Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-11-29

still itself unbuming.
What is thatg Can it he n man or
woman kneeling there, and unobSeryed
amid the Shrouding smoke by all the
rest, who are gazing 1t the gallant men
around the stables? The soldiers had
arrived, and were doing service; but nc
one else perceived the solitary form
wrapped IN an ulster coat, and tren-
bling on the wall above the river.
Not moment was to he lost.
pulled in hastily.
Leap" | shouted, leap" As |
spoke | rose up III the boat. The
| planks winked once more an3 ratified
Jump" yelled III my excitemcnt
One look to hcaven--a glance down
10 the swiftly running river, ana the
person l addressed leaped feet first.
l'nthinkmgly | moved suddenly: the
light gig rocked. In vain attempted
to recover my balance; the boat tipped
over, and fell hcadlong into the water,
now covered with debris.
The two planks started after me to-
gether from beneath the thwarts.
| sank; and ~ | did SO thought Of
Rosie, and made up my mind to die. if
must, but | struggled manfully for
4 life the while.
When one is unwilingly under water
\ the brain seems to become buster than
ut all other times. | know not why,
but III that half minute or so that | was
underneath saw many acts of my life,
| Circumstances looked, from my mental
point Of view, very different from what
they had to my bodily eyes. had
/ plenty oftime to repent Of rashness, to
utter II prayer, and to forgive my enc
mics; and then ! struggled, knocked
my head, half sank again, MT out my
right arm and grasped something. II
was a plank.
Seeing a body rising up close by, |
raised the head. The person had tried
TO save was sensible evidently.
| was delighted to find chat he, too,
was floating on plank, the twin sup
porter of my arm; and how those good
friends tossed about, and drove up
against each other III sheer delight, rs
we all iloated away fast down the
stream together, battles description.
impelled my plank toward the
other, and, no doubt aided by the won
drous law of attraction and sympathy
which exists even III wood, succeeded
III getting close to my companion.
Leaning my arms upon the trusty
plank, managed to support the form
near me; but all this time we neither
of us spoke word, nor could we dis
Germ each others features. The fast
subsiding fire was FIR behind us now.
The steady planks kept floating with
lis toward the bank, but ] was not very
anxious TO go ashore just then, rs the
river sides were steep, and certain curl
ing eddies did not look attractive.
The moon had been obscured by
heavy clouds; but we could discern the
stones which here and there rose up
rom out the water from u shoal in
mid steam We should soon lie in
safety. The planks apparently thought
otherwise. They bobbed about, and
grew very impatient to reach the
shore.
There's distant thunder! A storm is
coming up. No, it must be train
passing the bridge above. No; the
noise increases! the sound is borne con
tinuously on the wind, The planks got
very restless now. The banks even
came closer to rs, but the stream ran
all the faster The noise was getting
louder every minute.
! know what it is Mt lust. know
too well. 1t was n Mill Weir,
If the sluice were open to the huge
overshot wheel our doom was sealed.
Nothing much short Of Il miracle could
save us. Striking out for the bank,
called 10 my companion to do the
same, but incumhcred with the ulster
coat his progress was not great
We would find footing on the lasher,
probably the eddy would assist us.
We tloated round the turn in the
stream. The wheel was revolving. !
could plainly hear the splash, splash
Of its monotonous clank and dash the
water dripped and ran away from the
grinding woodwork, and gladly escaped
beneath to save being crushed to mir OH
the top of those mighty paddles.
We had two channels to choose nom
-one over the weir, the other beneath
the wheel. The suction to the latter
was tremendous. | swan strongly for
the former. ] reached the slippery
piles and caught them. A bright light
was burning in a small window III the
mill, twenty yards or SO away. We
were in an eddy for moment. called
out loudly a head was put ont: ]
yelled again. The plank where
on ] lay slipped from beneath
me, rose up again, and carried
me headlong down the foaming lasher
like an arrow from bow, while my
companion was wrenched away and
darted for the wheel. a loud cry
escaped me as we parted. All was over
now. Death 1t last. ooh, Rosie, my
darling Rnsin. I'LL VEG ~ cnf II hnn ~,