Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1909-01-20
z. sTRoNe.

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draw back his right arm so as to
make stroke. He could not. The
fshline which he had wound round
his wrist was drawn taut. He was
moving, moving faster than the cur
rent, toward the main river. = The lad
kicked and struggled, but the current
and pull of the line were too strong
for his efforts. Before many seconds
he knew that he was In the main cur
rent Of the swift river, being towed
and swept along slightly faster than
the current. The rate of movement
kept him on top Of the water, but the
waves and spashes were constantly
striking him in the face, making
breathing difficult.
AS he was swept over the first bad
rifle of the long series from the dam
to the bend, he tried to reach his
wrist with his left hand. The red
boz was still in his hand.
The effort failed, for the arm was
drawn too tight by whatever was
pulling the wriggling ninety pounds
of boy. AS the lad gained his pres
ence Of mind he screamed. and kicked
himself toward the shore. He made
some aeadYay, the fish at the other
end oflthe line continuing to draw
him faster than the current.
The river, is spotted here and there
by ROCKY reefs, which show their
heads. above the surface. On one Of
these, q snort distance ahead. there
grew & clumD of river willows which
oyerhung the edge of the main cur
rent. Seeing them, Johnnie struggled
with his whole might toward the
shore. He did not succeed in getting
close, but yet near enough so that, as
he foated along, he could reach out
with his left hand to the two or three
longest branches and could touch
them.
In his hand was the red box. He
seemed to realize 1t for the first time.
instinctively clutchirg 1t tighter, and
at the same time missing his chance
to grasp the willows.
The big salmon, for such proved to
be the fish that had caught the boy
with his own line, seemed to have felt
the effort the boy had made to reach
the willows, and as the fish does when
brought almost within reach Of the
- i.
gaff. made more vigorous effort to
gain its freedom, and pulled all the
harder and faster down the current.
Before many seconds the lad, half
drowned, struck a rock with his foot.
He attempted to get e foothold, but
before he could put his weight on his
feet he was carried once again into
deep water by the current and the
fish. ALI the time he was getting
weaker. A cramp had seized his
right arm, partly owing to the strain,
and partly to the cold snow water. No
help was in sight as far as he could
see. His head was half-covered with
water most Of the tipe, and in the
ripples of the stream 1t was rare that
he caught glance of the surface of
the river more than thirty feet away
from him. And the time he could
stay on the surface was now only e
question Of minutes.
Above the last long rifle before
the whirlpool eddy the river stopped
and seemed, to Gesitate to take the
last swift leap. Tne water here was
deep, but just where the rapid began
the bed rose close to the top, of the
water. Probably because of this the
salmon stopped. The 10y felt, the
line slacken and his own body begin
to drift.
A short distance away was another
of the rocky reefs, on which grew a
huge clump of river willows. He
slowly swan toward 1t. In his weak
ened condition, theafeat was all that
he could do. But at lest he reached
the reef, still holding the red box in
his left hand. As he drew his arms
up, he felt that he had reached the
end Of the slack in the line between
him and the fish. However, he had a
good hold on the bushes. and was
slowly drawing his body from the
water.
The fish was once again reused, and
for few brief seconds it seemed to
the boy as if he could not hold to the
bush. Then the fish apparently quit
fighting.
The boy crawled on to the narrow
ledge and laid tie red box to one side
and then with his free hand tried to
disengage his arm round which the
line had tangled itself
He had barely touched the first
knot when sharp jerk interrupted
his efforts. The fish gave another
strong pull.
He braced himself as best he could
on the ledge, and slowly, hand over
hand, inch by inch, dragged up tc
the ledge the creature which had
towed him for a. quarter Of. mile
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