The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-06-20

Z lltO Rbllt dbOub TWO lUlItS ABOVE
the mouth of the Cheat'river, when. de
scending from the cabin deck by means
of very narrow flight of steps on the
larbOard side, l saw our deck passenger
skulk away from the foot of the stairs
and pass into the quarters aft, as though
to escape observation. As he did so l
caught brief glimpse of his face-fOr
the light of lamp at one of the engines
shOne on it-and it Immediately struck
me that it was not unfamiliar. A mo-
ment later. while / stood pOndering, the
face reappeared at the door, and the
deck passenger stepped out, saying, in a
low tone:
do you know me ~
Il was just thinking had seen you
somewhere, > l replied.
Must l tell you my name?" he asked.
''Y es, | would like to know it. -
The mysterious deck passenger step
ped closer to me, so that his bearded
face was within an inch of my ear, and
whispered. ''M'Cutchin." :"
| had scarcely time to think ere he
gave me a violent push with both hands,
and | fell backward from the low deck
into the river, immediately forward of
the crashing wheel. A blow of one of
its paddles would have crushed me, but
fortunately | sank to the bottom and
before / arose to the surface the wheel
had passed over me. / shall never for
get the sensations produced by the thun-
dering of the paddles over my head and
the rushing and bubbling of the muddy
water about my ears.
My plunge into the water had been so
entirely unexpected that | strangled
badly at first, but being on of the best
of swimmers l soon recovered. rested
upon the surface with but little eXer-
ton, and began to deliberate as to what
l was going to do with myself. The
clatter of paddles, rapidly receding from
me, reminded me that / ought to make
some effort to attract the attention of
those on the boat, and | shouted with
all my might, but to no purpose and
the faint lights that peeped from the at
ter cabin soon disappeared beyond a bend
in the river. a little way above.
The rain was pouring down. and the
darkness so intense that [ strained my
eyes in vain to catch the outlines of the
tall hills against the sky. The heavens
themselves We're as black as the rushing
river. Nothing was to be seen l could
only feel and it may he relied on that
| felt very uncomfortable. The water
was not decidedly cold, but it was much
too cool when taken in such quantities.
But | was too familiar with the water
to be easily daunted. and although /
could not say with Byron that l was
.'child of the ocean, a." / deemed myself.
at least, as near as a brother-in-law to
the MOnOngahela river So l struck
out vigorously fOr-what Shore
Well. yes, l had some vague notion of
getting to shore before morning, but
how was | to get there? In which di-
rection should | swim? For the life of
me-and that life was at stake could
not guess in what direction either shore
lay. So | struck ont at random. There
was a strong current in the river. but as
| moved along with it. | had no means
of calculating its course. Still, | SWAN
away through the black torrent, conf
dent that | must eventually reach one
shore or the other.
When | had swan at least four times
the width Of the river l lay-tO mo
ment. and again endeavored to pierce
the awful gloom. but III vain. My eyes
actually panied and head throbbedIwith
the effort. 1t was so perfectly dark
that / remember wondering if it ever
could grow light again. There was no
means of ascertaining where the shore
was, and | endeayOred more than once
to ''tOuch bottom with my toes, but in
vain.
| then struck out again. and after
swimming with all my might for ten or
fifteen minutes, ! began to be tired, and
became really alarmed. Suppose whole
hours should pass. and | should still be
unable to discover the shore or strike it
by accident ? The danger of my situa-
tiOn now burst upon me with bewilder-
ing force. and | felt that my strength
was failing. l grew impatient and an
CRY, and began beating the cruel waters
in my frenzy, and screaming loud curses
against the murderous M'Cutchin,
whose revengeful spirit had prompted
him to hurl me into the fearful peril.
Presently l heard the ripping of wa
ter near me. and. thinking it was the
current flowing among the rocks or
bushes at the shore. | struck out i'll the
direction with new hope. put out my
hand and touched something sOlid.-
But it was not the shore it was large
snag that barely peeped out of the water.
Gladly accepting a respite, however, l
climbed upon it, almost exhausted, and
sat half immersed in water. shivering,
trembling. and wondering whether the
morning would see me alive.
The rain was still pouring down, and
| caught the glimmer of faint flash OF
lightning. which was followed by the
low rumbling of distant thunder. But
the lightning was too dim to reveal the
hidden shore. Presently L felt the snag
sinking beneath my weight, and
plunged into the current again and re-
sumed nv swimming-inw what direction
l did not know.
At last. when / felt that / could not
stay up much longer, caught glimpse
/ of a light in the distance. 1t was eyi-
+ IDENTIFY shining from window, and |
+ was sure it must be on shore so, with
new courage. l steered for the light
/ which for the first twenty-five minutes
/ seemed to recede from me like an ignis
/ fatuus. But l peTSevered, determined
/ to strike as long as a muscle would
move, for | was swimming to some puT.
pose now. Ten minutes more, and
/ found that | was undoubtedly nearing
( the light. Hope lent me new strength
and courage. and | think that, exhaust
/ ed though l had recently felt, l now
/ did such swimming as | had never done
before
Ten minutes more, l was rapidly
nearing the light, when, to my dismay
/ it suddenly vanished. My heart sanl
again my strength was fast leaving me
and 1 was about to go down with a hal
uttered prayer on my lips, when my fee
touched the pebbly bottom, and found
myself in shallow water. | stood up
and with tottering step, waded out anC
found myself on shore. | cTawled up
steep and muddy bank aud for few
/ minutes lay down almost helpless.
The rain had abated somewhat, tho
the darkness had not, but presently ;
flash of lightning revealed the who'll
scene to me-amOng other objects, lit
/ , L, l..r n