Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1869-08-13
A Little Hero.

(E In the city OF Haruor. ID, Connecticut,
u lives the hero Of the true history l am
the perilous advent oure, which made him
for time famous in his native town. han
q ~ pened several ears ago II ei1.
Our nero Tas then bright active boy
VI louIeee -n-the son of mechanic. In
o IN .ne IS sew sre winter of 49,, the father work
frc u ~ q factory; about mile and half
II I'm his home, and every day the boy car
Doc ried him his dinner across wide piece of
meadow land
afT.J7 One keen, frosty day, he found the snow
'>Y ,on this meadow nearly two feet deep, and
no traces of the little foOt-path remaining
Yet he on as fast as possible, plungir.,g
through drifts-and keeping himec,f warm
by vigorous exercise and b~.save. cheerful
thoughts r
when In the Tn.lidst of the meadow, fully
~ nan mlle from any house, he found him
sen sen going down, down, down. He had
Iallen into well!
81 ~ "a. He sank down into the dark ice water,
" - Q but rose Immediately to the surface There
he grasped hold of plank, which had
fallen into the well as he went down. One
end OF this rested on the bottom of the
well, the other rose about four feet above
the surface Of the water.
go .ez The poor lad shouted for help until he
rs was hoarse and almost speechless but all
a. in vain, as it was impossible to make him
self heard at such distance from any
uouno. f5o dt itSC ne COncluQoQ tnaJ ii ne
was saved at all he must save himself, and
began at once, as he was getting extremely
cold In the water. So he went to work
first, he drew himself up the plank
{ and braced himself against the top of it
ana the wall OF the well, which was of
brick, and quite smooth. Then he pulled
OF his coat, and taking out his pocket knife
cut OFT his boots, that he might work to
a-a greater advantage. Then, with his feet
against one side Of the well, and his shoul
ders against the. other, he worked his way
up, by the most fearful exerton, about half
the distance to the top Here he was
: - obliged to pause, take breath, and gather
up his energies for the work yet before
hln Far harder was it than all he had
" yet gone through, for the side of the well
Ya beng from that point completely covered
with ice, he must cut with his knife grasp
ing places for his fingers slowly and care
fully all the way up 4
1t Was almost hopeless attempt, but it
VI was all that he could do. Ana here the
little hero lifted up his heart to God, and
prayed fervently for help, fearing he could
- never get out alone .@Ja
Doubtless the Lord heard his voice, call
~i'"" ing from the deeps, and pitied him. He
-I'ag wrought no miracle to save him, but
. "fa breathed into his heart yet larger meas
ure OF camness and courage, strengthen
- ing him to work out his own deliverance
rs in this way that God oftenest an
swers our prayers, when we call upon him
III blInG Oh trouble.
4, In -. After this the little hero cut his wav up-
[}ts ward, inch by inch. His wet stockings
{5kS froze to the ice and kept his feet from slip
ping but his shirt was quite worn from
his shoulders ere he reached the top
He did reach it at last-crawled out into
=. .ss. the snow, and lay down for moment to
rest, painting out his breath in little white
clouds on the clear, frosty air. s~
He had been two hours and half in the
well!
His clothes soon froze to his body but
7ev r. he no longer suffered with the cold, as full
of Joy and thankfulness, he ran to the fac
- tory, where his good father was waiting
- and wondering.
go The poor man was obliged to go without
ss{ his dinner that day, but you may be sure
.ft he cared little about that, while listening,
with tears in his eyes, to the thrilling story
his son had to relate to him,
,eL He must have been very proud of the
= ~ boy that day, as he wrapped him up in his
own warm overcoat, and took him home to
"mother."
's And how that mother must have went
l. III and smiled over the lad and kissed him,
j. and thanked God for him -Grace Green
ar00d