Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1860-07-26

these festivities, some six or seven miles
beyond the Tircouaga, and were returning
home in two light one-horse sleighs, the first
containing Mr. Norton and his eldest daugh-
ter, the sec ond her sister and myself. The
: night was calm and beautiful in its dim
; light, and the red glow Of the north
ern streamcrs above our heads flashed and
leaped and quivcred in thousand brilliant
coruscations while strangely and swectly
through the grey old woods sounded the
clear girlish voices Of the sisters as from the
different sleighs they sang in alternate stan
zas one of the quaint old ballads Of the mid
die ages Atlength we reached the banks
of the TircouagN which lay between us and
our home, mirror Of ice. and we at once
!, commenced it's passage. As we swept quick
ly On, it seemed to me that some other sound
mingled with the firm footballs of the horses
and the chime of their bells-a low threat
ening murmur like the echo of distant
tempest. But Mr. Norton droye gaily On,
as if he either heard it not, or thought moth
ing of it, and dismissed it from my mind,
until as we drew near the centre of the river,
Sstrange dark spots like cloud shadows, be-
gan to flock its cleaning surface.
The next instant one appeared right on
Mr.. Norton's path and too close for him to
avoid. With long leap the horse bounded
over it, and as the sleigh was drawn quick
ly after, there was splash that told it had
struck against the water. I could see Mr..
Norton spring hur.iedly up.
Back, back, for your lives p he cried to
us; ''thei ice is breaking up"'
I turned to follow his directions, but it
was too late-two Or three such spots lay
between us and the bank. [ looked around;
they were rapidly appearing on every side
and then Remembered to have heard that
the ice Of the Tircouaga, like that of several
other Canadian rivers, was treacherous. in
in consequence Of hot springs in the bed Of
the river, which at times burst forth and
that particularly in the early part of the
winter the morning would see the river
covered with ice, of which before the even
ing not a trace would remain.
Perceiving how matters were, Mr.. Norton
badc us follow him, and quickly, for that
not a moment was to be lost and then
dashed off at a rapid pace for the opposite
bank, leaping the chasms and speeding
lightly on over the frozen portions, as if lie
hoped by swiftness to diminish the danger !;
and with the same breathless speed we has
tened on in the rear.
Meanwhile, larger and more numerous
4srsw those 4ar..74-.l
more frequent our horses leaps. At length
there came a chasm mine could not venture
[ looked eagerly round for some favorable
spot; but as my eye glanced onward it fell
on constantly widening water, until it had
gone the circuit; and. with a sensation of
surprise and horror, [ perceived that we
stood upon an ice island, from which the
surrounding ice was rapidly retreatng |
looked after Mr.. Norton but, unsuspicious
of what had happened, he was still making
his way with arrow speed across the ice so
[ felt we were left to our own efforts for
escape, and my utter inexperience rendered
the chances few indeed, unless we should
again draw near enough to the main ice to
leap the space between. and none can tell
how anxiously [ watched each movements of
our raft as it began to yield to the influence
of the current. But each fathom that we
were swept down the river seemed to bear
US an equal distance from its icy borders,
and we soon found ourselves floating on a
comparatively open space of water, and sur
rounded by numerous ice islets.
I could almost have echoed poor Annie's
cry of agony when the certainty of our posi-
ton burst upon her. SO fearfal was it. Alone
at midnight, on a fragment of ice, floating
down rapid river whose future course [
knew not, while on each side stretched tracts
Of crumbling. ice. and beyond them rose
banks of inaccessible steepness What
could exceed the desolation Of such posi-
ton, and what hope could it leave to US of
life? While, to complete our misery, we
had not even the power to struggle against
our fate, but must passiyely wait its coming
How deeply l pitied NY young compan-
ion, as she sat there weeping such bitter
tears. 1t was hard for her to part with life,
after sixteen years of such bright and joyous
experience as hers had been, hard to lay it
down thus suddenly and fearfully, absent
from all she loved, and yet harder the un-
resolvable fears for her fathers and sisters
safety which our own danger had awakened
[ tried to utter words of consolati IN as I
wrapped the poor girl in the buffalo robes
:, from the chill nj ght air that our inaction
rendered doubly cold. She looked sad
contrast to the bright creature of the last
few hours, whose joyous ballad strains were
yet lingering in my ears. But when the
first shock was over, poor Annie struggled
bravely with her grief, and during the re-
mainder of that long, dreary night of peril
she sat calmly by my side, the most patient
and resigned companion man ever had in
danger.
Meanwhile the river was bearing us swift
ly on past rocky headlands, and dark pine
forests, waving above lofty cliffs, on to yet
wiler and sterner regions, where it seemed
even the red man would scarce pitch his
wigwam. Sometimes the river swept us
smoothly along on its broad bosom, at others
it contracted into narrow limits, and hurried
on with quicker current; and as our frail
raft was swayed about by the broken water,
we oft-times thought either that it would