The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1876-01-04

bank into the river; / saw him strike
out boldly !; l saw this much. and then an
intervening point of land shut out the
scene. The horse was now rapidly near
ing the shore, and ere long my wife and
Iwere upon dry land, with the horse and
wagon. /. As soon as I was sure that my
wife was safe I left her. to care for the
horse, while / posted off down. the riv-
er's bank in quest OF the swimmer and
the child: '-'.' = .''..-''. ..-'.: ''....
s".You may well understand that all
this time Iswas frantic. i was as ma.
chine being operatei upon T5y q surg,
ing and agonizings emotion. How
long or how far. / Wandered / do no,
know; but, at length Imets man wet and
dripping, with my darling in his arms
my darling safe and sound He told me
he had caught the child within a few rods
Of the falls, and that In landing he had
cleared the fatal abyss by not more than
tvol yards b He was young man-nol
more than five nd-twenty-handsome
and stalwart. He said he had seen my
wagon tip, and was coming to my assist.
ance when be saw the child swept away.
4 threw my life into the balance said
be, s.and, thank God !! both lives are say
ed ~ 49,
"a Il asked him how I should ever repay
him; he stopped me with an imploring
gesture.
"'If you talk Of more payIthan 4 hays
nleeady received, he.6asusSY0u VIA sFOu
mesoT The only solid reward I claim--
Mercy! II saving the life of such q
cherub is not enough of reward in itself,
then hard is the heart that can crave
more And, with moistened eyes, be
told me he had child Of his own al
home-an only child-of nearly the
same age. fIHSK WoT iIdaKka
81 asked him if he would tell me his
name; with another. smile he answered
that his name did, not, matter-he was
not sure that he had a name. l then
asked himiif he knew me; he nodded
and said he thought / might be Mr.. Lur.
iington, ofgWaldbridge. When told
him he was correct he said that lImust
excuse him !; he was wet and must hurry
home land with that he turned away
l was too deeply moved to stop him, and
when he had disappeared l started to re
join my wife, with dawning impression
that the man mightbe slightly deranged
But my darling was safe, her broad, feecy
cloak had foated out and kept her heaG
above water, and Iwent on my way re
joicing. resolved that the preserver oi
my child should not be forgotten. !
81 will not tell you of the emotion o.
my wife when she held her child ono.
more in her arms We reached Shiretot
before night, and found quarters at .
[comfortable tavern. y
8 Goa the following day Laban Sarfur
called upon me, and was ab6dtto spreat
hiseyidence for my inspection, when
interrupted him.. Itold him could no
accept. hiscon6dence until. !. had mad,
up my. mind to take his. case in. hand. :.
Something seemed to whisper. to me tha
there was danger ahead, ]. did not fee
comfortablein in that mans presence; n
felt as though he was trying. to buy me
The court would sit in four days. | tolf
him ]. would give him q final answer i
1.-TWO days from that. 6 gG...........,4p
b. IsThat evening I made q confidant Q
Imy, wife, and asked hers what ! shoult
tdo. II l take the case, | said, am sur,
of five thousand dsEars. She bade mt
do what was right. SOD has been yer.
kind to Us she said.i Let US look to hin
for guidance. 4sg -
"After this ! called on the clergyman
Eof the place; whose 7son had been m,
Eclassmatesia college, and whom, ! hat
Eonce before visited He received, M
HEARTILY, and by and by I asked hin
[about William Acton. The result Of al
fhe told me, may be summed up In hi
Iclosing sentence Said be- M All
l. 81 am sure William was Philip Ac
Hons child lin fact, know it, and
Think the father and mother were mar
Tried. Betsy died very soon. after he
lchild was born, and We know that PhiliI
always treated the boy as legitimat
lchild and that he 10 ved him as such
can confidently affirm 80 80 ''''''''
"On the following morning, afte
breakfast, As I sat by the window in III
bar.room,. ] saw coming up the street th
man who had saved my child. He va
Walking slowly like one IN trouble, ]
pointed him out tony host and askej
him, who be was. -" - !.
".That is. William Acton. Perhap
lyon, have heard Of the trouble he !
likely to have with Laban Sarfurtr 4
j ~ said had heard.
II .sI hope he may come out all right
j the host added, but l am fearful. He
got hard and heartless customer to des
With 80 SS y
4 II shut my mouth and held my peac
until Labsn Sarfurt called for, big fns
answer. / said to him = F" ~ ia a r
II "Mr. Sarfurt, have been considerin,
! all this time whether l could undertak
lyour case with clear conscience
whether ! should be helping you. ha
concluded that l could not do 30 befot
| hail seen William Acton to know Bit
lby name, Inow know him for q ma