The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-11-04

oa.ht hold of it; hut it was not strong
Q nueh to enable me to lift myself out of
the water. All that could do was to
-uplort myself with my hands Just suffi-
.ntly to keep my head above the surface.
took this opportunity Of kicking off n y
boots.
U. % this time could scarcely realize
my position; bu: now the conviction be
gan to dawn upon me that | might never
again see the mother aud sisters [ had
left in the cottage mile and half away.
looked up at the sky, in which the twi-
light was fast giving place to the moon
light, and across which the clouds were
merrily driving before the evening breeze:
,,d then | looked at the black and Shiny
calls which hemmed me in, and felt a
houeh | were about to scream with ter
rcr From my childhood, l have Away
had horror of confinement ofany kind.
| have felt Strangely uncomfortable when
have been persuaded in exi,loringa cave,
Or when | have been shown through a
Prison. This feeling | felt now more
strongly than the tear of drowning. To
lie h-mmed in by those gloomy walls
would be terrible.
Ia aud 10 the weirdness. a hollow
,nonling sound. almost amounting to a
oar, ran through the quivering bog, in
en>iied t me. no doubt, by my impris-
.nment in the heart of the morasS Thi~
hoagh l had never heard it before,
knew to be the note of the bittern. =
During the night, it was repeated several
ines, aud anything more weird and dis
anal it would be hard to imagine.
had not a. yet thought of shouting
out now did so, till | was hoarse. The
only answer was the eerie scream of the
! curlew. The improbahility of any one
being near enough to hear me so late,
| truck me, and desiSted from the useless
labor. The stiffness was intense, broker
only at rare intervals by the bittern OF
| curlew How long chung to the branch
do not know. Fortunately the water
| was not cold. The clouds had cleared
| away, and the moon. near the full, shone
brightly Had it been dark, my courage
mu have given way, and | should most
probably have sunk. But as it was,
cannot say that | quite despaired OF a
rescue in some way or other. 1t l could
only hold out till morning. some one
might, coniectured. come for the pur
pose of carrying away the turf sods, and
might see my coat and gun. which would
lead them to search | had not much
hone in any search from the village;
had started in the direction of the ellis,
my favorite evening haunt. and | fancied
that would be the directio" the searcher,
would take As the night wore on-oh,
81 Slowl with the EIoon so calmly Gid
ing through the stars above me | fell in
IT, ii kind of stupor. and can distlnctly
remember repeating scraps Of verses to
l. " unconnected with each other. From
this state, was aroused by the loud note
Of some night bird, probably an owl. and
found my arms very stiff from holding Oh
to the root while my legs felt like weights
of lead suspended beneath me. While
trying TO change my position, | fancied
heard the gurgling sound of running wa
ter, and that not far off, | listened in
tently, and found it was no fancy, Water
was evidently running into the pool. ano
[ saw by the root | was clinglng to thai
the water had risen some inches.
A cheering hope sprang up WITHIN me
as it flashed across my mind that the tide
must be rising. and that the pool must
have an outlet into the river.
The thought Infused new life into me
and struck out n the direction of the
sound. Then. to my intense joy. | saw
distinctly, in the clear moonlight, that the
water was streaming in fast through sew
era small inlets and pouring in quie ;ly
and steadily through one of the ditche:
| | had previously swam up. | knew thai
if the tide rose another foot or eighteen
inches, | could, by treading water fast
spring up so high as to be able to catch
hold of the top of the bank. and SO swing
/ oil hot ha 70,
could not possibly begin to flow into the
bog pools until it was nearly high tide.
Returning to my resting place, | watched
GRANGE banishing ali WEAKNESS. TIE wa
ter continued to pour in steadily and in
greater volume The dawn was noH
breaking, and | had not much longer tC
wait. The water had ceased flowing, and
the bank in one place was barely five feet
above the water. Taking long breath,
let myself sink low, and then treading
water aS strongly and quickly As possible.
| threw half my body above the surface
of the pool. and caught the top with one
hand. Before the s.,ft earth had tinie
TO crunblc beneath my weight, had OBJ
tanned a hrmer grasp with the other hand
and In another moment stood on the moss
saved, drinking in with eager gasps the
fresh air of the morning.
The white haze was rapidly clearing
away, and through it | saw FIVE or SIX
| men hurrying towards me.
| have a confused idea nf being helped
to my lodgings. and of afterwards telling
my adventure tn many eager questioners.
The soaking had had, and the expo
sure to the unhealthy mists which ris
from the moraSs in the night, caused ar
illness for time, but the effects soon
wore off.
The heron is stuffed, and adorns my
cabinet. unconscious of the revenge which
overlook its destroyer.-ChamJer's Jour-