The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1872-09-19
sHEs UaI1UaE.
THE ENGLIsHMAN's LEAP.
4 Story of Devils Lake.
Nv raS pDJ uODRE-SS

Drance, AMI at ali tunes aud III all places
the terrible scene will obtruds itself be-
fore ny sight.
We were standing upon the topmost
pinnacle OF the wildly massive Dlufs tow
ering hundreds Of feet above the level of
Devils Dake, near Baraboo, when, OBJ
serving few feetbelow me,a specimen OF
moss that struck me as an old acquaiDt-
ancc of my Alps journeyings, | nade an
effort, 10y partly descending aud then
making a long arm, to reach 1t. L shall
never know how IL occurred, but, having
clutched the moss, the next moment L
was rolling slipping ard tumbling down
the steep decllvlty with Il rapitllty that
almost deprived me OF consclousIiess.-
Ny fall was suddenly Interrupted by my
coat being caught In the roots Oh an old
nI-tree which grew out Of narrow shelf
or ledge on the lace OF the rocks, and
hung as 1T were over the depths below.
Partially stunned, bewiidcred and breath-
less, lay for Il few moments as one IN
dream, and was only awakened to my
senses by my brother on the top ct the
cliff calling TO me In the greatest fear and
anguish At last. after securing u foot
ing upon the ledge, | answered him,
bidding him to hurry back TO the settlers
cabin at which we had found quarters
the previous night and procure men
and ropes for "a single glance was
enough to show me that 10 escap e from
my perrilous position such AID was ncces
sary. After calling to ne to keep up
my courage, my brother disa peared III
the direction Of the cabin.
l now made effort examine my
situation more fully. | was as near
as could guess about eighty to hun
bred feet from the top o: tIe bluff down
-, | ell.
outwardly declining shelf, some thee or
four feet wide, aud from fifteen to TWEEN
ty feet long, on the rock lace, and on
which grew i few scrub pines and the
old tree, IN the roots OF which | had been
caught in falling. Above me and OH
either side there were 10 means OF escai e
except by help from the tcp. Below
was sheer fall Of d hundred and fifty
feet to the rocks below me, and another
descent Of equal depth TO the water,
itself said to be Of depth still greater.
A vigorous leap would have carried me
out and down into tue abyss Of the lake.
The bold face OF the rock was broken IN
to thousands OF rugged, shattered masses
and fragments, pIied and poised upon
one another, di<JoInted. topping, and
Impending, until 1t seemed that the
loosening OF some basic kcpt-stone might
In an avalanche laundering down-was [
alarmed? Not seriously. Few were the
paths of the explorers of the Alps which
had not trod, and, though young, L
had long been considered hy the Alpine
club In the hight or an old member.
" hlle thus surveying my position, the
sun rays fel suddenly upon the face OF
the bluff. until now In the shade. and-hOr-
Tor OF horrors from every whole and
crack and crevice and Granny above-on
each side of me-hundredS Of the dread
el rattlesnakes sgarmed. They literally
iestooned the rock. From veiued pur-
pie blotched with iItchen it grew hide
ousiy bright aud golden with their yell
low spotted skins. L screamed with ter
ror, Tor they We're crawling Al! around
me. 1t was but one scream, and, like
flash, from deadly coils. every head was
directed with It's ilery mouth towards me,
and the sound of their rattles sounded
like a kissing hail storm against the
rocks. L knew that to move, cven an
inch, was certain death to me--that they
would attack me from ali directions. /
was IN rattlesnake den, or rather IN the
.enidst OF a hundred dens. The sight was
penumbing, the foul smell too loathsome
to bear. Ny terror was SO great that my
body seemed paraiyZed, and | had but
dull SORT OF CONSCIOUSNESS that L must
neither move nor cry out.
How long | remained IN this state of
terror and torpor | know not, but ii
seemed an eternity. At length | was
aroused 10y shouts irogi above and below
Those above We're OF horror those Of
below were faint and indistiuct My
brother with the men above saw my sit
uatlon-'ihe snakes were out"-and,
after pause during which they were
consulting, my brother called 10 me, tel
ling me that L must rot move, must not
speak, but must hold on until the sun
went down, that they would keep me
company and encourage me, and shat If
L would only do as they directed there
was no danger the boatn1en below must
keep their boat close to the rock in case
of accident but | MUST hold ga
| knew my fate was sealed.
Up rose the sun-the hcfcest of all
the suns III my lIie--hutter and hotter -
1t was now little after noon. Heat,
thirst, terror, suspense, the ANGUISH of
remembrance of home. my widowed
mother, my poor sisters, my brother
looking on-and the terrible conscious
ness that | was to b stung aud strangled
TO death by q thousand rattlesrakes, be
reft me almost of my mind
/ felt | could holi out no longer. 4
moment 5 prayer to hea*en-a thought
of those | loved-the shghtet sturn of my
eyes to the boat bolow-and like a mad
map-wIth the spring of an antelope
| had bounded from the rock. | heard
confused groan of horror-i saw a
thousand rattlesnakes which In striking
at had taken the leap with mel was in
u glltterIng halo of veuemouS serpents-
and | vast LOST
M,r,y h Il 4. Il. 7 L
gan to recover consciousness. And
heavens what a consciousness 1t was
Failing, failing 1hen on the ledge
stunned, bruised ani bleeding Then
let me not brood upon 1t. The Shiny,
loathsome, terrible creatures everywhere
about me The leap 1.-The down, down.
down into tbiuauess-horrible sense
of humiliation All this would again
and again, day afte, day, haunt my mind
until L wished for death, believing that
death alone would relieve me.
During one of these paroxyisms of
terror. the scene changed. [ was being
drawn mp the face of the rock. the rope
fastened under my armpits around my
body. The snakes were devoaring me
as | slowly assembled and knew that
could never reach the top alive. One
single shrek, the echo of which still rings
in my ears, and my brother was by my
bedside III a nom Mt
Robert Robert! save me save me
save me =
Harry, good heavens what is the
matter2'
Save me save me - was all that
could cry for some time, until at last, re-
covering myself little. 1 gasped out,
where are the snakes 2"
Snakes" exclaimed my brother,
tffbpra ara No eo.i-,, b,.o