Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-12-10
LOST.
~ oLEAsox L ARCHES



close under the shsdOx Of the woods
several times before ooly 10 nos that ths
eccentric stream had stisl other crooks
ard fsrns in store tor him. Bot, ss u
asuasiy tbs case, things happen when ne
/ least expscs them, or when sc have
ceased to bore. be was happily dissp-
| polluted By the stream making a slight
t1yn and bs@rsng directly toward the for
cot. Twenty mlnaies more sud be as
under the heavy canopy Of The woodland.
The driving pitch OF TIE river hso
flooded everything In iss irmedlsis VI
entity. and even bsek bore 10 the wo0ds
the water vas sluso~t - dep 40 upon tbs
heath. TIE grosad ga. ernsr. all hough
sousws~t slippery. IL wss dsrssr hsr~.
too. but wiiesr'. he~rt sss f1ii OF tesnk-
faine=s ths, be had beea p~rmtsted -
make the incredibls journey scsoss tie
hesth without sssioes misssp. and thai
| he wss cnce more stsnding on solid
ground. He pushed on ss best be ecuId,
at The same time revolving 10 bis MIND
plans for the best coarse TO pursee when
be shoaia have crossed 10 The other side
| Of tbs brook.
His heart vss liz hisr. and be fslf that
the terrible or6ssl tbst he bad passed
thiough bad been perhaps after all iast,
sithough severe, punishment Tor net heed
| ing bis own rcason and the sdvice OF hi.
comrades. He now felt that safety wss
sssarea. 10 be succeeded In crossing sbs
stream right away, an hours brisk
| travelling on the highland woai6 surely
bsing him back 10 the rosd sgsls. and be
woaie reach home BY morning. Cheered
BY thaHa thoughts, be renswed bis
exsrtions IS much AZ hts benameed and
tired limbs would permit.
Bet rude surprise wss awaiting BIN.
| In the midst Of bis meditation. as he fol-
| lowed the winding stream bsek toward lie
source, saaeeu turn in its course
breaght htm sgsin face to face with ths,
dreadful bsalh, and be realized that thts
wss only one OF its many loop@, and that
It's real exit from the forest was perhsy-
yet miles sSsy.
lie could hardly believe bis eyes. But
there VA. the heath, sure spoarh. Tass
Ioag reach Of treesess .xp@nse could be
not hlag else. How be dreaded TO enter
that heath xxsin. Its hesving. jeily.Iise
surface sftes the soiic ground that be bad
iast been travelling was simply madden
ing. He paused there In inward conflict.
III. dread Of the heath finally trsumpsea.
No, be woald po. try such . dangerous
passage again la darkness. II there wss
not hing else to do, he would climb a tree
snd awaii the return Of day, All, how be
wished later that he had d1as sol
Bat a. he stood thsre irresolute, and
cared longl into tue back void to-
ward tue OF her shore, he i.aeisd tasI he
saw the faint outlines OF the opposite
bank OF the stream. Training his eyes
upon II for moment, he became convin-
oed that be was right. The stream was
narrower here than ct any other placs
thus far. The other bank was high land;
be could tell thst by sighting setoss the
water a. be had done 90 many times be-
fore.
WAY not attempt a crossing here, He
must cross sonew here, that was certain.
The earrsnt was bat slightly 10 ee
dreaded, aud under ordinary eircum-
stances he could easily swim the stream,
ait hough II must be confessed his swim
ming abilities were scarcely worthy OF
mention. In his boyhood when on swim
ming expeditions With bis yentbfui
com pan ious, he had never won much OF
honors 10 this Tine unless II was tho rare
distinction Of being the svle-ts~immer
| in town.
There Is story stiR earrent among bis
- A.
that we'll illustrates both his lack of dcx-
tarity at the sport, and bis pluck and en-
durAne. a. youth. One Gay, IS the
story goes, he was padding around with
several companions ON 9 raft In q lake
near his home when IL was suggested
that each should try his luck al swim
ming ashore. Wilder was yoanger than
tue OF hers, oat when his tnrn came he
leaped feariessly into the water, and was
not seen again upon the surface until
minutes later he emerged bali drowned
from the shallow water near the shore.
THIS was in bis early swimming days,
and although be later improved with
praoiic ice. he never attained any crest de-
gree Of skiIi. This point received due
cons iderst ion 50 Wilder stood here In the
darkness Of that stormy night, and
tried in vain to measure with bis eye
The distance across the stream from shore
TO shore. Hesyiiy clothed as he wss. and
with his rife sisoto drag him down, he
knew that even II the distance proved
slight in his ex hsus,ed condition it would
be very difficult task to gain the other
bank.
A moments hesitation, an instant's
s1mmoBing OF courage, and Wilder was
struggling in the current. He had cast
aside MS pole an unnecessary incum-
branes, for being OF unsessonsd hard
wood, IL was somewhat heavier than
water, and would only impede bis prog
ress.
Tine current was stronger than he had
imagined. 1, Repaired his utmost ences-
yaFs 10 keep his head above the water.
ga. xuna .lrepExae ss..rax-ans4hla