The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-06-10
that If he did poi mind he would

that II he dld uOf mind ne WOuld
oTerbalance.
Get hold Of the rod" I said.
thinking that, sprung as it vas, the
touch Of it would give him courage.
Where is it, bog ?'' he said,
hoarsely, and then looking into his
face, which vas turEed 10 me, l saw
his eyes were drawn together, sqaint-
ing and bloodshoi. and I knew that
fright had driven him blind. So
pushing myselffo him. placed my
arlL aronnd his waist. and worked
round to the rod. which put in his
hand, and then looked below TO see
&c they were fr7ira 'a help Us, but
there were 30 signs.
The yard wss fa,l of people, and
.aii running hi,hrr and thiihcf, IS |
knes afterwards. and 81 10 the great
est cCusternaiion-the cradle having
fallen On oae Of the .. erscers Of the
worK. killing him on the spot. aud SO
occupying the attention OF those near,
iha: the uniortanales were for the
time forgotten. I was straining my
eyes 10 hopes of seein-: some effort
made to help us. when ! vas startled
to hear horrid yell. aud was brought
TO a sense ofnew dvnger, for on look
ing around, / saw Ben ehamping his
teeth, and foaming at the mouth, and
gestieulatiug in an unearthly way
Fear had not only blinded him, but
ierazed his brain.
Scarce had | time to comprehend
this, when he began edging his way
towards me, and every hair on his
head seemed to stand on end, as |
moved away, keeping as far off as |
could, and scarcely daring to breathe
lest he should hear me, for see me he
could not-that was my only conso-
lation. Overwhelmingly fol-
lowed me around the mouth cf that
horrible chimney; then, no doubt,
thinking that | had fallen over, he
gave up the search and begau to try
to get on his feet.
What could I DO to save his life +?
To touch him was certain death to
myself as we'll as to him, for he would
inevitably seize me; and We would
both go over together; to let bin
stand was TO witness equally certain
destruction.
1 thought of poor Mary, aud
thought that if he fell, she might to
get tc care for me. The devil put
that into my mind. l suppose, but |
thank God, there was a stronger pow
er than Satan near, and at the risk of
my. life 1 roared out;
"Sit still, or you will fall, Ben
Lloyd"
He crouched down and held on
gith clenched teeth, shiveriug and
shaking. In after days he told me
that he thought it was my spirit sent
to ward and save him.
@Sit STILL" repeated from time to
time, watching with aching eyes and
brain for some sign of aid. Each
minute seemed to be an hour. My
lips grew dry, my tongue literally
Glove to the roof of M mouth, and
the pcrspiration running down blind
ed me. At tlast-at last-hope came.
The crowd began to gather in the
yard, people we're running from dis
tant lanes, aud a sea of faces were
turned upward then some one who
had got speaking trumpet, shouted,
"Keep heart, boys, we'll save you y
A few minutes more and the kite be-
gan TO fly s; higher and higher it
comes on and on. How l watched
the white winged messenger, eompa-
ring it in my heart, to an angel and
surely, as an angel it was permitted
to come TO US poor sinners hanging
on the verge of eternity.
Up it came, nearer and nearer,
guided by skillful flyer. The slack
rope crossed tho chimney, and we
were saved. I could not shout hur-
rah, even had | dared but in every
beat of my heart was a thanksgiving
to God / had never truly known till
that hour, and whose merciful provi-
denee | can never doubt again.
The block was fixed, and the era
die came up again, and Ben obeying
my order, got in. L followed, but
no sooner did l touch him than he
began trying to get out, l got hold
of him, and taking it into his head
that l was attempting to throw him
over, he struggled and fought like
the mad man he was-grappling with
his teeth, shouting and shrieking,
aud praying all the way down, while
the cradle strained and cracked,
swaying to and fro like the pendulum
of clock. As We came near the
ground, I could hear the roar of vol
ces and an occasional cheer; then sud
denly all was silent, for they heard
Ben's cries, and when the cradle
touched the ground, scarcely a man
dare look in. The first who did, saw
horrible sight, for, exhausted by
the struggle and excitement, as soon
as the cradle stopped, had tainted
and Ben, feeling my hands relax, had
fastened his teeth into my neck I!
No wonder the men fell back with
blanebed faces they saw that Ben
was crazed but they thought that he
had killed me, for as they said, he
was actually worrying me like dog.
At last the master got to US and
pulled Ben off me:
1 soon came round, but it was a
long time before he got we'll, poor
fellow. When he did come out of the
asylum, he was never fit for the old
trade again. I gave up the trade,
too, soon after, finding that 1 got
queer in the head when 1 tried to
face height. So you see, that morn
ing's work changed two mems lives.
One Hundred Years Ago.
One hundred and ten years ago,