The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-07-21
The dificultv was NOT In the lorgth

The difficulty was not in the iongth
| of the cast; it was to hook the flies in
| his brothers clothing. The flies fell
| a yard beyond Joe's body. He drew
them in. They slipped over his chest:
| One of them seemed to catch for an
instant, but it came free at the first
tug.
Desperately Water swished the flies
out of the water for another cast.
Meanwhile Joe had f1oated farther.
He was terribly near the cataract,
and moving faster as the current
quickened. And now Walter saw
that he was Enthusiastically moving his
hands feebly in a. ha~lf-conscious al
tempt to swim.
He saw that he would have time to
throw but once more. This cast
meant his brothers life or death, and
his nerves grew cool with the emer-
gency. He waded a little farther into
the stream, leaning against the cur
rent to keep his balance.
The line whirled again and shot
out, and again the gut fell across
Joe's shoulders, with the flies in the
water on the other side. With the
greatest car Walter drew in the line.
One of the flies dragged over the body
as before. The other caught, broke
loose and caught again in Joe's coat.
near the collar, and then the rod bent
with the sudden strain of $50 pounds
floating downward on the strong cur
rent.
Walter was using a steel rod, light
er and stronger than any wooden one,
but he feared for his line. The cur
rent pulled hard and he dared not
exert too much force. Joe's body
swung round, the head up stream, the
feet toward the cataract, and the cur
rent split and ripped in spray over
his head.
The 1.-the rod bent hoop-like.
There was a struggle for a moment.
a deadlock between the stream and
the new force, and then Walter felt
that he could not hold it. His tackle
would never stand the strain.
With the check on the reel he let
out line, inch by inch, to ease the re-
sistance, and meanwhile he endeav-
ored to swing his brother across the
current and nearer the shore.
He was partly successful. Joe
came over, in an arc of a circle, under
the pull Of rod and line, but the cur
rent pulled harder, and for every
inch he gained thus Walter had to let
out a foot Of line.
Yet he thought he was going to
win, and he might have won, but the
slow sidewise motion suddenly
seemed to bring Joe into a swifter
strip of the stream.
There was a stronger tug. A yard
of line went out Internationally, and
before Walter could check it Joe was
poised at the very head of the fall,
hanging at the end Of the taut, vi
brating line, while his feet wavered
in the rushing current.
1t was the crisis. Walter stopped
the reel and brought the rod back
ward, bringing all it's stiffness into
play. 1t seemed minutes, but prob
ably it was not two seconds. The
gut cast parted with a loud crack,
and the line snapped back into Wal
ter's face like a whiplash. Joe was
gone like lightning. He had shot
over the fall-but he had gone feet
first!
Walter splashed out of the water
and ran round to the bottom of the
cataract. Joe was there, drifting
round and round in a circular eddy,
and as he came within a yard of the
shore, Walter dragged him in.
His face was cut, his coat was torn
half off him, and he was unconscious
again - evidently half drowned, if
nothing else. Walter worked over
him for what seemed an intermin-
able time before he anne to himself,
and then he was far too faint and sick
with the knocks he had received and
the amount of water he had swal-
lowed to be able to walk. His broth
er finally had to leave him while he
hurried back for a couple Of the
guides, who presently transported the
unlucky fisherman to camp.
The canoe was found stranded a
mile below in a badly battered con-
dition. Joe himself was battered al
most as badly. From head to foot he
was covered with bruises that made
movement impossible for a couple of
days and unpleasant for a week.
His legs had suffered worst, how
ever, and they had saved his head.
If he had gone owe the fall head
first he would never have come out
alive, so that Walters tackle had held
long enough to save him, after ALL
Youths Companion.
Saving the Lobster and the Cod.