Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-01-19

And to deal blow was his first impulse
| BIT he restrained the impulse. And it
REQUIRED more courage to do this than to
have stricken the insolent young man to
the ground. A moment or two Wilson
struggled with himself, and then turned
off and marched slowly away.
His flushed and then pallBg face, his
quivering lips and unsteady eyes, left on
the minds Of all who witnessed the scene,
m impression somewhat unfavorable.
| Partakipg of the indignant excitement of
the moment, many of those present looked
Tor instant punishment for his unjustifi.
| able insult. When, therefore, they saw
Wilson turn away without even a defiant
answer and heard the low sneering ut
| tered word, Coward" from the lips of
Logan, they felt that there was a craven
spirit about the young man. A coward
we iustinetively despise; and yet, how
slow we are to elevate that higher moral
courage which enables man to brave I'M
lust iud gment, rather than do what he
thinks to be wrong, above the mere brute
instinct which, in the moment of excite
ment, forgets all physical consequences.
AS Caldwell Wilson walked away from
his companions he felt that he was re-
SdTuSu ds d CUWdEus LIS was HlEl
| bitter trial; and the more 80 because there
was one in that little group of startled
| maidens for whose generous regard he
would have sacrificed all but honor.
1t was, perhaps, half an hour after this
unpleasant occurrence, that Logan, whose
heart still burned with an unforgiving
spirit, encountered Wilson under oircum-
stances that left him free to repeat his in
sulting language, without disturbing the
rest of the party, who were amusing
themselves at some distance, and beyond
the range of observation. He did not
succeed in obtaining personal encounter
as he desired.
Caldwell Wilson had been for some
time sitting alone with his unhappy
thoughts, when he was aroused by sud-
den cries of alarm, the tone of which
told his heart too plainly that some immi-
nent danger impended. Springing to his
feet he ran in the direction of the cries,
and quickly saw the cause of the excite
ment. Recent heavy rains had swollen
the mountain stream, the turbid waters
of which were sweeping down with great
velocity. Two young girls, who had been
amusing themselves at some distance
above, in boat that was attached to the
shore by long rope, had, through some
accident, got the fastening loose, and
were now gliding down, far out in the
current, with fearfully increasing speed,
toward the breast of mildam, some I'M
dreds of yards below, from which the
| water was laundering down a height of
over twenty feet. Pale with terror, the
poor young creatures were stretching out
their hands towards their companions on
the shore, and uttering hesrt.rending
cries for succor.
Instant action was necessary, or all
would be lost. The position of the young
girls had been discovered while they were
| yet some distance above, and there hap
peniug to be another boat on the mill
dam, and that nigh at hand, Logan and
two other young men had loosed it from
the shore. But, the danger of being car
ried over the dam should any one venture
out in this boat seemed SO inevitable that
none of them dared to encounter the haz-
ard. Now screaming and wriDging their
hands, and now urging these men to try
and save their comp anions, stood the
young maidens of the party, on the shore.
when Wilson dashed through them, and
springing into the boat, cried out
Quick, Logan Take an oar, or all is
lost"
But, instead of this, Logan stepped
back a pace or two from the boat, while
his face grew pale with fear. Not an in
slant more was wasted. At a glance
Wilson saw that if the girls were saved, it
must be by the strength of his own arm.
Bravely be pushed from the shore, and
with giant strength, born of the moment
and for the occasion, from his high, un-
selfish purpose, be dashed the boat out
into the current, and, bending to the oars,
took a direction at an angle with the
other boat, toward the point where the
water was sweeping over the dam. At
every stroke the light skiff sprung for
ward a dozen feet, and scarcely half a
minute elapsed ere Wilson was beside the
other boat. Both were now within TWEEN
ty yards of the fall and the water was
bearing them down with velocity that
strong rover, with every advantage on
his side, could scarcely have commended
against successfully. To transfer the
frightened girls from one boat TO the
other, in the few moments of time left ere
the down sweeping current would bear
their frail vessel to the edge of the dam,
and still to retain an advantage, was, for
Wilson, impossible. To let bis own boat
go and manage theirs he saw to be equal
ly impossible.
A cry of dispsir reached the young
mans ears as the oars dropped from his
grasp into the water. 1t was evident to
the spectators of the fearful scene that he
had lost his presence of mind, and that
all was over. Not so, however. In the
next moment he had sprung into the
water, which, near the breast of the dam
WAS not more than two feet deep. As heI
did so he grasped the other boat, and
bracing himself firmly against the rush
ing current, held it poised a few yards
from the point where the foam-crested
waters leaped into the whirlpool below.
At the same instant his own boat shot
like an arrow over the dam. He had
gained, however, but small advantage.
1t required his utmost strength to keep
the boat he had grasped from dragging
him down the fall.
The quickly-formed purpose of Wilson,
in thus springing into the water, had been
to drag the boat against the current to
the shore. But this he perceived to be
impossible the moment he felt the real
strength of the current. If he were to-
let the boat go he could easily save HIM
self. But, not once did such thought
enter his own heart.
"Lie down close to the bottom" he said,
in quick, hoarse voice The terror
stricken girls obeyed the injunction in
stantly. And now with a GOODNESS that
was wonderful under all circumstances,
Wilson moved the boat several yards
away from the nearest shore, until he
reached the point where he knew the wa
ter below the dam to be more expanded
and free from rocks. Then throwing his
body suddenly against the boat, and run
ming along until he was within few feet
of the dam, he sprang into it and passed
over with it. A moment or two the light
vessel, as it shot out into the air, stood
poised, and then went plunging down.
The fearful plunge was made in safety.
The boat struck the seething waters be-
low, and glanced out from the whirlpool,
bearing its living freight uninjured.
(Which was the ooward?" The words