Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-08-25

down upon me, gave such . violent thrust
at his breast that the iron buried itself
deep.in his flesh, and, severely wounded,
he beat his wings together. His power OF
fight saw was weakened; but at the
same instant, through the violence OF the
attack. I, too, lost my equilibrium, my feet
stumbled, and ! staggered backward into
the abyss!
The blood froze in my veins but I did
not lose consciousness for . moment. In
the midst of my fall I seized with both
hands the rope. felt the stick at the
other end of the rope, and upon which l
sat, break under me, through the sudden
plunge and the weight Of my body, and
that was only connected still with the
upper world by the second small rope tina
was wound about my body. draw in
draw in p rang my clear cry to my cous.
ms above, who answered my signal, and
the rope was at once drawn in. lowered
upward. The severely wounded eagle, as
could still observe, was striving to cling
with his claws to the rocky ledge, and
reach his nest.
Twas, in my youth, one OF the first
wrestlers, and my arms and muscles were
of such strength that they could be meas
ured against the best in all the mountains.
But was, and am, also what is called q
'man of corpulence," and soon perceived
that the rope in the ascent OF eighty feet
could not alone bear my heavy body.
Necessarily my arms must lend assistance
if I would reach the summit. did what
was in my power, and clenched with both
hands the large rope; but had not calcu'
lated that, through the weight OF my body,
ascent must proceed but slowly. Long.
ingly I directed my glances above. Re.
peatedly l cried TO my cousins "Draw IN
draw I" They answered encourag
ingly, but the ascent, however, was no,
on this account quicker; the muscles Of
my arms were strained TO their utmost
and my strength was failing more and
more.
Suddenly I felt that a cold, clammy
sweat was covering me. As l looked
longingly towards the top, observed
an lev chill even now runs through. me-
that, under the weight of my body, the
knot OF the small rope was slowly un.
loosening from the larger, and with every
second the moment drew nearer when
must rely solely upon the already failing
strength of my arms. l shall never IN
my life forget that moment. With every
pull from above the knot heightened, the
plunge into the abyss was nearer. 'Once
more" cried, in the deepest anguish OF
my soul, to my cousins; closer and more
convulsively my hands grasped the rope
then closed my eyes-oommending my
soul to God. The Lord in heaven
helped.
"SeppelT voice cried, on a sudden,
near me, and hand seized my hair and
drew me toward it. "Seppel, for Gods
sake, what has happened to you? Where
is your hat-your statf?"
/ opened my eyes. My two cousins
were kneeling upon the precipice, and
drawing in the rope to bring me to terra
firma. I had been nearer the top than l
had supposed. The knot, although al
ready half loosed, had continued to hold,
and bear its burden till the last. Perhaps
two minutes later the end would have
slipped and sent me into the abyss. When
reached the summit Of the rock, sank
to the earth in swoou. How long lay
thus know not; but when, few days
afterward, I awoke again in the house OF
my relations, and learned that had mad
q high fever, and been delirious, my
eldest cousin, smiling, held q glass before
me.
NJ, Jos,. sr1e a, o,o ,shik