St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-02-02
Swept Away.
BY WILLIAM o. sTODDARD.

"Bob, my boy, can you swim ?"
The tall, somberlooking man, on the
gray horse, was evidently speaking to
the only other living being within
hearing but Bob made no reply, 9TH
er than forward pricking of his ears.
"What do you hear, Bob Whoa !!
bark 1t almost seems to me | can
hear something. Is it the river, old
fellow L? What if we should find the
bridge down, when we get there ?"
That question explained the first and
gave some point to it, since nothing
then in sight offered an occasion for
swimming, by either horse or man.
| To be sure, the road under them had a
wet and miry look but it was not at
all bad for a man on horseback, what
ever it might have been for anything
on wheels. A succession of heavy,
"Out-Of-s f-seasOn" rains had ceased only
the night before but they had fallen
with so sudden hammering of pond
erous waters that they seemed but to
have beaten the black soil harder.
Thus they had drained off, instead of
soaking in, and the water-cOurses had
received the greater part of the flood.
AS natural consequence, all the
smaller channels of the prairie country
were brimming full, from grass to
grass, while the rivers were swollen to
fOaming wrath in their furious incOm-
petence to do their appointed work as
"common carriers" AT this hour every
"slough" and "fOrk" and run" was
discharging its excess of burdens upon
the main stream, to which it belonged,
and it was little of the turmoil and
uprOar so created which had reached
the ears of DR.. Dalrymple's gray horse.
With every rod of riding forward, after
that brief pause, the muffied sound
grew louder, in it's sullen expression of
watery discomfort, until the doctor
drew his rein at the eastern end of the
long, uncanny- looking wooden bridge
across the SangamOn River.
"FlOod | should say so What
do you think of it, Bob 7"
The Whitney which answered him
was full of anxiety, for the turbid tor
rent was already rising to level dan
gerously near the floor of the bridge.
What was worse, a mass of driftwOOd
had already gathered in a growing
"raft," against the slender supports III
mid-stream, and around and over this
bride of its own making the Sangamon
was roaring angrily.
awful pressure Just there" said the
doctor, but as calmly as if he were
feeling the pulse of sick man. Gun
less that fever goes down, the bridge
can't last till sunset. 1t isn't safe how
Not for a minute"
Bob was clearly of the same opinion
for his ears were moving uneasily and
he paved the mud as if the river be-
fore him were having an effect upon
his nerves. His rider vas still young
man and he was well and powerfully
framed. His voice was firm and brave
and even cheerful, and it was just the
sort of IA voice which sick and weakly
people are sure to like in the man they
ask fretful questions of. Still, hi:
features were too strong and too deep
5 y marked for beauty, and there was {
D cloudy sadness in their expression witt
D which the SangamOn food had nothing
D to do, for it evidently belonged tC
D them. Some other and deeper cause
0 had given it a right to settle and re
main. Moreover, in the pleasan
brown eyes there was a far-away look
as if they were habitually seeking TO
something which they could not jus
U now see.
The doctor was considering the cas-,
= of the wooden bridge, and he was no
q sure he understood the symptoms.
a was groaning and complaining, indeed
n and there were even signs of tremO
o and unsteadiness but these might no
o be the tokens of approaching dissOlu
ton. The bridge might stand
Il altar oil and ,rat yUall
"Is it worth the risk If | though
8 she were waiting for me, it would be
| remember the time, | do. I'd hav
it would pay to swim it now, and
. isn't my fault, either. | won't sa
- whose it is"
D. He was not looking at the river, jus
II then but as if az something away be
yond it on the further bank. Suddenl
,e he Strengthened in his saddle, as if h
d had been sharply stung, and the word
to fell hard and quickly through his nut
'r brown beard and moustaches
eyes just as if she did. | viii
g Go long, Bob"
re The gray horse uttered somewhi
n n dismayed but Submissive neigh, an
ID he hesitated little when his feet bt
" gan to sound upon the planks of I'll
bridge and the roar of the waters aros
= all around as we'll as before him.
Of "I've crossed it often enough" soil
of oquized his rider "but | never sa
d this bridge look so long in my lif
OF Seems as if the other end of it wei
half a mile away"
The die was somehow cast, hOweve
and there was gloomy, determine
expression even in the more question
ing tones of his now deep and mello
nv voice. 1t was ever so much deep
and it seemed to come from further il
side of him than when he asked Bob
he could swim. The gray horse seem,
to be feeling his way as he put dow
his hOOfs.
"They say that, when cavalry ha,
a shaky bridge to cross, they alwa
= dismount and lead their horses.
> guess III be a military"
There was less of hesitation in Il
' stepping of the gray after his mast
began to walk in front of him but
manifested an affectionate dispositi
= to thrust his long head over the do
tors shoulder.
"This bridge is very sick, indee
Just hear it creak ! | declare II
be perfect battering-ram ~
He was glancing excitedly up-strea
when he saw that and he and Bob We
nearing the middle of the bridge.
Is and much more swiftly was long a
If narrow raft of heavy timbers careeri