The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-06-21
q TOLEDO TAMA COUNTY IOWA THURsDAY JUNE d u77
CAUonT IN pos.

4 CAUQnT In 4 BOG.
i 4 boy, paided Edwin Marlin; whom th
| writer. Used to kno& and sometimes tf&E
ped with, once had i very narrow escap
| from riost horrible death.
Tie unusual intelligence Of dog, tha
! was hot s6nsidsred I tetf sSgaGiotfs atii
NAL, saved him.
Iplace this incident with the " faithful
dog'' stories, though personally am IA
from esteemiEg dogs rs highly as man
people do. have often thought that
the number of persons who have had thei
lives saved BY dogs were cQmpsred witt
tie humhef NhB haze died dresdful death
from mad dog bites, thS result would b
far from favorable 70 the canine fass.
large brook known as the Bog Stream
This name was given because the brool
flowed through an extensive bog, that wa
fUriierly the bed Of pond The pone
had been, lii the course OF time, iiiled DIP
except at the southern end, where thers
wds stll q shallow piece Of water c&llet
Mud Pond.
No trees nor shrubs had as yet takei
root en- the bog, save 3 few scattered
clumps oi chokeberty bushes. For ths
most part II was 6ovefed with moss, tbs
sucks and cranberry, with here and there
patches Of cattails. ga
The stream wound through the bog in
devious crooks. At some period in the
past there must have been amazing fresh
ets here; for along. the banks of the bog,
and at points back from the present
stream, there were great rieks Of drift
logs and sttftips, containing many cords
OF wood each: These must Havs beer
brought down from the forests on the hills
above.
Throughout the bog, which must have
contained two or three thousand acres,
there were open mud-beds, sueh al in
the West are called slews." Indeed, the
whole bog underneath the spongy moss
was little better than a vast bed of soft
mud. The surface moss trembled and
shook beneath the foot. A pole could almost
anywhere be run down ten OF adozen feet
beneath the moss.
Yet there was not much danger in
crossing the bog SO long as the person
doing SO kept on the moss, and avoided
the open belts of black mud, which were
as soft as treacle. Even here the tbs
sucks, when not too far apart, offered foot
hold.
The brook was well stocked with suck
ers, chubs and very thick-bodied kind Of
trout, and afforded good trapping. Ed
had his otter traps along the banks and
befieath the ricks of driftwood where the
otters burrowed
One morning in October he set off from
home with his dog to visit his traps on the
bog. The distance from his house was
nearly four miles. The dog was one he
had bought of an Oldtown Indian about
two years before, 1t was of common
breed (which meahs, / SUPPOSE, Of no
particular breed), yellow and white,
short-legged, with a rather thick neck
and head, not large dog. Ed called it
LiIh
AS Ed came out through the woods
upon the bog, Lii suddenly started some
animal from its burrow. By the way the
creature doubled up its back as 1t leaped,
Ed knew it was an otter, though it is rare
that an otter is seen abroad in the day
time.
The dog pursued her game closely, and
after running fifteen or twenty rods. the
otter took refuge in one of the ricks of
driftwood few yards from the brook.
Ed had given every rick on the bog a
thorough examination, and he knew there
was no burrow beneath this one; but d.
rectly across the stream, under the oppo-
site bank, there was fine deep burrow.
where otferN.-. hrns Auh rvusiy Al tno IiGA,
ant the boy feared the otter would dart
out and get under the opposite bank. So
he ran at full speed to intercept and shoot
the otter before it should take to the water
He had forty or fifty rods to go, and be-
tween him and the rick was one of those
long mud beds. 1t did not look very soft,
Ed said, and he determined, in his haste,
to try to cross it. 1t was not more than
forty or fifty feet wide, while to go round
il would take so much time that he might
lose his game.
Its said that by putting the feet close
together and taking very shorts steps OF
not more than three or four inches, with
great quickness and dexterity, a man can
cross very soft surface without sinking.
I hive often crossed soft snowbanks In
this way. The feat consists in taking the
second step before the first one has time to
sink. ae
Ed knew of this mode of passing over
dangerous bogs, and had often tested it
He ffied it now. For the first twenty OF
thirty feet he succeeded in passing oveI
the surface safely, but near the middle tht
mud was softer than he expected. Hi
said. too, that stick tripped him.
First one foot went into the soft mirs
and he sank nearly to his knee, then tht
other foot disappeared. Expecting moth
ing worse than to be thoroughly covered
with mud, he Every foolishly) flung hi
gun to The bank, and using his hands t
suppost himself, struggled to get through
to the pile of driftwood. 81
But he sank into the slough amazingly
When he pulled one foot up the othe
sank still deeper. Ed was strong, activ
fellow, NOT boy to be thus imprisoned
without desperate effort to save himself
| But he sank waist-deep in the soft, treach
erous black mud before he realized hi
peril. Then it flashed upon him in al
instant, and the cold sweat came out OF
his face.
= If he had only kept his gun and used
| to plant one foot on, he might have draw
| the other up, and so escaped from hi
danger.
Collecting all his young strength, h
now made desperate struggle fol life
But the soft, yielding muck held him a
| In 3 wise. His utmost exertions onl,
served to sink him deeper into the mire
"I knew now, !" said he, i that | nigh
| Just as well keep still, and the stiller tn
better. My struggles only made my dan
ger the greater. There wasn't . thing
could get hold Of, and could LITERAL,
| feel myself settling"
Then he shouted and called Helpi'
again and again, though he know Their
| was very little chance Of making any per
son hear his cries, for there was not
house within three miles.
But he had not yet given up al hope 0
| getting out.
= Il did not seem as If fellow need Il
lose his life in that way" he said and b
rested perfectly quiet, and tried to thinl
of some way to get free. But there wa
no way. Inch BY inch he sank lower AM
Hover, till both his arms rested on tn
mud.
| 81 thought I could hold myself now,
he said. " with both my arms thrown on
straight; for seemed to support mysel
bv bearing on my hands. / then calle.
Ithe dog; but the dog was so excited b.
| the Rame under She rick that she woul,
mot come. After 4 time, however, sh
IN back to the sedge Of the slough an
| Whined. Il,
sThen / tried u make her bring m
Rsxn ID me; but I'll she would do was {
| whine and roll over. couldn't max
| her understand what / wanted her to dc
| YET she knew was In trouble, for sh
would sit ON the hank and howl an
whine. Still, she wanted to 80 back :
| Ithe otter. and wuold start for the rick
l vs,,e - II ~nllnd ,vos1Id t1.rn hark' n mf