The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1866-11-02

! p6FSOlldi TlSk l. llOupIlU nOCniIg. was
a good swimmer, but the chance of res
cuing thus a drowning person, is, I'M
der any circumstances, very slim,
while with a steamer at full speed, it is
too remote to calculate. But did not
think of this.
/ remembered going down, down,
down, through the dark water whilst
just below me, an indistinct object
which | knew to be the child, kept
sinking and sinking, ever beyond my
reach. At last, with a desperate eff
fort, l grasped it by the shoulder
Then began the real peril Of the un-
dertalling. The boy, instinctively,
strove to seize me around the neck.
If he succeeded, we would both, [
knew, be drowned Desperation gave
him unusual strength, and once or
twice he nearly gained his object.
! There was a moment, indeed, when |
was almost tempted to throw him of,
for my strength was nearly exhausted,
and we We're still long way below the
| surface. But with a sudden exertion,
l got him at arms length and held
him there, while | used the other arm
in swimming. Up and up we went !;
| it seemed interminable. The blood
rushed to my eyes. My brain spun a.
round. Should we ever reach the up
per air? Suddenly, the light grew
brighter and we shot into the blessed
! sunshine.
glanced around, hurriedIy shaking
the water from my eyes, to see if 1
| could discover the steamer. There
she was, half mile away, blowing off
steam, the rails and rigging crowded
with people on the lookout; and, bles-
sed sight! a boat, powerfully Manned
was putting out from her side, with
! quick, sharp strokes, that promised
| speedy relief if we could only be seen.
But the waves were still running high,
and, even as | looked, a gigantic one
lifted itself between me and the steam
er, shutting her out from sight, while
/ sank, as if shot down the ice slope,
into vast trough below.
1t seemed an age before rose on an
| other wave. Then l caught sight of
the steamer and boat again for an in
slant, the latter lying on its oars, un-
certain which way to pull. Again the
| remorseless wave rose between me and
hope; again | sank down into the pitt
less gulf Three times / rose and
sank. The third time | felt would be
the last; for the lad, during all this,
| had never intermitted his frantic strug-
giles, and had now utterly exhausted
my strength. That last time, l could
| just feebly wave my right hand in the
air, and still manage to hold him off at
arms length with my left. AS did
this, l thought I heard distantly, a
| faint cheer, and fancied I saw the boat,
| which had been hanging like black
speck on the water, turn and shoot to-
wards us. But at this crisis, when /
wonld have given everything to be
sure, the boy made a fresh and more
| frantic effort to clutch at me, which sue
ceeded. l felt his arms, in their death
grip, twine around my throat, and
sank like lead, hope and thought and
memary leaving me together.
My next recOllection-and it is but a
faint one-is of, being lifted over the
side of the vessel, and seeing a crowd
of awestruck faces look at me as | was
borne past 1t was but for a moment,
when l again became insensibIe. But
among those faces was one which had
haunted me for years; the great brown
eyes, through their tears, beaming on
me with infinite pity.
After that, for hours, all was blank.
The next thing l recall was hearing
the surgeon Of the steamer say, "He's
coming round"
Then pangs, as of entering a new eX-
| istence, racked every nerve of my body.
But / was able, after awhile, to sit up
and hear congratulations on my escape,
and praises of what was called my her
oism. Soon after, the mother herself
came in, leaving her darling for mo-
ment. The boy, it seems, had been
playing abaft the wheel-house, when
he had slipped and fallen overheard,
no one knew exactly how.
at was a near thing his missing the
paddles" said the captain, "and he'd
have been drowned anyhow, if you
hadn't leaped after him at once. By
Jove! gentlemen, it was the finest
thing l ever saw"
The steamer, long before this, had
reached the wharf, and most Of the
passengers had left. When l craWled
on deck, hoping to see again that face,
l found no one but the family of the
rescued boy, and even they were leav-
ing. In vain, that evening, for I was
still too weak to go ashore, l looked O.
yer the list of passengers, and cross
questioned the stewardess, seeking to
identify the countenance l had recog-
! niZed.
| "There had been dozen young Ia
dies about the age | talked Of" she
said, 'and she couldn't now even tell
| +boir poronC -