The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-09-29
PEOPLE WOULDN'T BELIEVE TT
There Were, However, Many Relia-
bic Witnesses, and the Story
Was Finally Accepted
- L as Fact. 70

Falls in a boat was engaged In childish
pastime compared with the feat that was
performed by g. Texas lover to please his
sweetheart last Sunday while e small
crowd of boys and girls were enjoying an
outing on the Pecos river. Miss Lena
Riners, who Is the only daughter Of a
prosperous ranch owner and cattleman
In the Rio Grande valley, is one Of the
prettiest girls in Western Texas, and
has many admirers. Among the young
men who were attracted by the beauty
and many accomplishments Of this very
lively Texas girl, none was more earnest
and persistent in pressing his suit than
Fred A. Darmon, who is very respecta-
bic cowboy of the Western plains. This
young man has certainly given ample
proof that he 'loved his little sweet
heart" as he said, "better than his own
life''
On last Sunday some fifteen or twenty
young men and young girls, the sons and
daughters Of ranchers in the neighbor-
hood, went to the Pecos river bridge for
the purpose of enjoying a picnic. Among
the gay crowd was pretty Lena Riners
and several Of her admirers. The young
girl on this occasion was in one CT her
happiest moods and especially attractive.
Fred A. Darmon had failed to secure the
enviable favor of escorting the young
lady to the picnic grounds, but he kept
close enough TO her to annoy more for
tunate rival, and it was not long be-
fore he found an opportunity to press his
suit. Miss Riners herself, with great
earnestness and without reserve tells
how it all happened, for she has not yet
recovered from her fright. ...
II was in the utmost terror she says,
''for a long time after the dreadful &C.
currence, for fear that Fred had suffered
Some fatal injury. If he had been kill
ed know that never could have re-
covered from the shock, for my con-
science would have accused me Of hav-
ing been the cause of his death. 1t was
. all brought about by IA jest = I-loxed
Fred-loved him Well enough to marry
hinl-but it had not occurred to me that
the proper moment had arrived for me to
admit the fact to him. He is so awfullv
persistent, and his lovemaking was al
ways accompanied by such a woebegone
look, that somehow I foQlishly enjoyed
his great perturbation. Fred and had
bridge he was constantly annoying me
with earnest protestations of his pas
etrayed away from the crowd, and while
was asking questions about the great
sion. Finally, in a playful fit of mock
anger, said, oh Fred, can't you talk
about something else? You boys are all
alike. You have the same old story to
tell. Why don't you do something to
prove all this stuff you are continually
talking about
"'What shall I do?' he asked. I re-
piled: oh, I don't know. There are no
lions. here Tor you to Kill. Go 10 war or
Jump Oft OF that bridge up tnere.'
1 We'll remember how now he looked,
though 1 thought nouh1ng of IL at the
time, when he sdiu: Lena, would you
marry me If 1 We're to jump Off That
brloge:' l untntnk4ngly answered.: OF
course 1 would At that moment our
chaperone called us to come to camp, and
l thought no more or the matter until we
missed Fred. Upon looking around one
Of our party exclaimed: Why yonder is
Fred-up on the brloge! A premonition
OF something terrible at once arose in my
mind, and 1 felt choking sensation in
my throat.
''All eyes were at once turned toward
the dizzy heights Of the bridge, and you
can imagine our feeling when we saw
Fred throw off his coat and hat and
step up on the railing. I saw him wav-
ing his hands and throwing kisses toward
us, and 1 barely caught a glimpse of his
form as he plunged headlong through the
air. My eyes closed in terror and fell
upon the earth senseless."
Another member of the party, Mr.. John
~ANASoAA' "AAO was PICS IcllS LIE re-
mainder Of the story. He says: IT saw
Darmon jump from the bridge. I sup
posed he had suddenly become insane,
and l stood rooted to the earth para
lyzed with terror. Standing on the rail-
ing, more than 100 yards above the water,
ne looked like a little boy two or three
years old. In descending through the
air his body appeared to double up and
Tor second or more assume the shape
OF ball. AS he neared the waters of the
Pecos he Strengthened out and descended
mead foremost, with the palms of his
hands together in front of his head, after
the manner of an accomplished diver.
ran toward the bank of the river. which
was only a few steps away, and reached
the Drink OF the stream just in time to
see the desperate boy disappear beneath
the water. l felt absolutely certain that
ne was dead, and I supposed that his
body would be simply limp mass Of
bruised flesh and broken bones.
Inc river at that place is about Is
yards wide and from 20 to 40 feet in
depth. While l was hurriedly throwing
OF my coat and shoes, to nv utter
amazement my friend popped out of the
water, and I plunged into the stream,
hoping to rescue him if possible. A long
jump and two or three strokes brought
me to his side, just in time to grasp his
hair as he began to sink. Another young
man came to my assistance, and we easI-
~ dragged the body of our friend to the
shore Ale was apparently lifeless, but
we all fell to rubbing him, and, after a
few moments, he gasped for breath. In
the course of some twenty-five or thirty
minutes he opened his eyes and began to
mutter something about Miss Lena Rim
ers. The love-sick scamp had spoiled
our picnic, and, being mad enough at
him to have thrashed, him, walked
away. Some people," added Mr.. Addison,
with laugh. are talking of giving Fred
a medal for being the greatest bridge
jumper or high diver in the world, but
I think he ought to have a button for be-
ing the biggest fool in Western Texas. y
The two lovers recovered their senses
about the same time, and there was lit
tie scene which brought about a perfect
underst landing between them Miss Rim
ers was greatly and certainly most agree
ably surprised when she found herself
able to sit up and was told that Fred
was alive and unhurt. He must have
wings, = she said. The foolish lover was
as persistent as ever, though he was
hardly able to move. When his sweet
heart bent over him his first words we're: