The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1872-05-23

holding a cross bar IN my hands,
over which Tom threw his legs, and
hung head downwards; and then
away we went up, up through the
soft evening air, SO slowly that
Toms hands touched the top of one
Of the elm-trees as he waved about
a couple Of flags
Our custom was TO hang quite still
Bntil we were mp four or five hun
dred feet, and then to begin our
twining and twisting, and so we did
now, when Tom pitched away the
flags and we went through our tricks
rising higher and higher, with the
faces of + the Edehse crowd getting
mixed into a confused mass, and the
strains of the band growing fainter
and fainter, till all below was quite
mingled in faint hum.
We had only one more trick to do,
and that was to cast loose the bar
and each man swing by his own
rope. Ihad loosed my end, the per
spiratiOn streaming down the while,
and Pom had done the same, when.
swinging round toward, me with a
horrible white face, he exclaimed:
Ben, cid man, Pm going to faA.'
It's no use; I couldn't tell YOU
what | felt then if Lhad tried eyer
so, only that in half a second I saw
Tom lying a horribleierashed corpse
for below; and felt so paralyzed
that thought should have.let go
of my rope and fsalen myself
could act, though, and ! did, for in a
fash / bad given mgselfas jerk for
ward, and thrown myself against
Tom, tlinging my legs round him
and holding him tightly; and then,
tired as 1 was, 1 felt that / had
double weight to sustain, for Toms
rope was swinging to and fro, and as
my legs clung round his body, his
head hung down, and I knew he
must have tainted.
How / managed to hold on. I cant
tell now, for though weak with all 1
had done, I managed 10 give a
hoarses cry for help, and the next
moment l heard a cry Of horror
from the basket-work car.
Then / felt the rope begin to jerk
as they began to haul us up, and
managed to shrek out: "Noi nor'
for if they had hauled any longer,
they must have jerked poor Tom
from my hold.
l often ask myself whether it was
half an hour or only a few seconds
before / saw the rope lowered with
a big running moose, and then I've a
misty notion of having set my teeth
fast on the rope, as 1 felt a dreadful
weight, as Of lead, dragging at me-
Then felt that it was all over, and
knew that l had been the death OF
poor Tom, for he had seemed to fall,
rs I felt the rope 10y which l hung
jerk again violently. 1 saw the
earth below like map, and the gol-
den clouds up above the great net
ball, and then a mist swan
before my eyes, and all seemed black
and thick as night.
When came too, was lying OF
my back in the car, with a man pour
ing brandy between my lips! My
first words were gasped out in a
husky tone, for 1 did not know
where l was; and then remembered |
bursting out into quite a shrek as I |
cried: where's Tom?"
Here, old man." he said, for they |
had managed to drag us both into |
the car; and for the next hour we
sat there shivering, saturated with |
cold perspiratioa; even the. men in !
the car being Silent, Unnerved, as ] |
by our narrow escape.
Tom wanted to go again; but |
wouldn't let him. Il did not trem-
ble," he said; "it was only a sudden
fit of gidiness through being un
we'll"
l went up, though, many times af-
alone, on horses and on |
bulls; and l meant to have had a car
Of flying swans for u grand hit, when |
stepped in and put a
stop to it; and, as said before, very |
sorry l was, for it was my living.