Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-03-22

The order came so Unexpectedly that
few joined IN singing 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, We martyrs of our God.
Who from His altar call ~
but 1 feared the time when the bass
should be left to carry a line alone.
There were but three or four bass
voices in the whole company, but my
friend was numbered among them. |
saw he husbanded his breath for this as
strong man saves his strength for
some great effort. Nevertheless L could
hear, alternating with the musical words,
"Extol the stem of Jesses rod"
the crack-crack- crack of the brittle shell
that was between us and eternity. It
was a wondrous relief when four parts
instead of one, and hundred voices
instead of four, took up the words
which seemed like an anthem of praise.
" "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 vii
lage could reach the bottom, and where
the ice must be the thinnest, because it
is the last to freeze there. 1 knew this;
but l felt that now we were going with
such rapidity, there was no new danger
so long as there was no break in the
song. [ singled out a tree upon the
shore We were trying to make, and cal.
culated. at the rate they were singing,
there were verses enough to last until
we reached it. [ feared lest the leader
might omit verse, as was sometimes
done in church, and there might be left
space over which we might pass in
silence, or rather in q 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 twas either that I had become used
to 1t or that it was indeed more faint
than it was before, that it failed to affect
nae 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 ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of ALL"
But our momentum was then such that
L knew we could reach the shore in
safety, which we soon did.
On reaching it there was the same
boisterous noise that marked our start
ing, each one untying his own sled or
sleigh, and joining the little party with
which he came. But of the peril
through which they had passed, the
danger from which they had been res
cued, not one had the slightest intlma-
tion. For my friend and myself-the
only ones who were aware of our won
derful deliverance-we were left alone.
And there, on that rocky beach, with
the stars above us, we sank upon our
knees, our arms entwining each others
necks. 1t was a silent prayer we Of
fered; an offering of thanks to the
" Giver of every good and perfect gift.
Not for us alone, but for all those who
have been brought out of peril. Then
we rose, and hand in hand we walked
to our homes.
The next day was Thanksgiving we
entered into no boisterous mirth. We
kept our secret to ourselves that day,
but during all the time since then we
have not mentioned the affair to each
other. But once long after this, when
we were in the church together, and the
preacher gave out Coronation" no.
ticed that he did not sing, but grasped
my hand in his, while the tears flowed
from his eyes as though he were child.