The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1869-06-17

I could leap far. enough out to strike
clear water. But we can't always do Us
We would, and Oftentimes man's most
pronis ising plans are knocked on tn e
head BY circumstances beyond his. con :
troll. had lust perfected the swim
ming plan in my mind, and was strug-
Cling 10 free myself from the mud when
something appeared to me that caused
me to hasten my movements in most
extraordinary manner. This accelernt-
ing process was nothing more nor less
than an enormous crocodile. The ugly
monster lay with his head towards me,
cycling me sharply, and evidently cal
culating how large a morsel would
make And he 1t was, probably who
had disturbed the boat The instinct Of
seit-rreservation gave me strength, and
while struggled up and back, splashed
lungs. making all ,hc saosse aifa G co,nmo-
fion I could. The fellow did not attack
me, and | finally succeesed i'm reaching
firm ground, where | sat down to rest, ,
for the effort to extricate myself form
that sticky trap had used up the last
atom of strength.
Wien had gained strength enough
to enable me to stand without an effort,
/ got up aud looked about me. My po
Igeition was surely not an cnviable one.
This island, of which was at that mo-
ment lord and master, was not more
than six rods long by about four broad,
and was covered with reeds. There was
n clump Of low water bushes upon one
side, but there was no such thing as a
tree upon it. There was in possession
of the dead heron, and | felt that | had
most emphatically caught Tartar. The
h,u IL it,tr n l,nf mt Ia,
breeze, toward that part of the shore
from which had come, and for me to
swim to it was out of the question.
The crocodile had disappeared; but |
knew he would quickly find me If ]
ventured into the water. ! stood there
contemplating the scene until the boat
had dritted upon the distant shore, and
then sat down again. My only hope
Of escape was that some one might come
to the lake i'm search of me. But what
il no one came? But what if those
who sought me did not find this sunken
hole? The thought was a most unpleas-
ant one. was thus engaged when |
noticed that my horse was uneasy
Something had frightened him. At
icngth he gave heavy pull, and freed
himself of his fartenings, and in few
Seconds more had seen the last of
him. ~~~v ~. 10y
+ had sat there half an hour or more,
and the sun was sinking so low that
the shadows fell entirely across the lake
when | observed a comnotion in the
water before be, and presently two large
ing very hungry, and betraying an evil
dent desire to eat me up. l seized my
rifle and fired at the one nearest me,
upon which they quickly disappeared.
The sun went down, and the last CLEAN
Of daylight faded away. | sat beside
my dead heron, but dared not go TO
sleep. When | felt the drnwsy spirit
come upon mo, I started up and paced
to and fro across the narrow island, but
this could not be kept up. Towards
midnight, rs | sat beside my bird, my
head sank upon its soft -feathery breast,
and was asleep before knew it. do
not think slept long, however. Some
thing oppressed me. and ! awoke with
asuffncating. sensation, to find NY nos
tri!s inhaling strong, sickening odor.
saw an enormous crocodile, with its ter
rible jaws not six feet from me. To
cock pistol and iiatten ball against
his armor was but the work of mo-
ment; and as leaped to my feet with
my rifle iu my hand, the fellow turned
and Scrambled for the water. " U.s.
/ slept no more that night and no
more crocodiles visited me. When day
light came again, l began to consider
anew the chances Of my being found by
my friends. Ifthey inquired for me at
Manila, they would certainly learn
which road had taken from the city;
and if they followed that road as far as
had come, they might discover, by the
tracks of the horse, where had turned
off. Another thing too, considered
favorable; they would go to the inn
where had hired the horse, and they
would find that the animal had come
back without me. This would certain
ly lead them quickly to search for me-
My first impulse, upon finding the day
light upon me, was to fire signal guns;
but upon reflection concluded that |
had better wait until my people could
have had time to come from the city,
for had not powder enough to load
many times. -r
| / waited until the sun had been up
/ two bours, then discharged my rifle. -
| was hungry and faint, and the damp
ness of the night had helped to waste
/ my strength. BY and by | fired again
! putting in as much powder rs thought
would burn profitably. had fired
! thus, at intervals Of about ten minutes,
! until had but one charge left, and |
was beginning to calculate anew my
! chances, and to think OF what would be
| the result If was not found, when a
most welcome sight broke upon my Wis
| ion = saw some of my men coming
down toward the lake. / fired my la
charge, and as they gained knowledge
of my whereabouts, they fastened on
and were soon at the waters edge.
made them understand where the boa
| was: :and'wheni they found IT,. and
knew that i was safe, ] sank down and
was fairly asleep when they reached
! me. pr-s.g+- ..
T MY friends had followed me inst as |
had anticipated. They had found my
horse at the inn, and having learned the
direction | had taken they set forth
/ They might not, however, have dfscov
cred the place where had turned of
7 from the foad, had they not heard The
report of my gun. l got back to my
i7ship D witha whole skin, where a small
quantity Of brandy, and very gener
Gus quantity of nourshing food soon re
stored me to myself.
ttRr A Genius and Thought. -
Alexander Hamilton once said to az