New Orleans Republican., 1873-04-06
THRILLING ADVENTURE.
How n Party was saved bs "Dld torona'
fion.''
From the Oregonian..

I, vas-i don't remember the precise
vear-but i, was when | was about seventeen
Years old. and when lived in d New Eng
land village where was born, and from
which had hardly ever been away:
II was the day before THANKSGIVING ene
only holiday that New knglanN KNOWS
much about, and about which the resi- OF
the world knows 80 very little. For three
nights before. the cold had been very severe
for the time of the year. and the newly
formed ice on the pond was as smooth anu
clear as q looking glass. What were we all
to do the next day, ''the gladdest, merrlest
dav' of all the year, besides 60 70 chuFcn
aad eat the feast that had been so long IN
preparation That was the question asked
bv NV strong. earnest, older friend who had
come from Boston 10 spend Thanksgiving.
..Skate, of course" answered.
ssBut why not try the ice Tonight le
asked.
could see no reason, and 80 we bound
on our skates and ti5w, as 1t were, over the
CLASSY surface of the pond to the cove,
| about which were the piles OF pine tree
| boughs. Once there. we conceived the ides
Of how grand il would be TO skate back to
the village; collect together the women and
girls. take suitable provisions for plcnic,
place them all in sleighs and on hand sleds.
draw them to this place, and cat q supper
on these rocks, amid the glare OF the
| burning tree-tops. We were not long III
| carrying out our plans, for almost every
house had It's sleighs and skates, and those
that were destitute of either united with
some of their neighbors. An hour and the
! little lake was covered by the merrIest
skating party that 10 had ever witnessed.
! And then the supper the bonfire, the songs,
| the merry making, shudder TO think OF
| such beisterous sport. with the impending
death SO very near! The sport was over at
! length, the apples eaten the cider drank,
the songs sunk, the stories told, and the
| once great flames among the reslnOus pine
| needles were now smOuIderlng among the
| limbs or lingering in the stumps and roots.
! 1t was nearly time to go. And so the com
pany was breaking up into little knots as
| we came.
"Tie all the sleighs and sieds together"
my strong friend shouted, the last to leave
| the spot. The order from our leader was
soou obeyed. Each little vehicle was
| ranged from fen to twenty feet apart, ac-
| cording 70 the length of the ropes or lead
| inc lines which we had, and three or four
skaters were stationed between them.
Then, two much longer ropes were stretched
from either side of the long lines, Of which
| some twenty more skaters took mold Win
! a shout and whOOp, such as Indians give
when rushing to battle, we started on the
| ice. The line. first straight or waving
| little where the poor skaters We're, soon
| took tine form of a crescent; and, with
| clamOr of voices and the grating OF skatIng-
| irons, we sped over the ice,
NV strong friend and were soon on one
of the side ropes. and we held the nearest
! to the sleighs. We had not proceeded tar
| before perceived that the ice was bending
| up in front of u.s. and I could plainly hear
| it crack above the noise of the skaters.
spoke not word. but looked intently into
! nv companions face. ] only thought that.
| so long as we kept in motion as we were
| then doing, we might pass the terrible dan
ger But knew very we'll if the true state
| of affairs was discovered, panic would
! spread along the line, some skater would
! drop out. and then the sleighs and their
| precious burdens must sink 90 the bottom.
| can not forget the horror of that mo
! ment-a moment that seemed an age. !
was faint myself, but | only shuddered lest
some skater should fall. could not speak
| for fear, but almost feared lest the other
voices should stop and the cracking OF the
| ice should be heard by the women, who
| would be sure to scream. My thoughts were
| on God, my eyes were fixed ON the face OF
| nv friend. was fairly drawn along up
| the curving ice, that seemed TO rise higher
! before us every moment. Cold sweat was
| on nv forehead. but could not loosen my
hand from the rope to wipe it off. My
friend noticed that | was lagging-l, who
| was so expert skater. His eyes caught
| mine and by that sort of intuitive language
that we sometimes have in time of great
dangers, he became aware of our dreadful
situation. heard the cracking of the ice, and
| saw it, felt it rising in front of us.
| What did the strong man do 4! Flee like
| a coward from the badgers he had brought
us and escape to the land Did the alarm
seize him that had overpowered me! Far
| otherwise Raising his voice so that it
10 l. oh +l,n .ii N4 Ia hot
and the merry voices OF the women. he
shouted:
"All sing, so we can keep better step; all
sing Coronation" And w!thou: lowering
his voice he sang:
oAll hail the power OF Jesus name,
Let angels prostrate fall
Bring forth the royal diadelH,
And crown HIM Lord of sN."
The orders came so unexpectedly that
few Joined in inging the verse; but when
he came 20 the next stanza almost all the
voices were heard. ] felt sort of relief
when the soprano, alto, tenor and bass
voices all struck the words:
Grown Him, ye martyrs Of our God.
Who from his altar CALI
| but feared the time when the bas. should
be LETT 20 carry q line alone.
There were but three or four bass voices
in the whole company. buc my friend was
| numbered among them. saw that he hus.
banded his breath ior this "a strong man
saves his strength for some great effort
Nevertheless. could hear. alternating with
| tho musical words:
'ExtO! thp stem OF Jesse's rod"
| the crack, crack. crack crack-crack-cr crack Of
| the brittle shell that was between us and
| eternity. 1t was "a wOndrOus relief when
| four parts instead Of one. and 100 voices in
stead of four, tool, the words which seemed
liz ar-h ham Of
'Extol the stem OF Jesse's rod
And crown him lord of all"
! We were now approaching the middle of
| the lake, where the water was the deepest,
| so deep that no line in the village could
| reach the bottom, and where the ice must
| be the thinnest. because it is the last to
| freeze there. ] knew this, but felt that
now we were going with such rapidity.
| there was no break in the song. ! singled
out tree upon the shore we were irving to
| make. and calculated that at the rate they
| were singing, there were verses enough to
| last until we reached il. 1 feared lest the
/ leader might omit a verse, as was some.
| times done in church, and there might be
| left space over which we might pass in
| silence. or rather in a silence made dreadful
| by the cracking of the ice.
! had no cause. There was indeed that
| awful crack-crack crack of the ice distinctly
! heard during the singing of each line of
every stanza Of the hymn; but it was either
that had become used to it or that it was
| indeed more faint than 1t was before, that
| it failed 10 affect me as at first So, too,
there were little breadths of ice to be
passed over. after the singers had closed
| the verse:
| "Let every kindred every tribe.
On this terrestrial bali:
t. Him all majesty asCribe.
And crown Him Lord OF all
! But our momentum was then such that |
knew We could reach the shore in safety,