Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1873-01-23

look III my mana ana prepared tC
cross. -Four steps would land me on
the other side. The run was scarcely
a foot deep, and slippery green moss,
somewhat smoothed by the current,
lined its bed invitingly. l threw out
a good stout leg, and planted one foot
on the silky verdure,
"Did say planted? l received in
stanter lesson in dynamics on which
| had not calculated, and which may
save the dignity and the equilibrium
of future Typographical engineers,
''ln the twlnkling of an eye the force
of the current had swept me of, and |
was whirled down, helpless as an in
fant, to the falls below. Even in the
moment of topling, kept perfectly
cool, and never during the accident
lost presence of mind. Fear I had
none. | was powerful swimmer
there were no rocks, as | well knew,
and, before | reached the verge, so
rapid are the operations of the mind,
my course was clearly marked out,
AS soon as I pumped into the pool, I
would float to the serfaco, make for the
shore, have a hearty laugh at my mis-
hap, and enliven my tellow-teachers
with gay recital of it on my return.
"Over | went very comfortably, and,
that | reached the pebbly bottom, you
may pretty safely assume.
"But to my exceeding surprise, |
found that floating up, though I was
several yards out of the torrents reach,
was quite another affair. abandoned
my stockings and shoes, to which I had
clung in my headlong descent, and
struck out with might and main, but
to no purpose--I could not rise |
knew that / was sound in wind and
limb, and felt no uperincumbent weight
pressing me down. struck out and
kicked vigorously in the approved way,
but, no sooner did progress three or
four inches upward, than a sort Of
magnetic attraction, gentle but irresis-
tible, drew my toes down to their old
lesting-place.
at was an incomprehensible fix |
redoubled my efforts, and again, and
again, and again, with a similar result.
The case was becoming desperate.
Was / really doomed to die in this
wretched hole, about as pitiful a finalc
for sophomore as Clarence's in the
malmsey-butt Ophelia's slip, Shelters
diver in the 'innermost main, and Sam
Patch's unlucky jump, all crowded up
on my imagination, now pretematural-
ly alert. | would have sighed, but fol
the lack of oxygen, that no friends
were to stand sorrowing around my
dying bed, stepping with decorous woe
behind my remains and shedding tears
by wholesale.
"Worst of all, I fancied my chum's S
unsophisticated lament in the rear Of
my hearse
"Ah, poor Sam our best swimmer,
to be drowned at last like a bind pup
py!
"Visions. moreover, of muskrats
knawing my flesh, and ravenous pixies
darting their long noses into the sock
cts of my eyes, certainly did not tend
to raise my spirits
"By this time was nearly paralyzed
through sheer exhaustion, and felt but
too surely that endurance had reached
its limit. One more terrible struggle,
and alas ! my plight was worse than
ever Noises as Of a thousand cannon
were ringing in my ears, and fancied
that blood was beginning to start from
my mouth and nostrils. Will you be
lieve me when | say that | was literally
in cold sweat?
"At this cricis, when / had made ur
my mind for the worst, it occurred tC
me that, if / could not rise, might ht
able to walk or creep below water, and
thus manage to reach the bank, which
was at no great distance. 1t was ;
heaven-sent inspiration, and acted or
without an instant's delay. | found tc
my joy that there was no hinderancC
whatever to this mode Of progression
and, crawling along the bottom like ;
crab, in less than twenty seconds my
dripping head emerged from the treach
erous bath, and | was once more re
spring the warm summer air. | wa:
saved
"Throwing myself on the grass viii
unutterable thankfulness, | rested loI
a few minutes, and then deliberately
waded in again to recover the shoes
and stockings | had left behind, whicl
was easily accomplished; so you see
my friends, that, with perseverance
some things may be done as well as
others!
"Now gentlemen, why was it that
could not rise Or swim in that water
"The dashing of the torrent hac
raised so many foam-bells, and so in
filtrated denser element with air, tha
the specific gravity of the water wa.
totally changed, and l might as soor
have attempted to float on oil or cham
paign as on that sparkling current
"The strongest fish that ever swan
the ocean would be powerless to ris(
from the abyss of Niagara !'-Aleran
der Latte, an Appleton's Journal.
"A man in Fort Wayne, Ind, lost
his wife, and had a stone erected ovel
her grave. He married a second wife