Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1894-06-22


within the gul
low and quick
into wild revefH
which stopped
my heart; u shrid
ing and unearthly
if all the demons on
at once into a scrd
laughter. Again, an
sound reSerberated
echos, through / II
abysmal caves and
world. Shaken Us
nerve, | could no lon
erwise must have
the cry could only !
my own. No living
from the abyss col
to me more real hore
Scarcely knowiL Z | did,
myself upon y arrow pld
and stopped m. aslfs to shut
the sound,
When at last | ventuied to uncl
them, the awful peal had faded
to silence, and no sound was to
distinguished except the faint com
tinual noise of gurgitating water
which had noe ceased to issue from
the depths Of the abyss! To this
sound ! now lay listening In a kind
OF frightinl fascination for some
minutes-tiye or ten. Then, even as
/ listened TO the sound, | heard, with
freezing blood, a change ofcharacter
take place within tia change into
q long, low, booming murmur, dread
full as lions growl. 1t was the
Weakening voice OF the eruption! At
last my hour was come.
Rigid with horror, | threw myself
against the wall, and, with starting
eyes and painting breath, awaited
the volley Of the boiling thundcr-a
fierce explosion shook the very rock
there came a blast, a shrek from
the abyss; felt shock thatstunned
me-and the tremendous spout OF
water shot me from the guilt and
hurled me so feet into the air.
Strange that | had never thought
of this, that had never taken into
calculation the gigantic power Of
such jet! How incredibly absurd
it now appeared that | should fancy
that a current ofsuch force would
leave me in the hollow. Nor was |
fated to be boiled alive; the water,
though it's heat was only just endur-
able, was by no means boiling hot.
Had | been aware before that this
occasionally happened, my bitterest
despair would have retained a spark
of hope.
But was my danger at an end? Far
otherwise; the most extraordinary
part of 1.-THE part for which have
considered thatit ought to be record
ed as the sole experience OF its kind
is now to be related. But how shall
/ describe it? how shall | recount the
stranges:, the most wildly, singular
adventure that ever mortal man rs
capped to tell OF? ] must take an Illus
tration.
Every one has seen a bill or a cork
figure kept dancing on the summit OF
garden fountain. Now let there be
imagined a stupendous jet, five feet
in thickness and so feet in height,
tossing about in place CT the cork
ball, a living man! Such was now my
situation. There was the Brobdig-
nagian fountain dancing in the sun
light. and there was |, the veriest
pigmy, tossed like u puppet on its
colossal crest. What mortal ever
found himself in sa position SO gro
tesque and yet SO terrible!
The motion OF body suspended
on a jet of water depends Tor the
most part, on its shape and weight.
If to heavy, it falls Instantly; if too
light, tbs fountain casts il off like
spray. In form, q sphere is the most
easily supported, but the capricious
stream occasionally seems to take a
fancy tor another figure, so that the
most irregular OF bodies may some
times be seen dancing long and wildly;
and thus it must have been with me.
Ny weight must have exactly suited
the giganticje it neither threwme off
nor let me fail. At first, for several
seconds, it kept me spinning dizzily
upon it's very summit; then, as |
CHANGED to come erect, position
which afforded less resistance, sank
suddenly dozen feetwithin the body
OF the iet-only, the next instant to
be cast aloft again. tossed, whirled
and shaken at the will Of the capri
cious waters. Ofmy sensations, while
this lasted, it would be in vain to
speak, for feltnothing with distinct
ness. The dizzy height-the strange
resistance of the liquid column 1.-The
fiery sting Of the heated water-the
deatening roar of the cascade in fall
ing-the dazzling iridescence OF the
sunlit steam and spray-the strang-
ling sense OF breathing air and wat
err was conscious OF them all, but
vaguely, as of the phantasmagor;a
OF Il dream. My brain reeled. Igrew
sick and dizzy: for some seconds be-
lieve that my senses must havefai!ed
me-
Very suddenly, with an upward
spirit, as if weary gifts plaything,
the fountain seemed to fling me from
it's summit clear out into the air.
The height wnss50 feet; | tell re-
volving like Il wheel. Had the toun-
u -. x :, *. =, 4 A. q ,,4 7