St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-06-23

|
/ how dcitly he would slip out backwar
: with Wild scream of triumph. In IA,
| to all our advances his only answer w;
i neigh. Finally, we let down the bar.
and after Il long CHASE through meade,
| and corn-ticld, we drove him into th
barn yard, and thence INTO the slabl,
To harness him was the work VI "a mo
ment, We took the hay-rack eft lh
= b"l,ler> of the lumber-wagun, and hay in.
replaced it with the box, away wr start
cl for Dcacnn'-.
Arrived 1T myold quarters, We soor
took down the hc,lslcad, packed the books
lImbered up the stove. and having care
fully carried all down the three ili"hts @
stairs, We packed them i'll the wagon.
then bld alieu To the GOOD Deacon AN,
his family, who were not Il little aston
Ishcd at my Sudden departure. Gay II:
Il lark, we started for the college, and il
due time reached tlIr doors Of the four
story hul,Iin. wherein was To f< my
future dumicilc
All this time | had forgotten that il
W. ii'N iii' va lIlt Ii'lI III. anu
that the r""ns had ali been let at com
mcncrmrnt. some weeks previously. Not
laNIn then secuted accommodations.
what WIS my SrNnIInu Ia learn from the
Steward that the only room iu hc had
was III the attic, and It's ronf 81 much
out g! repair Ilat 1t WAS untrulntallr.
In Tact, the TIN root over the whole
building had been lcaky for years, 81 that
the choice OF rooms dcpcndcd inycrscly
on college traditions ;tS to which rcquil
cd the most water to he carried upstairs.
However, Ike most Yankee boys OF the
oldcn time, | was something OF Jack
OF all trades, anl nothing dauntrd. | took
the room, trusting to my own skill to
mend the r""i, rather than lose my only
chance t" %ratliy my darlin" wish. My
| lug%a@e wis accordingly carried. piece
by piece, up the four flights Of stairs
The brd>trad anI stove were set up, the
clothes and books mpackrd ami arr;lnu-
eel and with the bed cord, some sim
nlc-mal', and Il hammer, mounted 10
the roof through the scuttlr. took oil my
boots, and IN my >torkin. feet ,rt about
the Job Ct repair.
Now, That root was quite steep. 1t
was a> slippery aa unpalntcd tin could
be. 1t had Hn railing or cutter at its
caves, and those caves were at least sixty
feet above tHr stone ill."inr ut the area.
SO, Il protect nv self from the very un-
prOml>Iu" results of Il fall under such
circumstances, | tirl one end OF the bed
cord around my waist, hrld the coil ia
my hand and passed the bi.ht ul it
around an old spike that projected from
thc ride of the roof Rendering the
rope around tine spike, | bean bodily Ia
let myself down toward tia. place Of re
pair. Hut hardly bad lccnnmuitrrcI
the job, when, horror "t hurr"rS, the
rope chat,d oil bean 10 slip, lip,
slip, toward the fatal brink tIird To
catch the threads ut my Slurkim ia some
of the raggrl rd"r- of the tin | clutch
cd iranlirtlly with my finger, at each
buried ntil head TIL my mails were torn
and bleeding. All in vain Slippery a.
Il hill OF ice, the trcachcrutIs incline Of
irrcd lc,> and less friction ~ | "rayitat,d
toward IT. dreadful rd"r. Ny whole
life flashed through my a.unilc,l memory
III the twinklln4 If an eye \ dozen
hurrIlicl students. " lao were WATCHING me
from the area, sto"I rowCrcs~ below,
expecting the instant splash Of my "ory
remain, "n the stony pavement At last,
gathering my tcct uEdrr me IN the hope
ol SAVING my head by we'll directed
Jump. thou"h at the -arI ilcr of shattered
limbs, | reached the calves One "Iaurr
below, one " ild lratll-,hrirk. Il heap drS-
prr;,tr with all my dy iu@ rncraig-, and
found my>,li tnlhm. backward from the
corner under tn. Dulrh rl"rk in my old
quarters at lIr Dcarun'>. where my head
had wrlI-niYh split, from lis sudden i'm
pact AGAINST the wall. hal simply Jump
cd fun linu>ly ont ui bed
Rccallin" my scattered senses, my first
realization was that | had fallen asleep.
instead of ri-in" when the alarm struck.
and should now hc marked tardy if alb
sent from prayers. IIurricdIy gIanrim4
at the clock, found that the dream had
u'tul'i'h 'AhIy HN' minutes, counting
from the stroke of the alarm at which it
had been set, i"n may say, reader, that
til" clock hal probably stopped; 50
would had not seen it busy ~ ever,
and had not succeeded, simply 10y walk
i'll" Il little faster than usual, in savin@
my credit for punrtuality. What pass
ed through my mind in those drowsy
five minutes | shall never forget. 1t was
photographed upon my memory. But
that is more than can say of the reel
tatinn that followed. ". VI.