The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1900-05-24
gle element, when guided by the q

1
the swaying timbers of the dwelling
above the moaning of the blast, the
FLASHING of the rain and the gurgling,
rushing, surging murmurs of the
angry food sprung from my bed,
threw on part of my clothing, hur-
ried to the stairs and commenced de-
scending them rapidly.
when a little more than half way
down, found, to my dismay and hor-
ror, that my feet were buried in wa
ter, and | knew that the parties be-
low must be struggling to keep them
selves from drowning. Laboring as
knew they must be under the most
might naturally want the presence OF
mind which would enable them to
escape immediate destruction by gain
ing the second story; and shouting
to them that help was at hand, l
plunged boldly downward into some
four feet depth of water, and went
knocking about in the deep darkness
among the different articles of furni-
| ture, but struggling forward to the
point whence came the continued
shrieks of fear and distress.
| THE food was still rising rapidly;
| it appeared to me that l could feel it
gaining upon us every moment; the
grooming and trembling house seemed
about to be borne away, or come
crumbling down around us; and |
| felt, if there were indeed any saliva
ton for us, our lives depended upon
the action of the momentous seconds
which were so rapidly bearing us to
the verge of eternity.
Happily | soon reached the widow
| and her daughter, whom | found
| clasped in each others arms, nearly
beside themselves with terror, but in
stinctively keeping their heads above
the water; and, speaking to them
some soothing words of hope which
l little felt myself, l dragged them
| forward, found the stairs and assist
ed them to the story above.
by this time poor Julia Arlington
had tainted; but the mother, with a
slight revival of hope, seemed to re-
gain her presence of mind; and as we
both bent o-er her daughter, chatting
her, limbs, and dashing water in her
face, till she began TO show signs of
| returning consciousness, she said to
me. with the deep feeling of fond
and grateful parent:
"'May the Lord Almighty bless you
| for this! You must have been provi-
dentially sent to our rescue; for,
without your aid, l am certain we
should have been drowned below!'
"'Alas!' said l. somewhat gloomily,
as the rising waters seemed to roar
around us even more fearfully than
ever, we are not yet saved! we are
not yet saved! and the GOOD God alone
knows what fate is in reserve for us!
"'God help us!' exclaimed the re-
stored Julia, few minutes later, as
she stood trembling and chnging TO
her mother and myself, and endeavor-
ing to peer around her In the awful
darkness; I fear we shall yet be
swept away by this terrible flood
81 have my fears, tool l replied;
but we will rely upon Gods mercy,
and hope to the last'
almost as I spoke there came a
louder creaking and groaning-then
IA crashing as of some breaking tim
bers-then rocking to and fro, like
boat upon the waves-and then a
seeming whirling and plunging down
ward and forward.
"'God help us now, indeed l ex-
claimed; FOR we are already afloat---
already in the grasp of the angry
flood, and should be prepared for the
worst, as becomcth those who put
their hope and trust in Higher
| Power and better world!'
II need not dwell upon that never
to-be-forgotten night. l could not, II
| would, describe our feelings of al
ternate hope and despair; our I'M
spcakabic anNictics, as we went whirl-
ing down with the rushing tide-rock-
ing, rolling, plunging through the
seething, bubbling waters; now strik-
ing some rock or tree with almost
force enough to crush our frail tcne-
ment; now checked in our progress
till some feeling of hope would revive;
now torn from our moorings and sent
forward again, frail bubble upon the
bosom of n maddened flood, till de-
spair would awe us to silence IN view
of the impending death!
"All that dark and awful night was
passed in manner which, if you can
not imagine, have no language to de-
scribe.
Reaching, at daylight, n long.
broad level, we foated ont of the main
current, and made a Judgment upon
rising ground, as Noah's ark might
have rested upon the summit OF
Mount Ararat.
"IIere we remained through the
day, in painful anxiety--watching the
timbers, drift-wood and wrecks of
buildings which went floating past us
and humbly thanking God for our
own wonderful preservation. Before
noon the storm had begun to abate;
and we saw the sun OF that day ret
gloriously in the west, with the water
subsiding around us.
| 1--WE passed another niQht beneath