Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-04-07

Thought so mucu Vi. Auu IncH l.
Thought how dull she'd be o. looking at
the drawer where all the little things
were kept; and then iIAwell L amt
ashamed of it, if I am a great hulking
ifelIow-I took care that nobody saw
what was doing, while i had look
at a little bit of a shoe as: 1 had in my
pocket ,..r,.'5 ~ "a i
didn't go home, to dinner, for it
was too far off; so / had my snack, and
then went to it again directly along
with two more, for We was on the iece.
We had some beer sent down to us, and
at il we went till it was time to leave
off; and / must say as / was glad of IT,
and didn't much envy the fresh gang
coming on to work all night, though 1t
might Just as we'll havelbee night with
us. L was last down, and had Jest put
INV foot on the first round of the lad
der, when 1 heard something falling as
it hit and Jared the boards up'ards;
and then directly after what seemed to
be brick canght me on the head, and
before I knew where L was, L was of
the little platform, splash down in the
cold rushing water that took me off and
away yards upon yards before got my
head above it; and then was so con-
fused and half stunned that let it go
under again, and had been carried ever
so far before half drownded, gained
nv legs, and leaned, painting and blind
ed. mp against the Shiny wall. !.
There / stood for at least ten minutes
I ouldsuppose, sh udderlng and horrl-
fed. with the thick darkness all around,
the Shiny, muddy bricks against my
hands, the cold, rushing water beneath
me, and my mind in that confused state
that for few minutes longer | didn't
know what I was going to 10 next, and
wanted to persuade myself that it was
all dream, and should wake up di
rectly. All at once, gave Jump, and,
instead o. being cold With the water
dripping from. me, turned hot and
burning. and then again cold and shud-
derry: for had felt something crawling
on my shoulder, and then close against
nv bare neck, when i gave the jump,
and heard close by me light splash IN
the water,-a splash which echoed
Through the hollow place, while, half to
friehten the beasts that fancied must
be in swarms around me, half wrung
from me as a cry of fear and agony 1
yelled OUT r.r> IS -e
ssRdtg' s-.7r., is+-1,
Rats they were; for above the hollow
''wash-was d, hurry-hurry. wash-wash,
hurry hurry of the water, 1 could hear
little splashes and scuffiing by me
along the sides o. the brick-work.
Youmay laugh at peoples hair stand
ing on end, butt know then that there
was a creeping, tingling sensation In the
roots o. mine, as though sand was trick
ling amongst it; a, cloud seemed to come
over my mind, and for asfew moments
believe / was mad, with fear;
and il was only by setting my teeth hard
and clenching my fists that kept from
shrieking. However, was soon better,
and ready to laugh at myself as 1 re-
collected that 1 could only be little
way from the spot where the men work
ed; so 1 began to wade along with the
water here about up to my middle. ALI
at once L stopped, and thought about
where was at work. @
"WHfch tr1y did6te tcdte,- ramp"
My head turned hot aud my temples
throbbed with the thought. If / went
the wrong way should be lost-lost in
this horrible darkness-to sink, at last,
into the foul, black stream,t to be drown
ed and devoured by the rats, or else to
be choked by the foul gases that must
be lnrking down here IN these dark re-
cesses.
Again the horror of thick darkness
come uponime: L shrieked out wildly,
and the cry went eehoing through the
sewer, sounding hollow and. wild till it
faded away. Bot once more / got the
better of it, and persuaded myself that
/ had only cried aloud to scare the rats.
What would i not have given for a stout
stick as a defence against attack as L
CROPPED my way on, feeling convinced
that should be right If j crawled down
stream. when little reflection would
have told me that up stream must be
the right way. for i must have been
borne down by. the water~ But | could
not reflect. for my bfsin Seemed. IN a
state of fever. and now and then my
teeth chartered as though had the ague.
I CROPPED Oh for quite quarter OF an
hour, when the horrid thought came
upon me that was going wrong, and
again tried to lean up against the wall,
which seemed to cause my feet to slip
from under me. Ifelt no cold, for the
perspirati6n dropped from me, as L
frantically turned back and tried to re-
trace. my steps, guiding myself by run
ming hand against the walfwbere every
now and then it entered the mouth of
small drain, when, SO sure as it did,
there was scuffie and rush, and more
than once / touched thesoOld slippery
ho1x- nf a rot % fouch that mazda mo
start back as though shot.
On 1 went, and on, and still no scat
fold, aud no glesm of gaslight. Thought
after thought gave fresh horror to my
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, 1 rushed headlong on, STUN
bling. aud falling Twice over, so that L
was half choked in the, black water
But it had its good effect flor it put a
stop to my wild struggles, which must
soon have endad in my falling insensible
into what was certain death; The wa
ter cooled my head, and, now, feeling
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,
,yhere, If the tide was down, / could
get from the mud on to the wharf or
bank, e.. .l-.- .,.. .-.5..f-v
So once more / struggled on, follow
ing the stream slowly Tor what seemed
to- be hours, till at last, raising my
hand, / found / could not touch the
u Al L..