Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-03-21

(. Y" "itttnpt 10 reach Mount Mitcl.it
ma, day. This peak was noi eyen L,
s'en.' ana as far from me. no,y r..i
izeu' as when had first begun tho o.
een' OF the range. My more sensibIa
anu uecidediy safer, plan was 10 Irv ~
NV way back to ny ate bost,s cah,n
sihne = now had some idea az 10 IL AZ
rection. az 10 us al
Leaving the sun directly on nv lest
,"soa ABOUT, and again entered no
oaisa" Hickets ! now found ,ben no,
lui'e 80 inlpenetrable as before al,bnn,,h
u sun required no little amountofsngS1i !
lui engineering to work INV wav thrnnah
t I'm ! seemed to be going up all The
'',he, rather steep Incline at Tho,
wh'ch made my task the more arduons
Every now and then huge rock wouIa
loom up in front OF me. Sometir,aa :
nad to climb directly over the ton of
.nese' ana again to make nv way can.
.iously around some dangerously nra.
jecting ledge. pio-
me hands OF my watch pointed tn five
O'Clock, and had been for nearly tbrae
houfs again wandering in the balsams
az hopelessly perplexcd as before. when
Just as ] had fallen forward unon =
1pongy pea OF moss, utterly despairing.
.""ght me sound of softly falling
water. bad eaten nothing since nv
oariy START OF the morning. with the ey-
ception OF small piece of corn dodoer
ana irled bacon, the mountaineer's IN.
evltable daily diet. So great had hoo,
my distress Of mind for the past six or
seven hours, all thought of hunger had
peen completely driven away, although
| mad long ago become aware that was
suffering terribly from thirst. The sound
OF the trickling water therefore 70.
minded me again, and most forcillv of
this want. ] soon found the tinv STREAM,
making its way from fssurc in ,bo
huge rock near where had thrown NV
self 's
My thirst slaked, and small nort;on
Vi my lunch partaken of, | was prepar-
ing 10 start OIL once more on what now
realized, only too painfully. was hone
Tess sort OF wandering. when a thought
struck me with sudden hopefulness. |
would follow the course of the stream
surrounded as the range was with nu-
merous large watercourses. nearly every
one of which had its source near tho
SUBMITS OF the peaks, I did not doubt
that inns tiny trickle was the head
waters of some one of the numerous
creeks in the valley below. | had much
dsfhculty at first in tracing ont tho
thread-like flow of water, but gradually
1t grew more and more distinct. till
hnaliy, had all that | could do Ia
maintain my footing upon the slippery
rocks and roots along its course.
Very soon my further progress was ar
rested by what seemed to be the edge of
a precipice of no small extent. for the
water fell with considerable sound 70
what judged was pool below. The
rhododendrons, or mountain laurel.
fringed its edges with thick tangle.
while above, the great balsam frs. in
terlocked their boughs.
was cautiously approaching the edge
of the precipice for the purpose of
CHANGING over, when treacherous rock
gave way beneath me, and the next mo-
ment felt myself plunging downward
with that horrible sensation one ex-
periences when falling into space. Ny
feet struck the water, when. with a sud
den, terrible shock, | felt my further
course arrested.
Stunned and rendered senseless as
was, for the first few minutes. by the
terrific force with which my downward
plunge had been checked, it was some
little time ere | recovered sufficient con
Sclousness to take note of my surround
ings and of my own situation.
When | did so, | discovered that in
falling the roll made by my blanket had
caught in the bare projecting spur of a
dead balsam that lay top downward in
the pool. 1t was veritable monarch of
the forest, with huge trunk gray with
age and almost branchless What was
now the upper portion. with the roots
attached. rested securely against the
topmost edge of the precipice. while the
other end was buried deep in the pool.
The pool itself was about twenty-five or
thirty feet across. and of considerable
lepth as judged by its dark, still-look-
ing surface.
To unbuckle straps Hthat held the
blanket across my shoulders was the
work of but few moments when once !
had recovered possession of my facul-
ties. Leaving the blanket and straps to
to take care of themselves. scrambled
upon the balsam, after considerable eff
fort. and with great d fiicultv, for was
still suffering from the shock of the fall
and made my way by means of the
hoary trunk to the top of the precipice
1t was now after six o'clock. and the
tense gloom of the balsams had Sc
ieepened that | could scarcely sec how
to make my way through Them. Realiz
izing the utter foolhardiness of attempt
ing to do any thing further towards
finding my way out through the dense
night that was now fast settling down,
selected the dryest and most sheltered
spot could find near TO the stream, and
a ire of the dead balsam boughs
prepared to spend the night.
The next morning about eleven o'clock,
after many hours again spent in what
seemed but useless effort, struck a dis
tinct trail. Following it with no great
difficulty, soon reached the hut of one
Of the mountaineers. On relating to
him an account of my adventures, the
honest fellow seemed considerable struck
with what he looked upon as my most
escape from death.-Nin-
throp Burroughs, in Yankee Blade.
The best people need Affections for
trial of their virtue. How can we cNer-
else the grace of contentment, if all
things succeed well; or that of forgive