The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-09-19

his body backward and forward so that
l felt certain he must toppte over
Come, Jim, lad l said thinking TO
take the fright off him. it's bad enough,
but it can be mended. Hitch up a bit,
and put your arm around the rod-may-
be it viii. steady you,
Where are you, and where is this
Tod?' he. asked in a very hollow voice.
though he was looking at me and the
rod was only a foot or. two to his left.
BY this | knew that he had gone
blind with the fright, and self-preserva-
ton said don't go near him; but l re-
membered his newly welded wife. and
that taking him all through, he was al
ways very decent fellow, and l thought
how | should have liked him to have
done if had been in his case. so l de-
termined to run a bit of risk in his favor.
"Of course / burst not get on my feet.
but working myself on by my hands, |
got to him and, putting my arm around
his waist and telling him as cheerily as
/ could to keep cool. l put him with his
arm around the rod. 1t had. however,
sprung the staplinS for five yards down,
and was so loose that it swayed with
him. and ! expected every minute tc
see him falling head over heels down. and
the rod tearing away with him.
There was a great hustle down below:
people were rushing around the yard and
pushing to get in, but as vet there were
only some score of men at the f1j- of the
chimney, and by close looking. | saw
them put somebody on a board and car
' ulIil ScIllN away lOWdTuS the ellSlut
house. One of the men walked after
with a hat in his hand: then | knew
somebody had been hurt with the falling
cradle and that it must be poor Mr.. 0s
borne, as none of our men wore hats
Not face was turned up to us. I
learned afterwards that our men were
so taken up with sorrow that so good a
man and so Kind a master should be
killed, that for a while they had never
a thought about us, and the people out
side imagined that we had come down
with the cradle, so thus we were left
in total isolation for full twenty min
utes.
While I was watching them below
feeling very sorry for my poor master.
! was startled by a wild laugh from
Shaw who began making cat-calls and
yelling as if he was possessed. Then I
knew. of course. that he had gone mad
Even now | tremble when | think of
that time 1t was horrible to peer down
the shaft, black and sooty and yawnins.
and scarcely less so to look outside and
see a flight of pigeons sweeping round
at considerable less height than we were
Then Shaw-thank goodness. he was so
dazed that he could not see me--caled
bringing in dread that his sight might
clear. and with a CHASTITY grin he began
working himself towards me / worked
away from him as noiSelessly as | could
with every hear. of my head standing on
end.
He followed me twice around that
horrid coping. making most hideous
noises, and then, having come a second
time to the rod. he. got an idea in his
muddled head that I had fallen over, for
he never lost a sense of where he ysIs
all through this trying time. Then he
tried to get on his feet, but at the risk
of my own life l could not let the poor
fellow rush on to certain death without
one more effort and | cried out for him
to sit down. and he covered down like
a whipped dog all trembling. I suppose
it had been put into his head that I
was a dead man speaking to him.
THAT morning my wife had had a let
ter from her sister in Canada, and as
there were parts we could not make out
I had put it in my pocket. intending to
get our timekeeper to read it for me:
u had a scrap of uncovered paper at
the bottom and, by another piece of
good luck. I happened to have bit Of
red pencil in my pocket. l wrote on the
paper: Get us down: Shaw's gone mad
This I shut in my tobacco box and was
fortunate enough to drop it at the feet
of couple of men who were standing at
the engine house door.
Directly all was hustle to rescue us.
They got the kite up again and |
watched it mounting slowly. and when
the slack Irvine fell between Shaw and
myself l took it in my hand and could
have kissed it. Poor Shaw. with his
teeth chatteringa. still fancied I was a
spirit. and I did all l could to faver that
idea until they got another cradle up to
u.s. Then, having pushed him in. l
scrambled in myself and clutched him
fast. and soon we got down. he wrestling
and fighting with me all the way.
He was in a madhouse for some
months and then went to scavengering
for he never could face any height again
and | have never had the same clear
head since that adventure