Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1871-03-08
MIFFLNT0WN, JUNlAvA COUNTY. PENN'Ar Ma

evidently accommodating the position
His graceful evolutions, the perfect eas,
with which he glided through the water
the underjaw dropped Just enough to dis
close the glitering rows of teeth sharp a;
razors, the careless, lazy movement o.
that powerful tail, and above all, the colo
horrible glare of those small yellow eyes
fascinated me with deadly terror. In
those short seconds lived an age of hor.
ror To see that ravenous demon so lei
surely confident of his power and | al
most powerless, waist deep in water. and
no weapon of defence but common boat
hook, | seemed to shrink into nothing
ness-when compared to my enemy. He
gave me but few seconds to think OF
prepare for death, for quick as cat he
faced direct for me and seelred almost to
spring clear from the water as he dived
for my legs. l could scarcely hold the
boat hook iu my trembling grasp but as
his body came within reach I struck at
him with the energy and despair with
which drowning man would clutch at a
straw. In breath | committed my soul
to God, and for the next few seconds be
came nearly unconscious. Whether the
monster felt the point of my spear or not
of course | cannot tell i; Ipresume, how
ever, that he did, for he missed me. his
ponderous jaws coming together with a
rush and snap.
Passing full around me, he dashed ont
into the harbor again, but not far, when
he turned and began the same maneuvers
as before. My feelings as he sprang for
me and the revulsion consequent upon
my unlocked for respte, seemed to in
spire me with new courage, aud felt
that the cowardly monster might yet be
banked of his prey. l gained an as
tonishing feeling of cooluess aud nerve,
and determined to present a firm front
when he attacked me again, which |
knew he would.
began retreat, stepping cautiously
backward with my eyes fixed on the
shark. Stealing look toward the boat
| saw with joy that the men had got it
off the beach and were manning the oars,
That look nearly proved my last, for [
hardly turned towards the shark again
before he was upon me. | cannot de-
scrib: minutely what occurred, for l was
taken completely by surprise and lost
my wits as well as nerve. saw the
dull glare and devilish ferocity of those
terrible eyes, and almost white, shining
surface of the belly as it were partially
turned upwards, and the water dashed in
my face, A deadly cold feeling went
over me like an electric shock as [ felt
the Shiny body brush my bare legs; some
thing struck me on the chest, and for an
instant, | believe | became unconscious.
The shark seemed to twist his body com
pletely around me, that the boat hook
dropped from my hands and fell over
the monsters back, my feet and legs be-
hind thrown entirely out of the water as
my head and body were wholly submerged.
Nothing but an interposition of Divine
Providence saved my life, for the shark
failed for the second time in catching me
between his massive jaws. The water
seemed to restore me little, | scrambled
to my feat and almost wild with terror,
looked for the shark, and none can ina.
gine the Joy l felt as saw him swim
ming at full speed toward the entrance of
the lIarbor
| turned my face to the shore and
staggered along until within few yards
of the beach, when was wholly over
come and swooned from the effects of
the dreadful ordeal l had undergone -
Falling in water nearly two feet deep,
and after such remarkable escape from
a horrible death | came within hair 5
breadth Of drowning. The boats crew
arrived not second too soon, as it was
over an hour before 1 was resusctiated,
and then, only after the most unwearied
exertions. | was as weak as a child
and for hours shook like a person with
the palsy. On shipboard l received ev
ery personal attention, but it was many
days before l was restored to my former
condition and equanimi:y. For several
nights slept but very little, notwith.
standing the administering of powerful
opiates Whenever | closed my eyes
would see that shark, and shock like
electricity would be the result. / served
in the army during the entire period Of
the war and was in many tight places
but nothing ever approached the terror
or mental suffering of my encounter with
shark.
A STORY is told of a certain man and
his wife, who were almost always quar-
relling. During their quarrels. their only
child "a boyl was generally present, and
of course, heard many of his fathers ex