Los Cerrillos rustler. (Cerrillos, N.M.) 188?-1891, 1889-01-10

natural canal wcnL perhaps . mile haek
from ths river, and then lcft the boat
and sent ahcad on inot Fortunately
~ had some provisions with Is. for ~e
expected 10 D. gone sume dasN
Travelling through the swamp even
Shen il l. dry. T. slow work. stopping
here and thcrc 20 examine q trce. and
often making a dctour In search Of =
ditch - float it out when q Al the
ead Of the first day ~ wcrc about three
miles. ! should think. from the boat
and toward the end Of the afternoon We
found a. dry a spot ~ NJ could 10 make
our bed Of branches on-for when Ne say
that the swamp h dry. that merely
means that IL i not under water. IL i
never dry, and the mud az least Is al
ways deep. We lighted a fire and cooked
our supper. and after smoking our pipes
wrapped ourselves In blankets and went
% slcep-for there Is not much induce
ment 10 keep late hours In the swamp.
and We were tired
''Some time in the night I was walked
by being wet ! supposed any rate.
MAHM AZ AAfN MNNN NNaMANE anu NuW
hand lay in a pool Of water. Wherever
We were not raisei above the ground
by the boughs we were wet woke the
boy, and We built up the hre a. we'll a.
We could with the wet wood. We were
on the highest ground in sight and by
the hrclight / saw that every thing
about us was afioat. ] notched a stick
and stuck II In the mud, aud in the few
minutes that II took us 10 get our Pro-
visions and axe safely stored out OF the
wet the water rose an inch. We had
had no rain at our place for several
weeks, and the only way ] could ac-
count for IL was that there must have
been heavy rains mp above Us, and tho
river was rising. But how much would
1t rise? was the question. BY the
water marks on the trees / saw that il
had been six feet higher than Il was
where we stood, and II Il should come
up to that now We would have a chance
to swim for &. | looked at the stick
Dol again, and the water was three
inches higher than when we woke up
Ii was rising very fast.
Il don't know what put the idea in
my head. for | had never heard OF It.
but | stumbled upon the plan the lum.
bermen always use when they are
caught in such a fix. II Il had been a
moonlight night ! should have started
at once for the boat before the water
got too high, but IL was dark as pitch,
and away from the fire w could hardly
see our hands before our faces. 1t
would have been little better than
suicide to try to go through the swamp
on such q night, with the water rising.
SO | determined to carry out the idea
that occurred 10 me, and even 10 do that
W. would have TO work fast.
Al made the fire up as bright as |
could get 1t and set the lad TO work 20
cut down one OF the tall trees that stood
near, and | took another. We cut tn
trees each and chopped the trunks into
logs about eight feet long. With these
we built a platform, laying two logs one
way and two the ,ther, building on aud
up till we had q ructure like a log pig
pen about six feet high. The top OF the
whole thing we covered with logs seal
enough for us TO lift-and by the time IL
was lone there was nothing but water
and trees all around us-eyen our little
island had disappeared.
1--WE had nothing to do now but climb
up and wait; but we stuck 1t out in the
mud till daylight, trying to keep the fire
going to warm US. by daylight we were
knee-decp in water, and as w had
burned every thing that was not soak
ing wet w let the fire go and climbed
up. We had provisions enough to last
for two or three days, and there was no
danger Of any current strong enough to
tear down our heavy platform. hut II
was not q pleasant situation, sitting on
an artificial island eight feet square and
rot knowing how long you might have
10 stay there. However, IL was better
there than anywhere else we could go.
and we had to stay. Our provisions
we're all uncooked, and about noon We
Clipped off splinters enough TO malse a
little fire TO boil our coffee and fry some
bacon. just before dark | measured the
Nabtl anu Jun ~ ~ it1h "a
deep and still rising.
1--WE spent the night on the pla tform,
and next morning the water was less
than two feet below the top OF 1t. Well,
you car imagine how we lived, and how
we wondered when we were going Il
get away, or whether the water would
remain high till we wore starved out
But a little after moo that day we hearc
a distant shout, and you may depend
we were not slow to answer 1t. w
heard 1t again and again, always com
ing nearer, and kept answering IL, anC
before long a boat came In sight. 1t wa.
our own skin and my two girls in 1t
When the water rose so high they wer,
afraid we would be drowned, and the,
took the big boat and rowed up TIN
canal till they came TO the little boat
Then they left the big boat and tool