escape from instant death, form themes yet fresh in the minds of the residents of the locality.
One day, late in autumn, the wife of Calvin Burger thought she heard the whir of a rattlesnake under the floor of their log cabin. She told her husband of the circumstance on his return, but he affected to believe she must have been mistaken. The snake continued to sound his rattle every day during the winter, whenever the heat from the stove warmed his snakeship into something like life; still the husband maintained at least an outward show of incredulity, knowing that any other course on his part would necessitate the taking up of the floor to search for the snake, or removing from the cabin. At length there came a mild day in spring. It chanced that Burger was obliged to be away from home on that day, but he directed his wife to watch for the snake, as he would most likely come out into the sunshine. Mrs. Burger kept a close watch, and was rewarded by seeing a large rattlesnake crawl out through a chink in the foundation wall of her cabin. She found means to dispatch it, and proudly exhibited the remains of her late unwelcome guest to her husband on his return. The snake proved to be one of the largest of its species.
Calvin Burger thought she heard the whir of a rattlesnake under the floor of their log cabin. She told her husband of the circumstance on his return, but he affected to believe she must have been mistaken. The snake continued to sound his rattle every day during the winter, whenever the heat from the stove warmed his snakeship into something like life; still the husband maintained at least an outward show of incredulity, knowing that any other course on his part would necessitate the taking up of the floor to search for the snake, or removing from the cabin. At length there came a mild day in spring. It chanced that Burger was obliged to be away from home on that day, but he directed his wife to watch for the snake, as he would most likely come out into the sunshine. Mrs. Burger kept a close watch, and was rewarded by seeing a large rattlesnake crawl out through a chink in the foundation wall of her cabin. She found means to dispatch it, and proudly exhibited the remains of her late unwelcome guest to her husband on his return. The snake proved to be one of the largest of its species. In the vicinity of The Traps are vast crevasses in the rocky ledges, some of them of unknown depth. These fissures vary in width from a few inches to as many feet, and constitute a feature of the natural scenery of the region. Table Rock is a cliff that apparently has been partially detached from the parent mountain by some convulsion of the past, but still maintaining its position, and rearing its head high among the surrounding elevations. At an early day an active and intrepid hunter by the name of Decker chased three deer to the edge of the precipice, two of which leaped from the rocks and were dashed in pieces at the bottom. The third, a huge buck, took up a position on Table Rock, and facing about, boldly defied his pursuer. Decker had thrown down his rifle in the haste of his pursuit, and had nothing but his hunting knife. Undaunted, he closed in with the buck, and a desperate conflict began. Grasping the deer by the horns, Decker essayed to cut the animal's throat. The latter attempted to throw off his assailant, repeatedly lifting the hunter from his feet, at time suspending him over the brink of the precipice, so that he hung dangling by the buck's horns. Again the hunter was obliged to exert his strength to prevent the deer from falling over. Long and uncertain the battle waged; at length the courage and agility of the hunter prevailed, and the life-blood of the buck reddened the face of the rock.
At the foot of the mountain, near The Traps, many years ago, lived a man by the name of Evans. In his employ was a negro boy named Jed, some nine or ten years of age. One afternoon Jed was sent up in the back lots to bring home the cows. Not returning after the usual absence, Evans went to look for the lad, and was horrified to find him bound to a bar post in a standing position by a huge black snake, and stone dead. The snake had probably attached himself to the post, and, as the boy attempted to pass through, it had taken a turn around the lad and squeezed him to death.
Table of Contents