The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-09-23

had stood TO heave off tue stone. -
BreatbIess with my exeTtions, i sat
down TO fan my beated face with my
cap, and began, with divided atten-
tion, to look ont at the uninterrupted
view before me, as seated on the sum-
NIT of the promOntory, had the sea
in front, and lashing itself into foam
on either side.
But my attention was divided, for /
was wondering bow Fred could have
got back without my having seen
him. A descent was impossible, fer
the sides Of the point formed fright
ful precIpiee, with only here and
] there riffs and shelves peOpled by the
birds and after peering about for a
while, and then coming TO the cOnclu-
sion that he had hid somewhere 10
one Of the cliffs that had passed Od
the way, began slowly to retrzce my
steps. tiaftiE
All at once 1 came to a standstill.
for . hOrrid thought had flashed
through my brain, and a shudder ran
through me as | stood gazing wildly
about.
"Suppose he has tumbIeI % I
thought. And with my tongue feel
ing parched aud dry within my
mouth, l scram bled hastily back TO
where 1 had last seen him.
"Fred I' shouted over and over
again, till what seemed to be like the
faint wall of a sea-bird came from far
beneath, when, on lying down aud
peerlng over the edge Of one gray
mass which projected out aoOYe the
sea, could see Fred's cap lying SOM
thirty feet below, and OH shouting
again there came once more the faint
cry hal previously heard.
Five and twenty years aItsr, the
game strange, cold shudder seems 20
course through my veins as 81 recall
the scene-ths bsre, piled up granite,
the SHIN mering sea rejecting the
July sun, the heat radisting from the
sun-beaten rocks amid which I lay !;
again ringing In my ears and thrill
ing esch nerve, the strange, wild,
feeble cry from below. cry that 4
knew must have come from my COM
panlon.
To be OF any service to him was. out
Of the question but, shouting some
words OF encouragement. began to
scramble back the way came, till l
commanded q view Of the sides OF the
promOntory, when, to my horror,
about sixty feet down, and apparent
ly clinging to q portion a.. of the rock
which sank sheer, without break, to
the sea, / could plainly make out
poor Fred when in the hopeless
misery of the moment, sank down
crying upon the heated stones.
But was up again the next mo-
ment, climbing and tumbling along
until I was once more upon the grassy
cliff, when, thrOwing OH my Jacket
| and cap, and Kicking away my boots,
1 set off at sharp run for the village,
needless of the stores cutting my
feet, careless of the perspiratiOn
streaming down my neck, OF my
breath tearing and painting from my
breast, so long as could obtain help
for Fred, while as often as the thought
of his peril came upcn me more
strongly than usual, | gave sort OF
sobbing cry aud Dashed on.
1t was quite q mile down to the
village which lay in q cove by the
shore but fortunately it was not a
busy time, and plenty, Of the blue
shirteo fsherman. weFe idling about
IN the sun, and ready to get ropes aud
to start back with me t. my school
fellows assistance. 1 must have Civ
en- them a very incoherent descrip-
ton of poor Fred's condition, from
my agitation, but they learned
rope in hand, till, seeing that could
not keep up, two OF the men took me
between them half carrying me along,
for found tue ascent hard work after
my late eXertiOns, the way being
the most steep and toilsome.
at last we reached the spot from
which had been able to see Fred
and could not help shudderiifg rs
pointed 70 the place, making sure that
ne must have fallen; but no, he gas
still there, and encouraged by this, the
men hurried over the rough blocks,
vyIng one with another 10 their efforts
to get above where the poor boy hung.
tNow, then,n cried one OF the men,
as we reached the place, Flower away |
the rope.n
"Whatis the use ?n cried another, in |
the Cornish, sing-song fashion. |
t'Some one must belet down.
SAY, lsd but who'll go q, said the
first speaker.
though, and in few inmates one of |
tAC lllbtCf hC1iNCy yOuhS lCA-
low, was being lowered down the |
precipice, aud disappeared from our |
sight, shouting to US again and again |
"a the rope ran over the granite edge |
OF the cliff; while one man lay down,
and peering over, reported progress
till his comrade was out of sight.
Suddenly there was check of the |
rope, and a shout from below to low
L..E t. ID 81.
and distant. But the end of one rope
was In the lowerer's hands, and
fresh length had to be knOtted on,
when, being satisfied OF its strength,
the men once more began to lower
away. At last, when the second
length of rope was nearly run out,
there came up faint "Ahoy !" and
from the agitation of the cord near
the edge, it was evident that the man
below was obusilye engaged. A few
moments after he shoutei to haul up.
I could not help Noticing how faint
the voice seemed, as it ascended from
the vast depth, for thoughts floated
through my young brain, as 1 anx-
iously watched yard after yard of
the rope hauled in-two men now
lying at The edge, ready to help their
companion with the burden he was
bringing to the top-a burden that,
with my tears falling fast, I felt
would be lifeless. But my fears were
without foundation, for on the last
length of the rope being hauled in,
poor Fred was hoisted over the edge
of the cliff, almost insensible, but
alive enough to vince and groan
with pain whenever he was touched.
We were all surprised to see Fred
come up alone; but it was evident
that his rescuer bad doubted the
ropes power to support two, and re-
moving il from his own waist, had
secured 1t round the helpless lad,
whom he had found resting upon
the ledge to which he had fallen af-
ter overbalancing himself as he climb
ed from rock to rock /; while, had it
not been for one of his arms getting
wedged tightly, even to its breaking,
In one of the crevices so frequent be-
tween the granite blocks, he must
have slipped of and been dashed to
pieces.
But row there was fresh incident;
the rope upon being lowered down,
remained without weight it was not
seized. More was lowered down, but
with the same result. Then It was
agitated so that it might swing to and
fro. IN the supposition that the man
below could not reach it but though
it was kept swinging for some time,
still it was not seized, and q feeling
that all was not right made the man
glance at one another IS they shouted
again, 10 OBTAIN no answer. f
Here, haul in, and Pil go down,
lads ~ sang out one OF the fishermen
present. -
And, upon the end OF the rope be-
Eng drawn up, be made it fast under
his arms and after q word or two of
warning on both sides, and cursOry
examination of the fraying strands,
he disappeared over the sides, when
crawling to the edge-curiosity van
gushing sympathy for my rescued