The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-12-21
CARVING HIS NAME,


aim ghty bridge over these everlasting
abutments wuen the mJrning stars sang
| together. The little iece Of sky span
| nlng those measureless piers is ull OF
| stars, although it /, midday. 1t is almOst
five hundred Ieet from where they stan E,
| up those perpendicu ar bulwarks OF lime
| stone, to the key rock of the vast arch
which appears to them only the size of
| mans hand. The silence OF dc ath is
| rendered more i'm, ,'ress We by the little
| stream that falls from rock to ROCK down
| The channel. The sun is darkened, and
| the boys have uncousclously uncovered
| their heads, as if standing in the pres
| once chamber Of the Majesty OF the
whole earth. At last this feeling begins
| TO wear away; tney b gin to LOOK around
| them. 1ley see The names Of hundreds
| cut i'll the limestone aOuvments. A new
| ceiling comes over their hearts, and
| their knives are i'll hand in an instant.
"WnaL man has done man can do" is
their watcnwOrd. while tney draw them
selves up and carve their names u foot
| above thOse OF hundred lull grown
| m n, who had been there before them.
| Tney are satisfied with this leat OF
| physical eXertiop, except one, whose eX-
ample illustrates perfectly the forgotten
| truth, mat there is no royal road 10 in
| tellectual emluenoe. This ambitious
| youth sees name just above his reach
| ii name that Will De green in the men,
| ory OF lhe world, when those of AleXa -
| der, fe5ar and BOnaparle will rot in
| oblivion. IL was The name of Washing
! ton. Before he m lrched with Braddork
| to the fatal field, he had been there and
left his name Il foot alb We all his prede-
cessUrs. 1t was glorious thOugl OF IL
| boy TO write his name side by siue with
hat of the great father OF his country.
| Ii grasps his knife with Il firm hand
ana clinging TO little juttiug crag, he
| cuts again into the limestone, about 1t
| loot above where he stands; bat as he
puts his feet and hands INTO those
| gains, and draws himself care ully to his
| lull length, he finds himselI looV above
every name chrOnlcled Ill tnat mighty
wall. While his companions are regard
| ing him with concern aud Il" miratlon,
he cuts his name III huge caplias, laIgv
and deep, into that tllnIy album. His
| knife is still in his Daud, ana strength
| III his sineWe, and u neWly-created aspI-
| ration in his Neart.
| Again he GUS another niche, and again
| he cdlVes his name in large Capitals.
| This is not enough. Heedless OF The en-
treaties of his companions, he cuts aud
climbs again. The graduatiOns Of his
measures his length at every gain he
cuts. The voice OF his friends wax
weaker and weaker, till their words are
| finally lost on his ear. He now for the
| first time casts look beneath him. ID ad
| that glance lasted moment, tnat mo-
ment would have been his last. lie
clings with convulsive shudder to his
little niche in the rock. An awful abyss
awaits MS almost certain tall. He is
faint with severe eXcrtiOn, and tremb-
ling from the sudden view OF the dread.
lul destruction 20 which he is exposed.
His knife IL worn halt way TO the halt.
lie can hear The voices, but not the
words, of his terror-stricken companions
| below. WHAT q moment! What
meager chance TO escape destructiOnl
Iuere is no retraclug his steps. IL is
Impossible to put his hands into the
same niche with his feet, and retain his
mold a moment. His companions in
stanLly perceive this new and fearful
dilemma, and await his fall with emo
| lions that "treeze lDelr young b,OOd.'
He is too hIgh, too faint, to ask Tor his
| lather and moLner, his brothers and sis
| ters, 10 come auu witness or avert his
| destruction. But one OF his companions
anticipates his desire. swift as The
| wind he bounds down the channel, and
The fatal situation OF the boy is told
upon his IaLheI's Aearlhstone.
| Minutes OF almost eternal length roll
| on, and Luere we're hundreds standing
! in That rocky chanual, and hundreds on
the ridge above, ali holding Lhelr breath
and awaiting The feartuI CatastrOI Ine.
| rne poor boy hears the mum OF new and
numerous voices, both above and below.
lie can distinguish t1e tones OF his
fathers voice, wuo ls shouting wltl all
| the energy vi despair:
| EWIIIam! William! don't look down!
Your mother, and Henry, aud Harriet,
are all mere praying Tor you. Don't lUUk
down. Keep your eyes toward the
top"
The boy didn't look down-his eyes
are hxeu like flint toward heaven, and
ais young heart on HIM WAC reigns
| there. lie grasps again his knife. Ii Z
cuts another nlcue, ana another loot 10
| aided 10 the hundreds that remove him
| rom he reach of human uelp from be-
low. How careful he uses Ills wasting
biade! How anxi0usly he selects tue
solLest place i'll that pIel! How he
avoids every tllnty grain! dow he econ
omlzes his pnyslcaI powers! Resting u
nome MT at eacn, again he cuts. how
every motion ls watched from below
There stand his fatner, mother, brOthe /
l
ialls, he VIII not tail aloue.
The sun is hall down The west. The
lad had made fifty additional inches in
The mlgnty wall, and now finds hImsel
directly under the middle Of that vasl
arch OF rocks, eartn and trees. lie mus
lcut his way in new direction to get
over this overhanging mountain. The IN
spiratIon ofhUpe ls uyIug In his bosom;
It's vital heat ls ted by the increased
shouts OF hundreds percBed upon cliffs
and trees, and others who stand WI, l.
ropes in their hands on the bridge above
or with laude below. Fifty gains more
must be cut before the longest rope car
lreach him. HIS wasting blade again
strikes into the limestone.
The boy is emerging painfully, foot BY
foot, from under that lofty arch. SpliceC
ropes are ready in the hanus Of thost
WHO are leaning over the outer edge o
the bridge. Two minutes more and al
will be over. That b. ade is worn 10 th'
last half inch. The boys head reels; III,
eyes are starting from their sockets
His last hope is dying IN his heait-uIt
life must hang on the last gain lie cuts
That niche is his last. Al the last lain
cash he makes, his Knile, his faIthu
knife, falls from his nerveless hand, ant
ringing along the preciplce, lalls az hi
moJner's ieet.
: An involuntary groan of despair run
like death knell through the channe