Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-12-04
SHE WAS RESCUED.
sfils IS THE THRILLING BUT TRUTH
Full TALE OF A BUCKET.

This Is the tale Of a bucket.
Incidentally it is tale Of daring do.
Of beauty in peril, Of bitter tears, Of
manful endeavor. OF heroic rescue, OF
thanksgiving for dangers past.
1t was no ordinary bucket, no moss
covered bucket. no old oaken bucket
that hung by the we'll. 1t was bucket
of distinction, bucket Of parts. bucket
Of illimitible hospitality and inherent
benefcence. Whatever its ostensible
raison d'etre, there are many who will
see in this Chevalier Bayard Of buckets
a manifestation of the finger Of Provi-
dence, many who will swear that it
was fashioned by fate for the suocor Of
beleaguered damsel. Whereof the story
followeth:
Twas July %, and quite soft were
the skies, whence it might be inferred
that Sadie Meyerfriend was likewise.
Which the meters as rough as the rocks
Sadie scaled on her road toward the
skies.
Miss Meyerfriend was from Oakland.
Her fellow tourists, dozen or so, were
from San Francisco. To seek to probe q
woman's motives may be both folly and
presumption, but one is bound to take
cognizance Of important facts. Impor-
tant fact No in the tale of bucket
is that Miss Meyerfriend overheard
young man in the party hazard the
opinion that Oakland girls were dead
slow" Important fact No. is that
Immediately thereafter Miss Meyer
| friend hazarded the feat which made
her famous, and without which this
tale of a bucket would never be written.
| Let him who dares draw an inference
from this conjunction Of circumstances.
They had left Skaggs Springs, these
! happy tourists, for tramp through the
mountains. They had just arrived at
the base of Majors rock when the i'll
advised San Franciscan made his re-
mark about Oakland girls being dead
slow" Miss Meyerfriend's eyes shot
! fire as they travelled to the summit Of
the rock. which towers skyward 100
feet like huge monolith.
Lets climb to the top" she said,
darting at the detractor of Oakland girl
hood O glance which said "dasn't" as
plainly as words
/
the forbidding crag, but his pride forbade
him to weaken, and he responded:
Let's. -
And the rest Of the party echoed
Let's" in varying moods and lenses Of
reluctance.
The Oakland girl led the way. With
| the agility of channels and the deter
mination of the young man who bore
mid snow and ice a banner with the
strange device Excelsior, " she bounded
to the lowermost ledge and began to
climb. The fippant young man followed
her. The rest compromised by looking
on and uttering words of encourage
ment.
After awhile she reached the summit
and bent upon her companions beneath
q rather red but very triumphant face.
following her hands into speaking
trumpet she uttered series Of ejacula-
tions Of which the breeze permitted
these fragments to reach the earth:
"Simply beautiful-ought to see the
view-most exhilarating air I ever
lovely natural seat hewn by nature out
of-why didn't Mr.-enjoy this-is no
lIl!-nOOrOar 1Or OaklanQI
Miss Meyerfriend had produced the
sensation she desired, and at the end OF
ID minutes she started to descend
started, but no more. Her friends saw
her climb down few feet, and then
stop, with one foot gesticulating elo-
quently over u chasm. Then she tried it
with the other foot. and then she climbed
back to the top. She peered down the
escarpment on all sides, looking for q
practicable path. She tried it backward.
frontward sideward, until her friends
expected to see her compromise by walk.
ing down Oh her hands. Finally she had
good cry, and these words foated to
the watchers beneath:
"Ohl Oh-h-h can { get down-some
Of you men-help NELL die Of fright
don do neutrality-suspicious. -hool-a
ladder or something-sure shall fall
tell my poor motherT'
Half dozen men sprang to scale the
rock, but their strength was not equal
to the task. Messengers were sent post.
haste to the hotel at Skaggs' Springs,
but that meant delay, and meanwhile
Miss Meyerfriend of Oakland was wiring
ing her hands and declaring that she
would die Of hunger and exposure even
/ If she were not dashed to pieces from
the summit.
Ropes and ladders came from the
hotel, aud then came the laborious work
Of digging holes in the rock and fasteu,
/ ing ladders where they would do the
most good. By this time, however, Sadie
Meyerfriend was in a collapse and could
do nothing to aid in her own rescue.
In this emergency the bucket arrived,
1t is bootless to tell where the bucket
was found or who found it. Enough
that it was big bucket-big enough to
bear the fairest freight ever borne by
bucket.
The bucket was hoisted to the summit
Of Majors rock, and the rescuers exhib-
tied it dramatically to the terrified
maiden.
''Lol' they said. your salvation.