The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-09-27

Disadvantages In that, too" he
went on; s'mountainous scenery wants
mist and rain tn drift around the
peaks, Ali up the torrent and bring out
the waterfalls. This one here Will
present fine sight after another four.
and-twenty hours ofsuch weather; III
was mere dribble lastnight when we
Twas consoled by the gentlemsn .
words, for having to spend the beat
part OF the day indoor there. was .
new sensation then yet In store for
me; and I was q little disappointed TO
find when early the following after
noon y hull In the weather enabled me
to go down to my favorite rocky haunt,
that there wes very percepubie difter-
ence insthes volume Of water coming
over the fall. $3.50
So here I sat. I suppose, for more
than an hour In my accustomeds state
of placid indolent. enjoyment. With
my. eyes halfshut ] was saying over
to myself the first few. lines OF South
ey's ."I.odOre.u and trying to make
sitne music Of the waterss ut Into
them ASIAN accompanimenf,w when there
suddenly sounded IN my ears q roar 30
loud, and increasing 80 rapidly in vol.
ume, that / started, and looking up
perceived that now. indeed the fall had
become grandly augmented. 1t was
swollen at least to twice the size IL had
been ten minutes before; 1t was magni-
sficent. stood up quite excited, but
not even for one moment dreaming or
danger. TOwn-bred idiot that I was,
quite unaquainted with the terrific
force of the element when once UNI
loosed, / never Imagined for o second
Ethat L could sbe placed in peril by o
lfact so beautifufas this now before me.
Tin the exaggeration which Ignorance
gave to my estimate of these natural
wonders, thought Twas gazing at q
| harmless Niagara had never seen
Eanything half so beautiful, while the
almost deafening, thunderous roar
| which accompanied 1t was such new
phase of my favorite music that
stood spellbound with sort OF wild
delight. Not for many minutes, how
ever; heavy rain-cloud, that had
suddenly overswept the sky, warned
me to, retreat, I turned with this
purpose towarithe stepping-stOnes by
which. / had always. gained the pre-
cipitous bank of the river. To my
horror they had all disappeared, and
in there place boiling, bnbbling. fer
ment of brown water and frothy foam
was sweeping along at q tremendous
4 pace. Then IN an Instant knew that
the river was rising rapidly. Any
one but fool would have fOrseen this
as the natural consequence Of the In.
1 crease of the waterfall. Right and
LEFT aud all around the river had now
become boiling cauldroil OF broken
wateriI was cut of from all hopes oil
retreat; ana should pc washed away
Ikea fly, i knew. 2 1910 -
Helpless and scared / stood irreso-
lutte vet moment longer. n - 3.
i recollect in this dire emergency
suddenly observing still further IN.
crease in the. volume, OF the fail, and
almost simultaneously with It. feeiing
my legs slip from under me as tue
4 brown water gurgled In my ears and
| glistened In my eyes. Then there was
choking, helpless, tumbling pressure
i forward, several sharp blows upon my
legs and arms, an effort to strike out,
met bv coming In contact with more
rocks. and then q whirl and twirl and
spinning round as IL. i had been q
cork. - q
4 The, swimmer's instinct, however
was of some use after all, for, in the
4 first place it enabledme to retain y lit
4 tie presence of mind, and, in thu
i second, to bring my head up to thu
j surface after the first plunge. i saw
was already long way from the, up
per fall, and an additional pang wa
given to my sensations by the recollec
4 ton that i was being hurried on TO
ward the lower fall; over which, II
were carried, / must inevitably %
drOwned.u Fortunately, just now
was carried by the current close I'm un'
der the shore, and for the fiftieth time
sent spinning roundin the eddy like
cork. g. ..
and slippery surface, much as thu
drowning man catches at the proven
bial straw, for was by this time get
] ting exhausted and suff0cated by tn
constant rolling over which the tor
rent gave me. / did just manage q
, get a finger. hold in. q crack, and Il
Steady myself somewhat; but the wa
|, ter was very deep just here, and couit
not lift much more than my chill
above it, whilst a foot-hold Of any sor
was out Of the question. Yet to re
, main where / was much longer wa
impossible. Could 1 but have raise'
myself two feet should have beef
able to reach an overhanging bough o
one of the thickly-growing young ash
/ saplings, the roots Of which projecte'
I from the earthly top of the rock o var
/ or two above.
%. how Il onged for a giants arm
that Imight,touch that bough Twic
= made q futile effort To spring out
, the water at 1t, but only exhauste
; myself, and had the greatest difficult
> i,,t Svrv q nVOrf tIN 4
Was / sinking and losing conscious
|, ness. and is this to be the end, I,
Z thought. with that music still In M
\ ears /? And, 10! what vision Is tbs
a which / behOld?r Surely an angel
!. face looking down from amidst tn
q leafy, roof above met. Yes; my III
). must be passing away in dream
, beautiful sights and sounds. For
moment or two more such was tn
4 vague conclusion fioating through m
n dazed mind, nor vast at once dispel
Y ed by q perfectly audible and silver
"Try to reach It now think. yo
A. can quick, try ~ This can be no ]
!. lusior; this can be no phantom Dor
of q drowning mans fancy this Is
q sweet reality; and in. that bendin
y branch, now steadily descending
r within my grip, ! see my life restore
!. TO me and my hopes renewed.
e Il have the delicate end Of the bong
70 In my hand yes, automatically In,
d seized it, and already 1t helps to II
II me higher out Of the watef.s 49,
Is G''Be very cautious" says the voi'
n once more. "Take great care, or
IL will snap. There, walt 80, whilst
e pull this strong one down, and tn
h viii hold your weight better, now, so
Il and In another minute i have grasps
. this stronger one; I managed; to raj
o myself by 1t little, and to put 7!
I. tia 81 my toes into the fia5tire OF Il
'e r1cks by which had so long heldw vii
/. the tbs Of my fingers. -sr
q Tflldn a soft firm hand is held out
e me, and. taking II finally, by o.
to supreme effort, pull myself well !
~ among the underwood and twisp
81 roots at the top Of the cliff.~ ~
- - q =