Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-04-30


due reflection, yet in no sarcastic spirit,
Edward Wilson made remark on some
act of Logan that irritated him exceed
ingly. An angry spot burned instantly
on his cheek, and he replied with words
Of cutting insult so cutting that all pres
ent expected nothing less than blow
| from Wilson rs his answer to the remark.
And to deal blow was his first impulse.
But he restrained the impulse; and 1t re-
| quired more courage to do this than to
have stricken the insolens young man to
| the ground. A moment or two Wilson
struggled with himself, and then turned
| of and marched slowly away.
| His flushed and then paling face, his
quivering lips and unsteady eyes left ON
| the minds Of all who witnessed the scene
an impression somewhat unfavorable.
| Partaking of the indignant excitement of
the moment, many Of those present looked
| for the instant punishment Of his un.
| justifiable insult. When, therefore, they
saw Wilson turn away without even q
| defiant answer, and heard the low, sneer-
| ingly-uttered word Coward | Z" from the
/ lips of Logan, they felt that there was q
craven spirit about the young man. A
coward we instinctively despise; and vet
how slow are we to elevate that high
moral courage which enables man to
brave unjust judgment rather than to do
what he thinks to be wrong above the
mere brute instinct which, in the moment
of excitement, forgets all physical conse-
.uences.
As Edward Wilson walked away from
his companions he felt that he was re
garded as coward. This was for him
bitter trial, and the more so because there
was one in that little group of startled
maidsns for whose generous regard he
would have sacrificed all but honor.
1t was, perhaps, half an hour after this
unpleasant occurrence that Logan, whose
heart still burned with an unforgiving
spirit, encountered Wilson under circum-
stances that left him free to repeat his in
sulting language without disturbing the
rest of the party, who were amusing
themselves at some distance, and beyond
the range of observation. He did not
succeed in obtaining permanent en-
counter, as he had desired.
Edward Wilson had been for some
time sitting alone with his unhappy
thoughts when he was aroused by sudden
cries of alarm, the tone Of which told his
heart too plainly that some imminent dan
ger impended. Springing to his feet he
ran in the direction of the cries, and
quickly saw the cause of excitement
Recent heavy rains had swollen the
mountain stream, the turbid waters Of
which were sweeping down with great We
locity. Two young girls who had
been amusing themselves at some
distance above in a boat that was
attached to the shore by long
rope had, through some accident got the
| fastening loose and were now gliding
/ down, far out in the current, with fear
/ fully-increasing speed, toward the breast
of mill-dam some hundreds of yards be-
low, from which the water was thunder
| ing down height of over twenty feet.
| Pale with terror, the poor young creatures
were stretching cut their hands toward
their companions on the shore, and max
ing heartrending cries for succor.
! Instant action was necessary, or all
would be lost. The position of the young
girls had been discovered while they were
yet some distance above, and there hap
pening to be another boat out on the mill
dam, and that nigh at hand, Logan and
two other young men had loosed it from the
shore But the danger of being carried
over the dam, should any one venture out
| In this boat, seemed so inevitable that
none of them dared To encounter the haz-
/ u.
hands, and now urging these men 70 try
and save their companions, stood the
young maidens Of the party ON shore,
when Wilson dashed through them, and
sprinping into the boat cried out:
"Quick, Logan! Take an oar or all is
| lostl"
| But, instead OF this, Logan stepped q
pace or two from the boat, while his face
grew pale with fear Not an instant more
was wasted. At glance Wilson saw that
| if the ladies were saved it must be by the
strength of his own arm. Braveiy he
pushed from the shore, and, with giant
| strength born of the moment and for the
occasion, from his high, unselfish pur-
pose, he dashed the boat out into the
current, and, bending to the OARS, took
direction at an angle with the other
boat, toward the point where the water
was sweeping over the dam. At every
stroke the light skiff sprang forward
| dozen feet, and scarcely minute elapsed
| ere Wilson was beside the other boat.
| Both were now within twenty yards of
| he fall, and the water was bearing them
| down with a velocity that a strong rover
with every advantage on his side could
scarcely have commended against success
| fully. To transfer the frightened girls
from one boat TO the other In TIE lew mo-
ments of time left ere the downsweeping-
current would bear their frail vessel to the
edge of the dam, and still TO retain an adj
vantage, was, for Wilson, impossible To
let his own boat go and manage theirs he
saw to be equally impossible:
A cry Of despair reached the young
mans ears as the oars dropped from his
grasp into the water. 1t was evident To
| the spectators of the fearful scene that he
had lost his presence of mind, and that
now all was over. Not 80, however. In
the next moment he sprang into the
water, which near the breast of the dam
was no more than two feet deep. As ne
did so he grasped the other boat, and,
bracing himself firmly against the rush
| ing current, held 1t poised few yards
| from the point where the foam-crested
waves leaped into the waters below. AT
| the same instant his own boat shot like
an arrow over the dam. he had gained,
| however, but small advantage. Ii
| required his utmost strength to keep the
boat he had grasped from dragging him
down the fall.