Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-12-09

Pray T. he answered, as ne ran down
the bank to join Mr.. Lape and the school
master, who were still keeping up with
the children.
Meantime the night had come on, but 1t
was bright moonlight. The ice on
which the children floated was near the
further shore; their little forms could not
be distinguished in the distance, only a
dark spot appeared on the surface. The
men kept Up constant calling, but Leo's
howl was their only answer Now came
the fear they would be frozen to death !:
Boston was still eight miles distant, and
the night was getting colder and colder.
Still they kept up that fearful chase along
the edge of the ice, where misstep would
plunge them into the freezing river, which
was almost certain death.
A mile further they reached cabin on
the river bank, inhabited by an old pilot.
He was reused from his bed by Mr.. San
der's orders.
"There is gorge mile or so below
right round the bend-they will be stop
ped there. The ice is piled at that point
clear across the river. Ifthat bit they are
on only keeps all right, we will have
them wish that dog would stop howl
ing, though" :,
"Ie knows the ice is rotten, reckon"
said the man who bad made the same as
sertion before.
"Id like to know what is to make
it rotten in such weather as this? 1t
would have lasted until the February
thaw, if you had not fired that
cannon. The danger is that it win be
capsized, or the children thrown of, when
it reaches the jam at the gorge, for it
comes there with rush. Help me to get
this dugout on my shoulders; it might as
well 60 along" ;,
Under the guidance Of the pilot, and
still hallng the children, they kept on.
The river now widened, until 1t was near
ly mile across. Mr.. Lape and Mr..
Sanders were silent, except to ask neces-
sary questions: only cow-bell, which had
been fastened to the sleigh to tell of its
whereabouts, broke the stiffness. They
neared the bend and could hear the crash
of the ice, as, after turning the point, it
was suddenly stopped in its course. They
went rapidly forward in the direction of
the gorge neither cold nor fatigue was
felt in their anxiety
"Follow me close, and take care" said
the pilot, as he began stepping in, and
about, and over the piled up masses, Il
crossed from the other side not two hours
before shutdown"
They obeyed his directions, stepping
with care. They had passed the middle
of the river, when, wedged in with other
Masses they saw that on which the child
rem was, moving toward where they had
halted They strained their eyes, and
stood fixed.
"Let us try the boat" said Mr.. Lape,
pointing to the clear space before them.
at would be stove to atoms in a MN
ute by one of those blocks" said the
pilot.
As he spoke, the mass to which their at
tention was directed, separated; the
larger part rounded the point swiftly, and
rushing onward, met the gorge, and dashed
against it with fury that threw them all
from their feet Ere the noise of the con-
cussion had died away, and while the loose
mass was still rocking and grinding, the
pilot sprang on TO it, and the others fol
lowed. The cake on which the children
were had got IN a sort OF eddy, and was
swinging round; behind it were some
larger masses, that, in a moment, would be
against it.
"Stand firm, and look out" the pilot
called.
As the words left his lips, great mass
came with crash against the smaller one,
which it broke into fragments, daShing 1t
up against the piled heaps of the gorge,
and sending splinters and pieces in all dl'
rectons, which struck them with the torce
of huge stones. With aspiring like pan
Their the schoolmaster gained the culver
ing surface, and dragged a little body
from the broken edge, where the next
moment it would have been mashed to
a Jelly by the closing masses.
Dashing back DER the wedged in irag-
mcnts, he saw the pilot with another dark
body in his arms and Mr.. Lape was
knecling by third. A moment later Leo
came dripping toward them from the river,
shaking the freezing water over them.
Hattie is only insensible,' said the
schoolmaster, aher heart beats"
This little fellow is alive" said the
pilot,
John has his arm broken, but thank
God for their lives !" exclaimed Mr.. Lape.
They were carried up the bluff, and put
in the sleigh; there some whisky was
forced down their throats, and they were
driven rapidly home. A messenger was
sent to Boston for the doctor there.
Numbed with cold, Hattie and Charlie
barely escaped with their lives, and suf-
tered much for many weeks, 1t was
warm weather ere John could use his arm.
The excitement over, Mr. Lape and
Mr. Sanders were surprised to see their
bruised feet and torn and bleeding hanCs,
the pain of which they had not felt at the
time; but when, week later, they viewed
the scene of their Christmas journey, they
could scarce believe ii possible they had
passed over the points and jagged rocks
Of ice they saw that night, which the old
est sQuatter said was the coolest known
or The Mississippi River Rtesrside Mag.
d;int.
The writer of letter in the London