Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1892-10-21
riness in sustaining myself till the
morning shall bring relief

riness in sustaining myself till the
morning shall bring relief.
.'The sides of the place seemed TO
grow higher as l now kept my watery
course beneath them. 1t was not alto
gether a dead pull. had some va
riety of emotion in making my circuit
When swan in the shadow, it looked
to Inc more cheerful beyond in the
moonlight When | swan in the
moonlight, l had the hope of making
some discovery when / should again
reach the shadow. turned several
times on my back TO rest just where
those wavy lines would meet. The
stars looked viciously light TO NE from
the bottom of that well; there was
such a company of them; they were
SO glad in their lustrous revelry, and
they had such space TO move in! l
was alone, sad to despair in a strange
element, prisoned, and solitary Gazer
upon their chorus. And yet there was
nothing else with which could hold
communion
Then came an emotion OF pity for
myself-of wild, wild regret; OF sor-
row, oh, infinite, for fate so desolate;
II doom so dreary, so heart sickeninS
You may laugh at the contradiction
if you will, sir, but | felt that could
sacrifice my own life on the instant,
to redeem another fellow creature
from such place of horror, from an
end so piteous. Ny soul and my vital
spirit seemed in that desperate mo
ment to be separating; while one in
parting grieved over the deplorable
fate of the other.
And then | prayed lprayed, why
or wherefore | know not. 1t was not
fear. 1t could not have been in hope
The DAYS Of miracles are passed, aud
there was no natural law by whose
interposition | could be saved. | did
not pray; it prayed of itself my soul
within me.
WAS the calmness that | now felt,
torpidityi the torpidity that precedes
dissolution, to the strong swimmer
who, sinking from exhaustion, must at
last add a bubble to the wave rs he
suffocates beneath the element which
now denied his mastery? II it were
so. how fortunate was il that my
floating rod at that moment attracted
my attention as it dashed through the
water by me. | saw on the instant
that a fish had entangled himself in
the wire moose. The rod quivered'
plunged, came again TO the surface,
and rippled the water as it shot IN
arrowy flight from side TO side OF the
tank. At last, driven toward the
southeast corner OF the Reservoir the
small end seemed to have got toul
somewhere. The brazen butt, which,
every time the fish sounded, was
thrown TO the moon, now sank by It's
own weight, showing that the other
end must be fast But the cornered
fish, evidently anchored somewhere
by that short wire, floundered several
times to the surface, before / thought
of striking out to the spot
The water is now low, and toler-
ably clear. You may see the very
ledge there, sir, in yonder corner. on
which the small end OF my rod rested
when / secured that pike with IIy
hands. / did not take him from the
slip-noose, however; but standing
upon the ledge handled the rod in
workman-like manner, as / flung that
pound pickerel over the iron railing
upon the top of the parapet. The
rod, as have told you, barely reached
from the railing TO the water. 1t was
a heavy, strong bass rod, and when l
discovered that the fish at the end OF
the wire made "A strong enough knot
to prevent me from drawing my tackle
away from the railing around which
il twined itself as / threw, why, as
YOU can at once see, had but little
difficulty in making my way up the
face of the wall with such assistance.
THE ladder you see lashed to the
iron railing. is in the identical spot
where | thus made my escape; and
for fear Of similar accidents, they
have placed another one in the cor
responding corner OF the other com
partment OF the tank, ever since my
remarkable nights adventure in the
lonesome waters Of the Reservoir"