The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-03-04
BANGING OVER TIE sea-

stormy sea every sid. nothing TO
stand on but ledge OF slippery rock barely
six inches wide, the tide rising higher every
moment, night coming on, no help NV thin
each and not living soul in sight. SThis is
Just one of these adventures which are
good deal plsasanter to read about afier din
ner in snug arm chair by the fire than to
eet oneself, and 1t was Just in this agree
able position that / found myself on a
gloomy March evening in one CT the :lonell.
est parts of the northern seas
Ia the short lived brightness OF simmer
when two whole months are one loog day,
durilg which the sun never ss's ev'5n the
treeiess islands OF The far north cake q
charming picture. With the grass grten in
the valleys, and the sky blue overheaa, and
the sea sparkling In dancing rlppes far as
the ey can reach-Orkney, Shetland, Farce
AT d old Iceland itself, are match foe any.
q ing in Switzerland or the CrimeA. But
in winter or early spring, when severy-
thing Is bleak and gloomy and dssolaie, aud
when roaring gales and torrents of rain c )me
turn about with the fros that seem Abls to
split solid rock, ii is very different mat.
ter. as wss now beginning to learn ITO my
cost.
How l had 60. into the scrape is.easily
icld. One OF those deceitfui spells II fine
weather, which In these high, northersi lati-
tudts too often misleads even an Sxperi-
creed traveller into thinking the Hpring
storms fairly over, had set In two a three
days before. Such q charcs was nc5s to be
l. 81 was as eager as Robinson Cruses him
self 10 explore the island. aod heretofore,
what with brooding mists swollen tsrrents
aud impossible bogs, had seen nothik g OF II
beyond the two huge gray ridges that tnut in
the little hat OF big ston.s and drietwood
which sheltered myself aud the harl faced
old fisherman with whom had taken k,p my
quarters.
Ny first start on this voyage OF dlsdbvery,
however, was not success. bad ven tured
over the slippery, wood.coated rocks. to n
solitary cra'g Zone OF these isola ed ''s}acksv
90 common In the Doi them seas which
seemed TO have been torn from thief main
elf by some commissions ages ago ! Once
there, bad forgotten al about the tidS,. till
suddenly found That my peninsula lad be.
come an Island, and that was in al awk.
ward AK
Had the ses been calm, could havsswam
ashore IN half dozen strokes. bit Captain
Webb himself would have hal no yhance
among the furions waves that made tl5s very
.ciif tremble with blows. and dashed al their
foam % high as the ledge on which | STOOD.
The strongest man on earth c1uld ntf have
ieEped across the gulf that yawoed b/tween
lie and the main headland; and evet had
u Adp otfu rodtiDit, II cat COu q uOH nave
fc--Yc footing on the grim preclpics btyond.
To escape seemed impotsible; n stay
svhere vac until the rising waves swc'pt me
of the rock would be- slower out an EQUAL.
ly certain death.
What was TO be done
Suddenly n thought struck me. knew
that the ellis OF the northern islandS, con-
sfantly saved away by lashing wavesy often
beetle over so as 10 make the dlstskce be-
tween their tops less than = fourth a What
a ~ lower down. determined tciclimb
hlsler and soon found q place whke two
huge cfnfs iutting out toward each other
from the opposing precipices, made n. lump
I, barely possible. IL was rot pleasant 10 look
Nsrom thst fearful height into the Iy,ariug
srs. and think what would happen \ | fell
short or failed TO make good my lDoting
en- the narrow. uneven, ay{sshed
: zee on the other side Of the guilt.
y f1t knew that the longer thought OF il
re worse " would be. 80, drawing myself
4 xether. shot out into the empty all The
next moment found myself Il hArdlt knew
;, how) safe on tho other side: T.
sale-but what nextY Except thaI was
row besond the reach OF the tide Seemed
to be not a whit better of than before. Al
Tough | was Mt least q hundred feet above
. ses. the mighty precipice still rose more
than fifty feet overhead, gaunt and bare as
Mount Sinai itself, without an inch q foot
hold. Worse still, could see by th3 angry
rsdress OF the setting sun aud the erekt mass
II leaden cloud which was gathering TO
wirdward that storm was rising which
would whiri me of that narrow shelly like q
straw.
Just then was startled by hsrsE horri-
BILE cry. Close beside me. which l bad heard
too often not TO know ut once for the shriek
OF the northern raven. And there u came,