The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-22

long III a new ulICClLOIls lCdplhS S1A
fully despite his haste, for fear of
jumping into another suck hole.
He knew roughly that he was half
mile from his boat. But after he had
plunged through more than that extent
of reeds, he could see no clearer space
ahead of him. So he turned and tried
another direction; but only with the
same result.
The labor OF plunging through the
sticky mud tired him until he could
hardly drag his legs out Of the bog
where they sank with each step; but
there came a sound through the marsh
that drove him on with new terror to
give him strength.
Everywhere there sounded the soft
tapping of water among the reeds. The
tide was coming in, and it was COM
ing fast!
Thoroughly bewiIdered, Jim knew
only that he had to keep on going.
And keep on going he did, sinking now
not only in mud, but in water; for the
sea was covering the bog.
Everywhere the high reeds surround
ed him. Nowhere in all that wilderness
of mud and brown stalks was there
single spot high enough to enable him
to look over the grass and get his
bearings.
He had given up all hope of reach
ing his sneakbox. All he strove for
was to get out of the tangle of high
grass and reach the bare meadows in
front of it, where the ground was firm
enough to permit walking.
At last the water was UP to his
knees, even when he stood on bottom
firm enough not to suck him down:
and then he knew that to move around
further meant sure death, for If he
stepped into a hidden suck-hole now
he would sink to his shoulders almost
at once and the rising tide would COW
er him surely. So he stood, spent and
hopeless, on a little hummock. ana
rested for a moment.
A roar directly overhead startled
him. He looked UP and instinctively
raised his gun, to which he had stuck
all the time, for the roar was the
thunder of a goose's wings. But he
did not shoot. He knew that there
was no use in killing goose now.
Again and again the air Numbered
as goose after goose sped along, so
close overhead that he could have
touched the birds as they swung into
the marsh to hide for the day.
"If I could only fly like you," he
thought, with the tide creeping up, up
toward him. And then!
A sudden wild hope thrilled him;
with the qulckness Of the thought he
poised his gun for lunge. The next
moment a beautiful gray bird swept
over his head; up went his gun bar
rels, swung with gentle force barely
enough to strike the bird in the breast
and make it swerve. just checking its
headlong course for moment. But
that moment was enough.
Letting the gun fall, Jim clutched
desperately at the legs Of the startled
goose, and by good luck caught them
both.
He set his teeth and ducked his head,
while the goose, screaming madly, beat
him with it's tremendous wings. Fle
knew that a fair blow would stun him,
but he hoped that after the first shock
of surprise was over, the bird would
gather it's wits and try its best to fly
off.
And so it proved. Within second or
two the great pinions famed the air
and Jim felt the powerful lifting force
OF the strong creature-the strongest
flyer in the whole world Of flyers.
The bird was not strong enough to
lift him entirely. He had not expected
that But he hoped that the bird would
so far support his weight that he could
leap over the soft mud without sinking
in.
1t turned out to be even better than
that. The goose, impelled by terror,
flew with such added strength, that
jim. towed behind it, found that he
could make veritable seven league
boot jumps.
The reeds beat and cut him as he
drove and wallowed through them.
When he struck the bog after each
mighty stride, his eyes were filled with
srlashing mud but the swiftness with
which he was going made these dis
comforts seem as nothing.
Jump! Jump! Jump! With each
jump 1t seemed TO him as If he covered
ten yards of ground. Jump again! and
his head was over the top Of the grass.
He was getting to the outer line of the
high sedges.
Another jump, and the sedges were
only up to his shoulders. Souse! he
went into a salt lagoon. Before he re-
allied fully that he was in it, he was
out of it again, jerked along by his
frantic aerial fowl tugboat.
AS the water ran out Of his eyes, he
saw the shanty ahead of him on the
other side of the creek, and he knew
that he was saved, for the bare marsh
was high enough above the tide to give
him secure footing.
Swiftly two thoughts shot through
his head. One was that he had hold
of a goose for a Thanksgiving dinner
after all The next thought was to let
her go in gratitude for her services;
and on the instant his hands opened
and the released bird shot up into the
air like rocket, until her mighty form
was only a speck in the sky.
To work back along the bank and
then to wade into the marsh after his
sneakbox was the work of a few mo-
ments The tide was high enough now
to enable him to paddle into the swamp
where he had so nearly lost his life;
and when he emerged he had his gun
and the two geese.
Jim Rutland has had many a Thanks
giving dinner in the little marsh shan
ty since then, but none ever seemed
equal to that one, after his ride behind
the goose airship"