Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1880-02-13
Fighting the Storm.

"a fearful day, neigllbor Sheferl"
You say truly, neighbor Bait; there
has been nothing like it since the great
storm of "a. Heaven have pity on US p
So muttered to each other the villagers
OF Seckendorf, as they crouched behind
the rocks along the river bank in the
gray of that wild March morning, with
a hurricane such as no living man could
remember rushing and roaring down the
valley. Young and old, even babies and
bed-ridden grandmothers, were all gath
cred there for it was no time to linger
within walls which cracked and groaned
at every blast, and might at any moment
come crashing down in one mass Of
ruin.
Even in that sheltered spot the jackets
of the men and the long hair of the wo-
men happedin the wind like torn can
vas bnt out in the open ground the fury
of the storm was fearful to look at. Tall
trees were bending like whips, huge
stones crashing down the surrounding
ridges, twigs and even large branches
flying through the air like straYs while
on the unsheltered uplands, more than
one shepherds hut had been literally
blown to pieces, and lay strewn far and
wide over the hillside, ashapeless wreck
of shattered timbers.
But even more fearful was the sight
Of the flooded river below, which, swol-
len by weeks Of rain, and lsshed into
fury by the tremendous gale, went
foaming down the narrow valley with a
roar that seemed to shake the very rocks
that walled it in; and, as the peasants
stood gaziugat it, one of them, a stalwart
herdsman from the upland pastures,
pointed, with q sudden paleness on his
sunburned features, to the little cottage
that stood on an island in the center Of
the stream, at the window of which q
human face had Just shown itself.
'It's the ferryman and his family"
whispered one 'they haven't had time
to escape"
''God help them, thenm muttered an
other; ''it's all over with them nowp
At that moment the clatter of hoofs
was heard along the stony road, and a
single horseman came tearing down
toward the bank, his white hair and his
horses name streaming on the wind
like pennon. A murmur ran through
the crowd as he approached /: "Its our
master-it's the Count of Hildesheim !"
Even before he reached the spot, the
Count had evidently seen the danger of
the island family, for his first words
were:
1.-TWO hundred thalers to the man who
saves them. Who will goF
The men looked at each other in ST.
lence. There were no faint hearts
among them but the bravest heart
might well have shrunk from that boil
sy,r- rrIfvI .f EOoro rr-1oe1 AI,r
strongest boat would have been as moth
ing. More than one eye kindled, more
than one hand clenched itself; bat no
one stepped forward. And at that mo-
ment huge wave went roaring over the
islet, and striking tile cottage wall tore
it away like paper, while the shrieks of
the children and their mother, who
were now plainly visible, were heard
even above the howling of the storm.
"Will you let them perish before your
eyes P' roared the Count. "If were
ten years younger, I'd 90 myselfp
Just then, a solitary figure which
seemed to have risen through the earth.
so suddenly did it appear, was seen on
the very brink of the river, launching a
small boat. In another instant boat
and man vanished together in the Whirl-
wind of spray that filled the air. The
Count ciutched his horses name, and
his lips moved as if i'll prayer; while
more than one stiled cry broke from the
peasants as the little bark at length re-
appeared close to the islet, dancing like
q feather amid the roaring waves that
surged up around. But the ferryman
had seen the coming help, and prepared
for it. In an instant his wife was lowered
down, with her baby in her arms. The
two other children followed; but alas,
there was no place for the father in the
tiny skif, already overloaded.
The two brave men exchanged look,
and understood each other. Off went
the boat, shooting down the foaming
current like an arrow, More than once
all seemed over but the oarsman's hand
was sure, and at last, far down the stream,
he brought his charge safe to land.
Then, without hating a moment, he
seized the tow rope, and dragging his
boat up to the point whence he had
started, shot out into the raging food
once more,
"God be with him !" cried the Count
fervently. mo other man in Saxony
would have dared such deedP'
Stoutly did the gallant man strain at
his task but he came only just in time.
The ferryman had barely leaped into
the boat when the whole building came
crashing down. In an instant the whole
crowd was in motion, and, headed by
the Count himself, they rushed down
the bank to meet the rescued man and
his deliverer as they touched the shore.
There, my brave fellow" cried the
old noble. holding out his purse to the
oarsman. 'Never was money better
earnedl"
''Not so, Sir Count" answered the 9TH
er. "God has enabled me to keep my
self by the work of my own hands, and
/ need nothing more. Give your gold to
this poor man and his family. who have
lost their ALL"
And without awaiting reply, he
turned on his heel, and disappeared.
The partiality of certain men fer GER
tain animals is no more to be accounted
other matters. Alexander had good rea-
son to appreciate his Bucephalus, but
why should Augustus have affected q
parrot, or Virgil butterfly, Nero star
ling, CommOdus monkey, Helliogabulus
q sparrow, or Honorious a cock? Why,
again, should the spaniard delight in
chocolate, while the German gives pref
erence to coffee? Why does tea suit the
stolid Dutchman, when he can't get his
lager) while the Italian soothcs his ardor
with lemonade? Why is whiskey the
delight of the wild Irishman, brandy
the native element of the Pole, tobacco
the passion of the Turk, and hydromel
the nectar of the Muscovite? And echo