Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1879-06-19

I paid but little attention to him,
and he soon passed aft to where the
freight was stored and the deck
hands slept.
Our boat steamed up the river a
little before dark, and we passed the
mouth of the Cheat Giver just as
night fairly set in-which it did in
terrible earnest. The clouds thick
ened up, the rain came down in tor
rents, and 1 never before or since
saw q night so intensely dark. The
Merry could hardly proceed far with
out running aground, for the tall
shores entirely disappeared from
view in the awful gloom but tho
doors of the furnace were thrown
open and the blazing fire under the
boilers shed a dim light ahead,
which enabled the pilot to pick his
way along for o time, by running
very slowly.
We had gone about two miles
above the mouth of the Cheat river
when, descending from the cabin
deck by means of very marrow
fight of steps on the larboard side,
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
/ caught o brief glimpse of his face
for the light Of lamp at one OF the
engines shone on it--and it immedl-
ately struck me that it was not un-
familiar. A moment later, while /
stood pondering, the face reappeared
at the door, and the deck passenger
stepped outs saying, in low tone {:
"Do you know me ?''
~ was just thinking I had seen
you somewhere" i replied.
"Must I tell you nay name ?" he
asked.
"Yes, would like to know it.
The mysterious deck passenger
stepped closer to me, so that his
bearded face was within an inch Of
my eal, and whispered, "M'Cutch-
in.n
I had scarcely time to think ere
he gave me a violent push with both
hands, and 1 fell backward from the
low deck into the river, immediate
lY forward of the crashing wheel.
A blow of one of its paddles would
have crushed me, but fortunately /
sank TO the bottom and before l rose
to the surface the wheel had passed
over me. l shall never forget the
sensations produced by the thund-
eriDg of tho 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 l
stranded badly at first, but being
one of the best of swimmers / soon
recovered, rested upon the surface
with but little exertion, and began
to deliberate at to what was going
to do with myself. The clatter of
paddles. rapidly receding from me,
reminded me, that l ought to make
some effort to attract the attention
of those on the boat, and I shouted
with all my might, but to no pur-
pose and the faint lights that peep
ed from the after cabin soon disap-
Feared beyond bend in the river,
little way above.
The rain was pouring down, and
the darkness so intense that | strain
ed my eyes in vain to catch the out
lines of the tall hills against the
sky. The heavens themselves were
as black as the rushing river. Moth
ing was TO be seen could only
feel and it may be relied on that !
felt very uncomfortable. The water
was not decidedly cold, but it was
much too cool when taken in such
quantities.
But I was too familiar with the
water to be easily daunted, and al
though I could not say with Byron
that was a ''child of the ocean,"
I deemed myself, at least, as near as
a brother-in-law to the Mononga-
hela river. So l struck out vigor-
ous!y for-what Shore Well,
yes. had some vague notion of
getting to shore before morning, but
how was / to get there ? In which
direction should I swim ? For the
life of me-and shat life was at
stake-I could not guess in what di-
rection either shore lay. So / struck
out at random. There was a strong
current i'm the river, but as I moved
along with it, I had no means of
calculating its course, Still, l
SWAMI away through the black tor
rent, confident, that l must e7entu-
ally reach one shore or the other.
When had swan at least four
times the width Of the river lay-to
a moment, and again endeavored to
pierce the awful gloom, but in vain.