The Press., 1890-06-05

up irf front of me. SomefimesT F had to climb directly oyer the top of these. aaa again to make my way cautiously around Fsofne dan-, gerously projecting ledge. sss.; ssae
 The hands of my watch pointed to o'clock, { and had been for nearly three .hopss aGainN wandering in the balsamss as hopeiessly per. plexed as before. when, just as | had fallen $ forward upon aspopgy bed of mossi utterlys despairing, I caught the sound of softly fall-s ing water I had eaten nothing since my early start Of the morning, with the excep- tion of 2 small piece of corn dodger and fred bacon, the mountaineer'sF inevitable. daily diet. So great had been my distvsss of mind, for the past, six or seveR hours, ell thought q { hunger had been completely driven away, all though I had long ago become aware that sl was suffering terribly from thirst. The sound of the trickling water therefore reminded me again, and most forcibly, of this want \ I soon found the tiny stream, making it's way from Assure in the huge rock near where I had thrown myself. 8t S4 s. -.4s., My thirst slaked, and g small portion Of, my lunch partaken of, was preparing to- start of once more on what I now realized, ,,, only too painfully, was Q hopeless sort of wandering, when 8 thought struck ms with sudden 6hopefalnesz.z II wonidg fUllow ifthe coarse of the stream. ss <. s5sagsA sisG4 a
 
 Ious large watercourses, nearly every opssof which had it's source near the summits of, the peaks, did not doubt that this tiny trickle was the head waters of some one of the nu- merous creeks in the valley below. had, much difficulty at first in tracing out the thread like flow of water, but gradually it grew more and more distinct, till, finally, Fl had all that Ieould do to naintain ny foot ing upon the slippery rocks and roots along its course Fx@S zeN@s Y
 Very soon my fprtherprogres was arrested by what seemed.to be. the edge of a precipice of flo snalE extents for the water fell with considerable sound to what judged was a pool below. gThe'rododendrons, ,aor mountain laurel, fringed it's edges with . thick itangles while above the great balsam frs interlocked their boughs. ~te
 Irwascantiously approaching the edge of the. precipice for the puEposeeoe oglaiacing over, when 8 treacherous rock gave way beneath me, and the next moment felt my- self plunging downward with that horrible sensationaone 1experiencss when falling into space. feetstruck the Natsr, ,iwhan, with sudden terrible shock. I,sfelb, my farther course arrested, g.< -.[- svs Stunned and rendered senseless asf was, for the first few moments, by thss ss6sFiiie force with which myadownwarxl Fpluuge hadlbesss checked, it wasFsome little time ere \ trseoy- cred sufficient consciousness to take note 0f my surroundings and of my own situation. ,, When did discovered thab in Eallings the roll made by my ibianketa had E'caught tanaae bare, projecting spur of -as dead- -balsamt that lay top downward in the pool 1t was < yeri- | table monarch Of the forest, with huge u fiihk, | gray with age and almost hralsehiesso What was now the upper portion, witah the rootssat- tached, rested securely against the topmost | edge of the precipice, while thesother epdSwa1 buried deep in the pool. The pool itself wa about twenty-five or thirty feet across, and of considerable depth, as judged by it's dark still looking surface.
 To unbuckle the straps that held the blanket across my shoulders was the workiof butt few
 moments when once had recovered posses sion of my faculties. Leaving the ublankei and straps to take care of themselyes, scram
 bled upon the balsam, after considerable ef
 fort and with great difficulty, for was stil
 suffering from the shock of the falkland
 made my way by means of the hoary trunl
 to the top of the precipice.
 l It was now after. 6 o'clock, and the denss
 gloom of the balsams had sodeepened that
 could scarcely see how to make my way
 through them. Realizing the utter foolhard I mess of attempting to do anything further
 towards finding my way out through thl
 dense night that was now fast settling down
 selected the dryest and most sheltered spo
 could find near to the stream, and building
 fire of the dead balsam beughss peepareda at'
 spend the night '@ 'A'sss
 The next morning about Il o'clock, afte many hours again spent in what seemed bu 1 useless effort, I struck distinct trail. Fol
 lowing it with no great difficulty, I sooi
 reached the hut of one of the mountaineers
 On relating to him an account of my adven
 lures, the honest fellow seemed considerabl
 struck with what he looked upon as my al
 most miraculous escape from death.-Win
 throp Burroughs in Yankee Blade.