Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1902-12-20

Blowing and strang1ing. I manages
to get breath, and stood up. Then
l knew that my fall had broken no
bones, and that the water was only
waist deep. The galvanized iron pail
that | had tripped over was floating
half full of water, beside me.
But my plight was bad enough. The
hard work in the heat of the day and
the blazing barn had drawn the per
splratlon from every pore of my body,
and now to be plunged into this chill
ing place for | knew not how long
! put me in danger of rheumatism or
| pneumonia. And the immediate dan
ger was great enough. 1t was improb-
able that the smoke would settle into
the cistern sufficiently to disturb me
much; but high overhead | coulu see
the flames in the timbers of the roof,
and already good sized pieces OF burn
ing wood were dropping to the floor.
The opening through which / had
passed SO easily was certainly big
enough to admit falling stick whose
weight could crush in my skull like
pasteboard.
Worst of all, the cistern had been
built in the shape of an egg. The big
end was down; but even SO, the bot
tom sloped rather stif1y to a point
exactly under the opening. It was
almost impossible to stand anywhere
except at that lowest, central point,
for the slippery cement let my feet
slide back to the middle as fast as
stepped away. Two or three small
sticks fell upon me, and in avoiding
another l slipped and got second
complete ducking.
By the momentary light of the little
torches that dropped in l saw that my
head was at least i've feet from the
opening over me, and that there was
absolutely nothing within my reach
that my fingers could grasp. The fire
roared above, while I could hear the
trampling of the frightened animals in
their stalls, and now and then hoarse
shout from human throat outside.
Little by little the air in the cistern
grew warmer, and the noise of the
flames seemed to increase rather than
to lessen. Suddenly l heard the clang
of a fire engine BELL and then clear,
resonant command that must have
come through fireman's trumpet. l
surmised correctly, as l afterward
learned, that the Hamilton firemen
had managed, by piecing together
many sections of hose, to get within
reach of the blaze.
There was sudden shower of embers.
a wrenching and crunching and hiss
ing above, and a swirl Of fiery air was
forced down through the opening.
The roof was falling. l ducked be-
meath the water to escape the big
sparks, trying to crawl to one side
over the slippery sloping bottom, and
expecting at any second to get CRUSH
ing blow from some detached timber
of the falling mass. But only small
pieces came into the cistern. When |
thrust my head above the surface
again I saw that the opening was
nearly filled with glowing timber ends.
while various smaller pieces of burn
ing wood were in sight. 'Now," l
| InOuSnl,
firemen will soon extinguish the fire,
and | shall be discovered and taken
OUT
Even as [ looked there was Kissing
of steam above, and splash OF cold
water came down upon me. 1t was, OF
course, from the fire hose. There
was plenty of water to fight the flames,
for the splash that fell on me was
succeeded by other splashes. Then Ine
splashes became a small stream, ana
that in turn a larger one. Stlll the
water poured ina steady jet as large
as nv arm. 1t could not come d1-
rectly from the hose; it was 100 large,
and it had not sufficient force. 1t fell
more as water falls from the open END
J of an caves spout during hard RAIN
storm.
Suddenly 1 realized that instead or
being only waist deep the water was
| almost at my chest. For a moment
| did not comprehend the meaning OF
this. Then l grasped its import, and
for the first time that afternoon real
fear seized upon me. tried desper-
ately to get up the sloping floor OF my
trap. 1t was no use! l might gain
a couple of steps, or even three; then
back l slid. Over and over l tried 1t;
and when I gave it up the water was
nearly even with my shoulders.
BY it's impetus the stream above me
fell a little to one side of the CENTER
and l was spared receiving the deluge
on my head. l got the pail unoer my
feet and thus raised my mouth 1oot
higher above the water. There was
CLEAN of hope. Perhaps the water
would cease to run in. But as the
flood crawled slowly up to my shoulo-
ers again, grew as frantic as before.
Each little ripple as it touched ne felt
like the eight legs of a spider creeping
nearer my face.
shouted and screamed again ana
AGAIN 7 tossed up bits OF chafreu