Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1881-10-07

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yond that the river runn;,o. sai'l ana
~ ~, a church was floating along v
I9e current, and above all the grind
OF the Ice and rush of the weter
could hear the awful tolling Of itg i.
DoWn on the cakes of ice stood Colon
pest black COW, chewing her end nc
she were safe at home in her stall
Inc hours passed on dreariiv enon
with no food, no fire, no light. onIv !
darkness and noise. 1t was dav NO
Lucy could see that, but the jitfIs a.
was sun dark. But it was some consc
alton to know they were standing st;l
ana no longer in that crushing erael
ing mass. Lucy widened the crack !
tne gable as the day passed on, and ,,
ported what she saw. A LOT Of Voc =
went by out in the river-yood that no.
been placed on the river bank for ti
use of steamboats, when the rivo
opened. She knew what il wac vol
enough, for she had seen some of III,
nelg66ors burning part Of It durins
'ne blockade. Trees went by. anS
pieces OF houses, and a dead body rolled
over and showed her its wbits rig;d
lace: she would not look again after'tbat
Night settled down at last. and that
was worse than day it was pleasant to
know there was light outside oven Il
thoy could not SEQ It. Lucy did NOT
slss,SYpt the others slept little, wslting
nisssit m5rs sebed P,s.3 erica that made the
Il, Iioeous. She was fearfnl
lest they should start again and the
mouse go TO pieces In the mass OF i'm
but it stood firm and then she beean
to fear they must stay there and starye
Perhaps the ice had frozen hard enough
to allow her to get to the shore some
where, for though the river was open, it
seemed frozen solid where they we're.
which probably was not really the river,
only where it had oyerfowed, and she
resolved to try and get out in the morn
ing.
When the first streak of light was
visible, she began her work, but having
nothing but her hands she was giving
up IN despair, when Colomb cried out
that she heard voices. They listened
They shouted to let the rescue~s know
they were there and alive, but the voices
were growing fainter and fainter eyi-
IDENTITY they had concluded no one was
there and were going away. With all
their united voices they called again
and Lucy looked out through her little
opening in the wall, and saw them, two
mon, and one OF thom was-yes,
it was Charlie Roscoe. She put her
mouth to the opening and called with
all her might Charlie, oh, Charlie !
come back we're herel" Then she
looked again and saw they had turned
and were running back.
"They're coming they're coming p
she cried to Coiorab: 'it's Charlie, he'll
a'evs -Ss''-s ss-.4 csssl+,ssa.s had Fa.iA.tea-
The men were not long in making al
opening in the roof, for they were pre-
pared with their axes for Just sucl
emergencies, having been at work al
night. They carried Colomb wrapped
III the bed clothes, across the ice to
their boat, and Lucy led old Gautiere,
trembling with fear and weakness, to
the same place. They shivered in the
bitter morning air, but Lucy soon
found work enough to keep her warm in
helping themen to pull the boat against
the strong current. Cakes of ice came
rushing down, almost upsetting them
at times, and long timbers swung
around perilously near the boat as they
went dashing down the river Lucy
asked Charlie where they We're. and
how far they had come. Below Vane,
he told her, and they had come fifteen
miles Fifteen miles in a rocking,
surging, house, among those enormous
cakes of ice-she shiyered again at her
rowing.
"Do you know that place ?" asked
Charlie. Lucy looked and saw soli-
tary house, standing amid enormous
cakes Of ice, so black from mud and
sand covering them and contained in
them that they looked more like cakes
of black lava than ice. That was like
no place she had ever seen.
''That is Glen Island" said Charlie.
She looked again, she could not believe
it. Glen Island was pretty little town;
she and Charlie had gone to school
there, and it had churches, stores,
schools and houses Of plenty. 1t could
not be.
"There is the railroad" continued
Charlie, as they got back nearer their
own home, OF what had been home.
Lucy could only see vast sea stretch
ing out on every hand, with swift cur
ent in the center and blocks of ice and
mud here and there in every direc
tion. Sometimes there was the roof of a
house or barn, and few cattle perched
on the top of some straw stacks, OF
standing in the water halfway up tc
their backs, the ice frozen so thickly
about them that they could not move
She could see no signs Of the railroad
if it was where Charley pointed, it was
buried under tons Of ice.
"Do you know this farm ?" asked
Charlie, again.
Lucy looked and saw acres of land
plunging into the river, Dead bodies
of cattle lay here and there, caught
among the cakes OF ice, and part of 8
harvester whirled by them in the water
No, she had never seen it, shew sure
"That is 10 Aims" said Charlie.
She caught her breath and looked
again. All those broad acres and barns
and horses and cattle, that her ssistel
had talked of SO often, gone. AS she
looked,ss she caught sight of a mar
wedged in between two large cakes oi
ice not far from them.
ssThere's a man, Charlie" she said,
under her breath, for the sight of him
had sent horror to her.
"It's Jo," cried Charlie, as the boat
swung around so they could see his face
''and he's dead"
Colomb cried out at that and begged
them not to stop, and indeed they coulC
not in that swift river. How terrible i
all seemed as they went on. Far off
the bluffs, like the banks of the sea, il
the center of which was their strug
Cling boat, on every side roofs o
churches, houses, barns, or wrecks o
them all. The comfortable farms, that
the year before had been covered witt
wheat, buried in water and ice, some
half washed into the river, and many
covered with deposit of sand that haG
ruined them for years, at least. Cattle
horses, reapers, mowers, everything
gone, and sometimes the owners, too
like poor 10. Great trees were torn NJ
by the roots, or cut off clean and
smooth, some stripped of their bark