The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-08-24

ulU NOT Iall IH6m IOT du AucO0uts
though the water had now reached
above their knees. In the faces OF
these two girls might be read that ua-
complaining patience, that high and
enduring fortitude, which is a special
characteristic of Anglo tropical wo
men. The contrast between their
calmness and the wild despair of Mrs.
Seuter and the negroes was very no.
! ticeable. It was time to try the
courage of any one. Mr.. Gordon I
knew was not wanting in courage, but
his fortitude seemed to have forsaken
him.. His looksewere wild 1.-The MUS
Giles of his mouth twitched and quiv
cred, and now and then he muttered
something | could not hear .sssir
| Inch by inch the water rose till 1T
reached my waistcoat One by one
| the buttons disappeared, as each min
ute our enemy gained upon u.s. Still
/ was loath to relinqnish all 1hope.
| Meantime, not word had been
uttered or an exclamation made by
Mr.. Gordon or his daughters. Mrs.
Seuter had ceased her cries, for she
persuaded a tall negro to- hoist her
upon his shoulders, where ske sat
tgrasping one of the candleswith great
satisfaction She was in a fools para
disc, for she did not remember that
1.-THE instinct'of life was as strong in
athe negro as in herself, and that the
moment the water rose high enough
to endanger the life Of the negro, ne
would in all probability leave her to
her fate. No, there was no help eor
escape for us, and all we could do, was
calmly to wait the approach of that
death, which was slowly creeping upon
us. A moment of more awful sus-
pense could not be contemplated. /
have been through many perils, but
never anything ike this. 4 man may
be brave when his blood isuhot, aud
the tide of battle carries him on !; but
to stand still and see the grim de-
stroyer coming nearer and nearer,
minute by minute; and inch by inch,
requires very different sort of cour-
age.
The water had by this time reached
almost to our shoulders, and Ifelt my
fortitude giving way, I,yanted to Gall
aloud, to1shriek for help; thereswas
something so horrible in the idea Of
being thus drowned like rats in eel
lar, that I recoiled fromit Ail1this
takes little time to describe; but the
rise of the water was so slow. that
more than half an hour had elapsed
Isince it first entered the vaultA And
now again came the rumbling of the
earthquake, and the sickening sensa-
ton of its shock The place shook,
the water was agitated and partially
subsidized. For momeat could not
believe my eyes; [ expected to see it
rise again; but / watched it closely,
and found, to my great joy, that it was
rapidly diminishing It was certainly
a moment of intense relief, though our
saved from immediate death; but how
were we to be extricated from Our liv-
| ing tomb? how were we to make our
situation known to others?
For several hours we remained in
this state-part of the time with the
additional horror of darkness, for the
| lights had burned out, and we had no
others to replace them. | can't tell if
/ or any one else slept, but / know
that after time we all appeared in a
state of stupor, for not word was ut
tered. At one time | fancied) my
senses were leaving me, for my brain
was filled with strange unearthly WIS.,
ions. From this / was suddenly
aroused by the most appalling shrieks.
What is it?' asked |. s,5What is
the matter?
The water coming in again Don't
you hear it? cried Mrs. Seuter.
| listened. There was a noise GER
tainly, but it did not appear to be
that of water; then it ceased. / felt,
about me- but nv senses were So
numbed, that | could not tell if the
water was rising or falling, or, indeed,
if there was any water at alh,G19 lis
tened again, and most certainly there
were sounds, and that they came from
above was unn1istakable. AT first
\ they were indistinct, but each moment
/ they became palmer, and at last
j could distinguish the blows of picks,
/ then the noise of shovels,f and these
at last were mingled with the shouts
of human voices Help was truly at
4 hand The sense of reprieve from
ysucha situation was more than the
4 most social could have borne with in
| difference, and we all joined in the
] shouts of the negroes to their COM
rades above. A few minutes after
this, to our inexpressible delight the
trap opened, and a CLEAN of sunshine
burst in upon us. A9@iHa9fo -
IL shall not attempt to depict our
feelings or the wild joy Of the me-
A groes both above and below, nor. shall
i i be ableito give any correct note of
4 the manner in which Mrs. Seuter con-
\ Quoted herself, so frantic was her Joy.
| only know that Dir. Cord nsand his
| two daughters embraced me in their
/ excitement, and that I thought the
latter experience very agreeable, ''Ti
Our final deliverance was delayed
for some time for want of ladder.
IWhile one was being nrocllredE the