Nebraska advertiser., 1868-03-12

as the water raPluly mCEeaSeuB MIS-
Seuter became alive to her peril.
why" she exclaimed starting up
1--WE shall eli be drowned! Is there no
means Of escape! Can you think Of no
way Of extricating u.s." she asked
of me.
"None whatever" / replied. "We
are in he hands of God He alone can
help US, If It is His good pleasure"
The old ladies c%ountenance became
ashy pale, and then she threw up her
arm and shrieked "Ill cant die-I.
won't die! viii nobody save me! I'll
give anything-Ill buy your freedom,
and make you rich" she continued, turn
ing TO the negroes.
"Ese ma'am, we ave you If we can
we no lei buckra ladies die if bel II but
niger life as good as anybody's and
bum-by, when de water come ober de
head, we no help ourselves /; we all be
like den-we all be free, and rich too,
de Lord be praise 20 .
As the wateIrose il was quite a study
10 watch The faces of those about me
particularly of The negroes. The grad
u6l transition from anxiety TO fear, and
from that to the widest despair, would
have been luGicrous in the extreme had
not our situation been so appalling.
While all round were crying and wall
ing. however, Mary and Grace we're
perfectly quiet. Their courage did not
fail them for an instant, though the water
had now reached above their knees. In
the faces of the girls might be read that
uncomplainingfortitude which Is q spec.
ial characteristic of Anglo-tropIcal wo-
men. The contrast between their calm
ness and the wild despair of Mrs. Seuter
and the negroes was very noticeable. II
was a time 10 try the courage of any one.
Mr.. Gordon / knew was no! wanting in
courage, but bis fortiIude seemed TO
have forsaken him. His looks were
wild the muscles of his mouth twilched
and quivered. and now and then be NUT
tered something hat l could not hear.
Inch by inch The water rose till 1t reach
ed my waistcoat. One by n the but
tons disappeared, as each minute our
enemy gained upon US. Sull was 10th
to ~relinquish all hope. Meantime, not
a word had been uttered or an exclamation
made by MI. Gordon or his daughters.
Mrs. Seuier had ceased her cries, for
she had persuaded a tall negro to hoist
her upon his shoulders. where she sat
grasping one of the candles with great
satisfaction. She was in a fools parad-
les, for she did not remember that the
instinct of life was as strong in the negro
as 10 herself, and that the moment the
water rose high enough TO endanger the
life of the negro he would in all proba-
bibllily leave her TO fate. We must
calmly await the approach Of that
death which was slowly creeping upon
US. A moment of more awful supense
could not be contemplated. l have been
through many perils, but never anything
like this. A man may be brave when
his blood is bot, and the tide of battle
carries him on; but to stand still and
see the grim destroyer coming nearer
and nearer, minute by minute, inch by
inch, requires a very different sort of
courage.
The water had by this time reached
almost to our shoulders and / felt my
fortitude giving way l wanted to call
aloud, TO Shrek for help; there was
something so horrible ia the idea of being
thus drowned, like rats in a cellar, that
| recoiled from it. All this takes lutle
time 10 describe but the rise of the wa
ter was so slow that more than half an
hour had elapsed since it first entered
the vault. And now again m the
rumbling of the earthquake, and the sick
ening, sensation of its shock. fireplace
shook the water was agitated, and
partially subdued. For a time | could
not believe my eyes l expected TO see
it rise again; but / watched it closely
and found, to my great Joy, that it was
rapidly diminishing. II was certainly a
moment of intense relief, though our dan
ger was not all over. We were saved
from immediate death: but how were
we to be extricated from our living tomb I!
how were we to make our situation known
10 others
For seveal hours we remained in this
state-par; of the time with the addi-
lional horror of darkness, for the lights
had burned out, and we had no others to
replace them. ! can't tell If l or any
one else slept, but | know that after a
time we all appeared in a state of stupOr.
for not a woFd was uttered. At one time
l fancied my senses were leaving me.
for my brain was filled with TRANCE
unearlhly visions. From this | was
suddenly aroused by the most appalling
shrieks.
"What is it !" asked 1. "What is the
matter? 2"
1.-The water coming again Don't
you hear il cried Mrs. Seuter.
/ listened. There was a noise certain.
ly, but it did not appear to be of water;
then il ceased. / felt about me; but
my senses were so numbed that / could
not tell If the water was rising or fall
ing, or, indeed. if there was any water
at all listened again, and most certain
ly there were sounds, and that they
come from above was unmistakable. At
first they were indIstinct, bat each mo-
ment they became palmer, and at last
l could distinguish the blows of picks,
then the noise of shovels, and these at
last were mingle with the shouts of hu-
man voices. Help was truly at hand.
The sense of repIieve from such a sit
uaIion was more than the most stoical
could have borne with Indifference, and
we all Joined in the shouts of the negroes
10 their cOmrads above. A few minutes
after this, TO our inexpressible delight.