The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1866-06-23

that | should be right if | crawled down
stream, when little reflection would
have told me that up stream must be
the right way, for l must have been
borne down by the water. But 1 could
not reflect, for my brain seemed in
state of fever, and now and then my
teeth chattercd as though / had the
ague.
1 Igroped on for quite a quarter of an
hour, when the horrid thought come
upon me that i was going wrong, and
again / tried to lean up against the wall,
which seemed to cause my feet to slip
from under me. / felt no cold, for the
perspiration dropped from me as l fran
tically turned back and tried to retrace
my steps, guiding myself by running n
hand against the wall, where every now
and then it entered the mouth of a
small drain, when, so sure as it did,
there was scuffle and q rush, and more
than once l touched the cold, slippery
body of rat-a touch that made me
start back as though shot.
On I went, and on, and still no scaf-
fold, and no CLEAN of gas-light. Thought
after thought gave fresh horror to my
situation, as now / felt certain that in
my frantic haste / had taken some
wrong turn, or entered branch of the
main place; and at last, completely be-
wildered, l rushed headlong on, stumb-
ling and falling twice over, so that
was half choked in the black water.
But it had its good effect for it put a
stop to my wild struggles, which must
soon have ended in my falling insensi-
BILE into what was certain death. The
water cooled my head, and now, feeling
completely lost-knowing that / must
have been nearly two hours in the sew
er-I made up my mind to follow the
stream to its mouth in the Thames,
where, if the tide was down, l could
get from the mud on to the wharf or
bank.
So once more I struggled on, follow
ing the stream slowly for what seemed
to be hours, till at last, raising my hand,
= ''uh' L toui't touClt tilC lOol, illtl Nv
that knew that I was in larger sewer,
and therefore not very far from the
mouth. But here there was new ter
ror creeping up me, so to speak, for
from my waist the water now touched
my chest, and soon after my arm-pits :;
when | stopped, not daring to trust my
self to swim, perhaps a mile, when /
felt that weak could not have gone a
hundred yards.
l know in my disappointment I gave
a howl like a wild beast, and turned
again to have q hard fight to breast the
rushing water, which nearly took me
off my legs. But the fear of death lent
me help, and got on and on again till
felt myself in IA turning which l soon
knew was a smaller sewer, and from
thence | reached another, where | had
to stoop; but the water was shallower,
not above my knees, and at last much
less deep than that.
Here 1 knelt down to rest, and the
position brought something else from
my heart; and, after a while, still stoop-
ing, | went ON, till, having passed doz-
ems upon dozens of drains, determined
to creep up one, and did.
P'raps you won't think it strange as
dream and groan in bed sometimes,
when / tell you what followed.
l crawled on and on, in the hopes
that the place / was in would lead un-
der one of the street gratings, and l
kept staring ahead in the hopes of catch
ing gleam of light, till at last the
place seemed so tight that | dared 90 no
further for fear of being fixed in. SO |
began to back very slowly, and then,
feeling it rather hard work, stopped for
rest.
1t was quite dry here, but scuffling on
in front, kept hearing the rats l had
driven before me; and now that stop
ped and was quite still, half dozen of
them made rush to get past me, and
the little fight which followed even now
gives me the horrors. I'd hardly room
to move; but killed one by squeezing
him, when the others backed off, but
not till my face was bitten and running
with blood.
At last half dead, | tried to back out,
for the place seemed to stifle me 1; and
pushed myself back little way, and
then | was stopped, for the skirts of my
jacket filled up what little space had
been left, and | felt that | was wedged
in, stuck fast.
Now came the horrors again worse
than ever. The hot blood seemed to
gush into my eyes; | felt haIf-sutfoca-
ted; and to add to my sufferings rat
that felt itself as it were pcnned up,
fastened upon my lip. 1t was its last
bite, however, for half mad as / felt
then, my teeth had closed in a moment
upon the vicious beast, and it was dead.
/ made one more struggle, but could
not move, ! was so knocked up; and
then / tainted.
1t must have been some time before |
come to myself; but when I did, the
first sound | heard was regular tramp,
tramp, of some one walking over my
head, and | gave a long yell for help;
when, to my great joy, the step halted,
and shrieked again, and the sweetest
sound | have ever heard in my life
came back. 1t was voice shouting:
"HalloW
"Stuck fast in the drain I" | shouted,
with all the strength / had left; and
then | SWOOncd Off once moro. To wake