River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-03-03
was so parched tia, I could not utter a

was so parched tina, 1 could not utter
sound.
The heat was frightful. Clouds of
dense white smoke settled about us in
suffocating closeness, while the thun-
der of the falling giants of the forest,
together with the sharp fusillade pro-
duced by their swapping branches and
the ever-increasing roar of the flames,
made up grand and awful diapason
And the fire came clorer and closer
and finally-it reached us.
"Tess!" | shouted, as l put my arm
about her waist and drew her down be-
low the sides of the crazy old vehicle,
dear girl, our time has come! Good
by!"
Dear Ben, good-by!" I read rather
than heard from her lips. 1t was i'm
possible to hear her words.
And after that, as the novelists say,
all was like n dream. l have confused
recollection of a heat so terrible as to
almost force my eyes from their sock
cts and shrivel my skin up to parch-
ment-of the old horse dropping to the
ground-of standing over my brave
Tess fighting off the blazing branches
of agonizing burns on my head, face
and hands. And then there came ter
rible crash! | seemed to see 10000 stars
and all was darkness!
never knew just how long was I'M
conscious, but it must have been for
many hours, for when consciousness
again mounted her throne in my soul
it was broad day. At first l could not
open my eyes at all. Then managed 10
just separate the lids, but it was the
acutest torment TO do so. / afterwards
found that they had been horribly
burned.
Full sensibility came back very slow
ly. For awhile l was dazed. | could not
think-only gaze upward stupidity at
the clear sky and wonder what had
back-all the horror and pain-and
attempted to start up.
MY God! Tess!" l groaned, as re-
allied fully where / was and what had
transpired. But l found l was too
weak to do anything except barely
move my head.
When l could see about me, what a
desolate scene it was that met my
blurred and crippled vision. As far as
my poor sight could reach there was
nothing but blackness, except overhead
"a landscape in jet silhouetted sharp
ly against the soft azure of the clear
sky \ few feet from me lay the fig
ure Of human being! My God! 1t
was Tess! And was she dead? Merci-
full Heaven! About half of her clothes
were gone and she lay motionless, as
though dead.
How | suffered at that sight no one
but myself can ever know. 1t was
worse than my own misery. But
could not move, and the hot tears, of
which 1 was not ashamed, distilled
from my eyes like drops of liquid fire
and plowed red-hot burrows down my
scorchcd cheeks. And then l again
lapsed into Inconsistencies.
Whole ages might have passed before
knew anything more. Then suddenly
opened my eyes and saw. l was in
bed at home. BY the bedside sat my
small sister Jennie.
You have been sick just three weeks,
Ben," said she, land 'Tessie' every
one of us said "Tessie" and not Miss
Mills-'is just able to walk around"
1t came out afterwards that Tess had
received her worst burn while trying to
ward off a great blazing branch from
my head, after l had become uncon-
scious. OF course, she was lionized for
her bravery-"when I didn't do any
thing brave at ALL she afterwards said
to me, with a bright blush. didn't say
anything, and what l did is scarcely
worth recording.
The doctor says will bear no perma-
nent evil effects of my adventure save
several deep, ugly scars on my head and
arms.
But when l take my youngest boy on
my knee and pour into his never-tiring
ear, again and again, the story of my
escape from a fiery death, and then look
over across the table where sits my
sweet-faced wife, l shudder at the recol-
lection of that night of horror and mar
vel at the strength of true woman's
love.-N. Y. Ledger.