CROSSING THE ST. LAWRENCE.--THE STORM AND THE BREAK-UP.--A WONDERFUL
ADVENTURE.--A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.--WHO IS SHE?--THE ICE-RIDGE.--FLY FOR
YOUR LIFE!
On the following day I found myself compelled to go on some routine
duty cross the river to Point Levy. The weather was the most abominable
of that abominable season. It was winter, and yet not Winter's self.
The old gentleman had lost all that bright and hilarious nature; all
that sparkling and exciting stimulus which he owns and holds here so
joyously in January, February, and even March. He was decrepit, yet
spiteful; a hoary, old, tottering, palsied villain, hurling curses
at all who ventured into his evil presence. One look outside showed me
the full nature of all that was before me, and revealed the old tyrant
in the full power of his malignancy. The air was raw and chill. There
blew a fierce, blighting wind, which brought with it showers of
stinging sleet. The wooden pavements were overspread with a thin layer
of ice, so glassy that walking could only be attempted at extreme
hazard; the houses were incrusted with the same cheerful coating; and,
of all the beastly weather that I had ever seen, there had never
been any equal to this. However, there was no escape from it; and so,
wrapping myself up as well as I could, I took a stout stick with a
sharp iron ferrule, and plunged forth into the storm.
On reaching the river, the view was any thing but satisfactory. The
wind here was tremendous, and the sleet blew down in long, horizontal
lines, every separate particle giving its separate sting, while the
accumulated stings amounted to perfect torment. I paused for a while to
get a little shelter, and take breath before venturing across.
There were other reasons for pausing. The season was well advanced, and
the ice was not considered particularly safe. Many things conspired to
give indications of a break-up. The ice on the surface was soft,
honey-combed, and crumbling. Near the shore was a channel of open
water. Farther out, where the current ran strongest, the ice was heaped
up in hillocks and mounds, while in different directions appeared
crevices of greater or less width. Looking over that broad surface as
well as I could through the driving storm, where not long before I
had seen crowds passing and repassing, not a soul was now visible.
This might have been owing to the insecurity of the ice; but it might
also have been owing to the severity of the weather. Black enough, at
any rate, the scene appeared; and I looked forth upon it from my
temporary shelter with the certainty that this river before me was a
particularly hard road to travel.
"Ye'll no be gangin' ower the day, sew-erly?" said a voice near me.
I turned and saw a brawny figure in a reefing-jacket and "sou'-wester."
He might have been a sailor, or a scowman, or a hibernating raftsman.
"Why?" said I.
He said nothing, but shook his head with solemn emphasis.
I looked for a few moments longer, and hesitated. Yet there was no
remedy for it, bad as it looked. After being ordered forward, I did not
like to turn back with an excuse about the weather. Besides, the ice
thus far had lasted well. Only the day before, sleds had crossed. There
was no reason why I should not cross now. Why should I in particular be
doomed to a catastrophe more than any other man? And, finally, was not
McGoggin there? Was he not always ready with his warmest welcome? On a
stormy day, did he not always keep his water up to the boiling-point,
and did not the very best whiskey in Quebec diffuse about his chamber
its aromatic odor?
I moved forward. The die was cast.
The channel near the shore was from six to twelve feet in width, filled
with floating fragments. Over this I scrambled in safety. As I
advanced, I could see that in one day a great change had taken place.
The surface-ice was soft and disintegrated, crushing readily under the
feet. All around me extended wide pools of water. From beneath these
arose occasional groaning sounds--dull, heavy crunches, which seemed to
indicate a speedy break-up. The progress of the season, with its thaws
and rains, had been gradually weakening the ice; along the shore its
hold had in some places at least been relaxed; and the gale of wind
that was now blowing was precisely of that description which most
frequently sweeps away resistlessly the icy fetters of the river, and
sets all the imprisoned waters free. At every step new signs of this
approaching break-up became visible. From time to time I encountered
gaps in the ice, of a foot or two in width, which did not of themselves
amount to much, but which nevertheless served to show plainly the state
of things.
My progress was excessively difficult. The walking was laborious on
account of the ice itself and the pools through which I had to wade.
Then there were frequent gaps, which sometimes could only be traversed
by a long detour. Above all, there was the furious sleet, which drove
down the river, borne on by the tempest, with a fury and unrelaxing
pertinacity that I never saw equalled. However, I managed to toil
onward, and at length reached the centre of the river. Here I found a
new and more serious obstacle. At this point the ice had divided; and
in the channel thus formed there was a vast accumulation of ice-cakes,
heaped up one above the other in a long ridge, which extended as far as
the eye could reach. There were great gaps in it, however, and to cross
it needed so much caution, and so much effort, that I paused for a
while, and, setting my back to the wind, looked around to examine the
situation.
Wild enough that scene appeared. On one side was my destination, but
dimly visible through the storm; on the other rose the dark cliff of
Cape Diamond, frowning gloomily over the river, crowned with the
citadel, where the flag of Old England was streaming straight out at
the impulse of the blast, with a stiffness that made it seem as though
it had been frozen in the air rigid in that situation. Up the river all
was black and gloomy; and the storm which burst from that quarter
obscured the view; down the river the prospect was as gloomy, but one
thing was plainly visible--a wide, black surface, terminating the gray
of the ice, and showing that there at least the break-up had begun, and
the river had resumed its sway.
A brief survey showed me all this, and for a moment created a strong
desire to go back. Another moment, however, showed that to go forward
was quite as wise and as safe. I did not care to traverse again what I
had gone over, and the natural reluctance to turn back from the
half-way house, joined to the hope of better things for the rest of the
way, decided me to go forward.
After some examination, I found a place on which to cross the central
channel. It was a point where the heaps of ice seemed at once more easy
to the foot, and more secure. At extreme risk, and by violent efforts,
I succeeded in crossing, and, on reaching the other side, I found the
ice more promising. Then, hoping that the chief danger had been
successfully encountered, I gathered up my energies, and stepped out
briskly toward the opposite shore.
It was not without the greatest difficulty and the utmost discomfort
that I had come thus far. My clothes were coated with frozen sleet; my
hair was a mass of ice; and my boots were filled with water. Wretched
as all this was, there was no remedy for it, so I footed it as best I
could, trying to console myself by thinking over the peaceful pleasures
which were awaiting me at the end of my journey in the chambers of the
hospitable McGoggin.
Suddenly, as I walked along, peering with half-closed eyes through the
stormy sleet before me, I saw at some distance a dark object
approaching. After a time, the object drew nearer, and resolved itself
into a sleigh. It came onward toward the centre of the river, which it
reached at about a hundred yards below the point where I had crossed.
There were two occupants in the sleigh, one crouching low and muffled
in wraps; the other the driver, who looked like one of the common
_habitans_. Knowing the nature of the river there, and wondering what
might bring a sleigh out at such a time, I stopped, and watched them
with a vague idea of shouting to them to go back. Their progress thus
far from the opposite shore, so far at least as I could judge, made me
conclude that the ice on this side must be comparatively good, while my
own journey had proved that on the Quebec side it was utterly
impossible for a horse to go.
As they reached the channel where the crumbled ice-blocks lay floating,
heaped up as I have described, the sleigh stopped, and the driver
looked anxiously around. At that very instant there came one of those
low, dull, grinding sounds I have already mentioned, but very much
louder than any that I had hitherto heard. Deep, angry thuds followed,
and crunching sounds, while beneath all there arose a solemn murmur
like the "voice of many waters." I felt the ice heave under my feet,
and sway in long, slow undulations, and one thought, quick as
lightning, flashed horribly into my mind. Instinctively I leaped
forward toward my destination, while the ice rolled and heaved beneath
me, and the dread sounds grew louder at every step.
Scarcely had I gone a dozen paces when a piercing scream arrested me. I
stopped and looked back. For a few moments only had I turned away, yet
in that short interval a fearful change had taken place. The long ridge
of ice which had been heaped up in the mid-channel had increased to
thrice its former height, and the crunching and grinding of the vast
masses arose above the roaring of the storm. Far up the river there
came a deeper and fuller sound of the same kind, which, brought down by
the wind, burst with increasing terrors upon the ear. The ridge of ice
was in constant motion, being pressed and heaped up in ever-increasing
masses, and, as it heaped itself up, toppling over and falling with a
noise like thunder. There could be but one cause for all this, and the
fear which had already flashed through my brain was now confirmed to my
sight. The ice on which I stood was breaking up!
As all this burst upon my sight, I saw the sleigh. The horse had
stopped in front of the ridge of ice in the mid-channel, and was
rearing and plunging violently. The driver was lashing furiously and
trying to turn the animal, which, frenzied by terror, and maddened by
the stinging sleet, refused to obey, and would only rear and kick.
Suddenly the ice under the sleigh sank down, and a flood of water
rolled over it, followed by an avalanche of ice-blocks which had
tumbled from the ridge. With a wild snort of terror, the horse turned,
whirling round the sleigh, and with the speed of the wind dashed back
toward the shore. As the sleigh came near, I saw the driver upright and
trying to regain his command of the horse, and at that instant the
other passenger started erect. The cloak fell back. I saw a face pale,
overhung with dishevelled hair, and filled with an anguish of fear. But
the pallor and the fear could not conceal the exquisite loveliness of
that woman-face, which was thus so suddenly revealed in the midst of
the storm and in the presence of death; and which now, beautiful beyond
all that I had ever dreamed of, arose before my astonished eyes. It was
from her that the cry had come but a few moments before. As she passed
she saw me, and another cry escaped her. In another moment she was far
ahead.
And now I forgot all about the dangers around me, and the lessening
chances of an interview with McGoggin. I hurried on, less to secure my
own safety than to assist the lady. And thus as I rushed onward I
became aware of a new danger which arose darkly between me and the
shore. It was a long, black channel, gradually opening itself up, and
showing in its gloomy surface a dividing line between me and life. To
go back seemed now impossible--to go forward was to meet these black
waters.
Toward this gulf the frightened horse ran at headlong speed. Soon he
reached the margin of the ice. The water was before him and headed him
off. Terrified again at this, he swerved aside, and bounded up the
river. The driver pulled frantically at the reins. The lady, who had
fallen back again in her seat, was motionless. On went the horse, and,
at every successive leap in his mad career, the sleigh swung wildly
first to one side and then to the other. At last there occurred a curve
in the line of ice, and reaching this the horse turned once more to
avoid it. In doing so, the sleigh was swung toward the water. The
shafts broke. The harness was torn asunder. The off-runner of the
sleigh slid from the ice--it tilted over; the driver jerked at the
reins and made a wild leap. In vain. His feet were entangled in the fur
robes which dragged him back. A shriek, louder, wilder, and far more
fearful than before, rang out through the storm; and the next instant
down went the sleigh, with its occupants into the water, the driver
falling out, while the horse, though free from the sleigh, was yet
jerked aside by the reins, and before he could recover himself fell
with the rest into the icy stream.
All this seemed to have taken place in an instant. I hurried on, with
all my thoughts on this lady who was thus doomed to so sudden and so
terrible a fate. I could see the sleigh floating for a time, and the
head of the horse, that was swimming. I sprang to a place which seemed
to give a chance of assisting them, and looked eagerly to see what had
become of the lady. The sleigh drifted steadily along, one of that
box-shaped kind called _pungs_, which are sometimes made so tight that
they can resist the action of water, and float either in crossing a
swollen stream, or in case of breaking through the ice. Such boat-like
sleighs are not uncommon; and this one was quite buoyant. I nothing of
the driver. He had probably sunk at once, or had been drawn under the
ice. The horse, entangled in the shafts, had regained the ice, and had
raised one foreleg to its surface, with which he was making furious
struggles to emerge from the water, while snorts of terror escaped him.
But where was the lady? I hurried farther up, and, as I approached, I
could see something crouched in a heap at the bottom of the floating
sleigh. Was it she--or was it only the heap of buffalo-robes? I could
not tell.
The sleigh drifted on, and soon. I came near enough to see that the
bundle had life. I came close to where it floated. It was not more that
six yards off, and was drifting steadily nearer, I walked on by the
edge of the ice, and shouted. There was no answer. At length I saw a
white hand clutching the side of the sleigh. A thrill of exultant hope
passed through me. I shouted again and again, but my voice was lost in
the roar of the crashing ice and the howling gale. Yet, though my voice
had not been heard, I was free from suspense, for I saw that the lady
thus far was safe, and I could wait a little longer for the chance of
affording her assistance. I walked on, then, in silence, watching the
sleigh which continued to float. We travelled thus a long distance--I,
and the woman who had thus been so strangely wrecked in so strange a
bark. Looking back, I could no longer see any signs of the horse. All
this time the sleigh was gradually drifted nearer the edge of the ice
on which I walked, until at last it came so near that I reached out my
stick, and, catching it with the crooked handle, drew it toward me. The
shock, as the sleigh struck against the ice, roused its occupant. She
started up, stood upright, stared for a moment at me, and then, at the
scene around. Then she sprang out, and, clasping her hands, fell upon
her knees, and seemed to mutter words of prayer. Then she rose to her
feet, and looked around with a face of horror. There was such an
anguish of fear in her face, that I tried to comfort her. But my
efforts were useless.
"Oh! there a no hope! The river is breaking up!" she moaned. "They told
me it would. How mad I was to try to cross!"
Finding that I could do nothing to quell her fears, I began to think
what was best to be done. First of all, I determined to secure the
sleigh. It might be the means of saving us, or, if not, it would at any
rate do for a place of rest. It was better than the wet ice for the
lady. So I proceeded to pull it on the ice. The lady tried to help me,
and, after a desperate effort, the heavy pung was dragged from the
water upon the frozen surface. I then made her sit in it, and wrapped
the furs around her as well as I could.
She submitted without a word. Her white face was turned toward mine;
and once or twice she threw upon me, from her dark, expressive eyes, a
look of speechless gratitude. I tried to promise safety, and encouraged
her as well as I could, and she seemed to make an effort to regain her
self-control.
In spite of my efforts at consolation, her despair affected me. I
looked all around to see what the chances of escape might be. As I took
that survey, I perceived that those chances were indeed small. The
first thing that struck me was, that Cape Diamond was far behind the
point where I at present stood. While the sleigh had drifted, and I had
walked beside it, our progress had been down the river; and since then
the ice, which itself had all this time been drifting, had borne us on
without ceasing. We were still drifting at the very moment that I
looked around. We had also moved farther away from the shore which I
wished to reach, and nearer to the Quebec side. When the sleigh had
first gone over, there had not been more than twenty yards between the
ice and the shore; but now that shore was full two hundred yards away.
All this tune the fury of the wind, and the torment of the blinding,
stinging sleet, had not in the least abated; the grinding and roaring
of the ice had increased; the long ridge had heaped itself up to a
greater height, and opposite us it towered up in formidable masses.
I thought at one time of intrusting myself with my companion to the
sleigh, in the hope of using it as a boat to gain the shore. But I
could not believe that it would float with both of us, and, if it
would, there were no means of moving or guiding it. Better to remain on
the ice than to attempt that. Such a refuge would only do as a last
resort. After giving up this idea, I watched to see if there was any
chance of drifting back to the shore, but soon saw that there was
none. Every moment drew us farther off. Then I thought of a score of
desperate undertakings, but all of them were given up almost as soon as
they suggested themselves.
All this time the lady had sat in silence--deathly pale, looking around
with that same anguish of fear which I had noticed from the first, like
one who awaits an inevitable doom. The storm beat about her pitilessly;
occasional shudders passed through her; and the dread scene around
affected me far less than those eyes of agony, that pallid face, and
those tremulous white lips that seemed to murmur prayers. She saw, as
well as I, the widening sheet of water between us and the shore on the
one side, and on the other the ever-increasing masses of crumbling ice.
At last I suddenly offered to go to Quebec, and bring back help for
her. So wild a proposal was in the highest degree impracticable; but I
thought that it might lead her to suggest something. As soon as she
heard it, she evinced fresh terror.
"Oh, sir!" she moaned, "if you have a human heart, do not leave me! For
God's sake, stay a little longer."
"Leave you!" I cried; "never while I have breath. I will stay with you
to the last."
But this, instead of reassuring her, merely had the effect of changing
her feelings. She grew calmer.
"No," said she, "you must not. I was mad with fear. No--go. You at
least can save yourself. Go--fly--leave me!"
"Never!" I repeated. "I only made that proposal--not thinking to save
you, but merely supposing that you would feel better at the simple
suggestion of something."
"I implore you," she reiterated. "Go--there is yet time. You only risk
your life by delay. Don't waste your time on me."
"I could not go if I would," I said, "and I swear I would not go if I
could," I cried, impetuously. "I hope you do not take me for any thing
else than a gentleman."
"Oh, sir, pardon me. Can you think that?--But you have already risked
your life once by waiting to save mine--and, oh, do not risk it by
waiting again."
"Madame," said I, "you must not only not say such a thing, but you must
not even think it. I am here with you, and, being a gentleman, I am
here by your side either for life or death. But come--rouse yourself.
Don't give up. I'll save you, or die with you. At the same time, let me
assure you that I haven't the remotest idea of dying."
She threw at me, from her eloquent eyes, a look of unutterable
gratitude, and said not a word.
I looked at my watch. It was three o'clock. There was no time to lose.
The day was passing swiftly, and at this rate evening would come on
before one might be aware. The thought of standing idle any longer,
while the precious hours were passing, was intolerable. Once more I
made a hasty survey, and now, pressed and stimulated by the dire
exigencies of the hour, I determined to make an effort toward the
Quebec side. On that side, it seemed as though the ice which drifted
from the other shore was being packed in an unbroken mass. If so, a way
over it might be found to a resolute spirit.
I hastily told my companion my plan. She listened with a faint smile.
"I will do all that I can," said she, and I saw with delight that the
mere prospect of doing something had aroused her.
My first act was to push the sleigh with its occupant toward the
ice-ridge in the centre of the river. The lady strongly objected, and
insisted on getting out and helping me. This I positively forbade. I
assured her that my strength was quite sufficient for the undertaking,
but that hers was not; and if she would save herself, and me, too, she
must husband all her resources and obey implicitly. She submitted under
protest, and, as I pushed her along, she murmured the most touching
expressions of sympathy and of gratitude. But pushing a sleigh over the
smooth ice is no very difficult work, and the load that it contained
did not increase the labor in my estimation. Thus we soon approached
that long ice-ridge which I have so frequently mentioned. Here I
stopped, and began to seek a place which might afford a chance for
crossing to the ice-field on the opposite side.
The huge ice-blocks gathered here, where the fields on either side were
forced against one another, grinding and breaking up. Each piece was
forced up, and, as the grinding process continued, the heap rose
higher. At times, the loftiest parts of the ridge toppled over with a
tremendous crash, while many other piles seemed about to do the same.
To attempt to pass that ridge would be to encounter the greatest peril.
In the first place, it would be to invite an avalanche; and then,
again, wherever the piles fell, the force of that fall broke the
field-ice below, and the water rushed up, making a passage through it
quite as hazardous as the former. For a long time I examined without
seeing any place which was at all practicable. There was no time,
however, to be discouraged; an effort had to be made, and that without
delay; so I determined to try for myself, and test one or more places.
One place appeared less dangerous than others--a place where a pile of
uncommon size had recently fallen. The blocks were of unusual size, and
were raised up but a little above the level of the ice on which I
stood. These blocks, though swaying slowly up and down, seemed yet to
be strong enough for my purpose. I sprang toward the place, and found
it practicable. Then I returned to the lady. She was eager to go. Here
we had to give up the sleigh, since to transport that also was not to
be thought of.
"Now," said I, "is the time for you to exert all your strength."
"I am ready," said she.
"Hurry, then."
At that moment there burst a thunder-shock. A huge pile farther down
had fallen, and bore down the surface-ice. The water rushed boiling and
seething upward, and spread far over. There was not a moment to lose.
It was now or never; so, snatching her hand, I rushed forward. The
water was up to my knees, and sweeping past and whirling back with a
furious impetuosity. Through that flood I dragged her, and she followed
bravely and quickly. I pulled her up to the first block, then onward to
another. Leaping over a third, I had to relinquish her hand for a
moment, and then, extending mine once more, I caught hers, and she
sprang after me. All these blocks were firm, and our weight did not
move their massive forms. One huge piece formed the last stage in our
hazardous path. It overlapped the ice on the opposite side. I sprang
down, and the next instant the lady was by my side. Thank Heaven! we
were over.
Onward then we hurried for our lives, seeking to get as far as possible
from that dangerous channel of ice-avalanches and seething waters; and
it was not till a safe distance intervened, that I dared to slacken my
pace so as to allow my companion to take breath. All this time she had
not spoken a word, and had shown a calmness and an energy which
contrasted strongly with her previous lethargy and terror.
I saw that the ice in this place was rougher than it had been on the
other side. Lumps were upheaved in many places. This was a good sign,
for it indicated a close packing in this direction, and less danger of
open water, which was the only thing now to be feared. The hope of
reaching the shore was now strong within me. That shore, I could
perceive, must be some distance below Quebec; but how far I could not
tell. I could see the dark outline of the land, but Quebec was now no
longer perceptible through the thick storm of sleet.
For a long time, my companion held out nobly, and sustained the rapid
progress which I was trying to keep up; but, at length, she began to
show evident signs of exhaustion. I saw this with pain, for I was
fearful every moment of some new circumstance which might call for
fresh exertion from both of us. I would have given any thing to have
had the sleigh--which we were forced to relinquish. I feared that her
strength would fail at the trying moment. The distance before us was
yet so great that we seemed to have traversed but little. I insisted on
her taking my arm and leaning on me for support, and tried to cheer her
by making her look back and see how far we had gone. She tried to
smile; but the smile was a failure. In her weakness, she began to feel
more sensibly the storm from which she had been sheltered to some
extent before she left the sleigh. She cowered under the fierce pelt of
the pitiless sleet, and clung to me, trembling and shivering with cold.
On and on we walked. The distance seemed interminable. The lady kept up
well, considering her increasing exhaustion, saying nothing whatever;
but her quick, short breathing was audible, as she panted with fatigue.
I felt every shudder that ran through her delicate frame. And yet I did
not dare to stop and give her rest; for, aside from the imminent danger
of losing our hope of reaching land, a delay, even to take breath,
would only expose her the more surely to the effect of the cold. At
last, I stopped for a moment, and drew off my overcoat. This, in spite
of her protestations, I forced her to put on. She threatened, at one
time, to sit down on the ice and die, rather than do it.
"Very well, madame," said I. "Then, out of a punctilio, you will
destroy, not only yourself, but me. Do I deserve this?"
At this, tears started to her eyes. She submitted.
"Oh, sir," she murmured, "what can I say? It's for your sake that I
refuse. I will submit. God bless you--who sent you to my help! God
forever bless you!"
I said nothing.
On and on!
Then her steps grew feebler--then her weight rested on me more heavily.
On and on!
She staggered, and low moans succeeded to her heavy panting. At last,
with a cry of despair, she fell forward.
I caught her in my arms, and held her up.
"Leave me!" she said, in a faint voice. "I cannot walk any farther."
"No; I will wait for a while."
"Oh, leave me! Save yourself! Or go ashore, and bring help!"
"No; I will go ashore with you, or not at all."
She sighed, and clung to me.
After a time, she revived a little, and insisted on going onward. This
time she walked for some distance. She did this with a stolid, heavy
step, and mechanically, like an automaton moved by machinery. Then she
stopped again.
"I am dizzy," said she, faintly.
I made her sit down on the ice, and put myself between her and the
wind. That rest did much for her. But I was afraid to let her sit more
than five minutes. Her feet were saturated, and, in spite of my
overcoat, she was still shivering.
"Come," said I; "if we stay any longer, you will die."
She staggered up. She clung to me, and I dragged her on. Then, again,
she stopped.
I now tried a last resort, and gave her some brandy from my flask. I
had thought of it often, but did not wish to give this until other
things were exhausted; for, though the stimulus is an immediate remedy
for weakness, yet on the ice and in the snow the reaction is dangerous
to the last degree. The draught revived her wonderfully.
Starting once more, with new life, she was able to traverse a very
great distance; and at length, to my delight, the shore began to appear
very near. But now the reaction from the stimulant appeared. She sank
down without a word; and another draught, and yet another, was needed
to infuse some false strength into her. At length, the shore seemed
close by us. Here she gave out utterly.
"I can go no farther," she moaned, as she fell straight down heavily
and suddenly on the ice.
"Only one more effort," I said, imploringly. "Take some more brandy."
"It is of no use. Leave me! Get help!"
"See--the shore is near. It is not more than a few rods away."
"I cannot."
I supported her in my arms, for she was leaning on her hand, and slowly
sinking downward. Once more I pressed the brandy upon her lips, as her
head lay on my shoulder. Her eyes were closed. Down on her marble face
the wild storm beat savagely; her lips were bloodless, and her teeth
were fixed convulsively. It was only by an effort that I could force
the brandy into her mouth. Once more, and for the last time, the fiery
liquid gave her a momentary strength. She roused herself from the
stupor into which she was sinking, and, springing to her feet with a
wild, spasmodic effort, she ran with outstretched hands toward the
shore. For about twenty or thirty paces she ran, and, before I could
overtake her, she fell once more.
I raised her up, and again supported her. She could move no farther. I
sat by her side for a little while, and looked toward the shore. It was
close by us now; but, as I looked, I saw a sight which made any further
delay impossible.
Directly in front, and only a few feet away, was a dark chasm lying
between us and that shore for which we had been striving so earnestly.
It was a fathom wide; and there flowed the dark waters of the river,
gloomily, warningly, menacingly! To me, that chasm was nothing; but how
could she cross it? Besides, there was no doubt that it was widening
every moment.
I started up.
"Wait here for a moment," said I, hurriedly.
I left her half reclining on the ice, and ran hastily up and down the
chasm. I could see that my fears were true. The whole body of ice was
beginning to break away, and drift from this shore also, as it had done
from the other. I saw a place not more than five feet wide. Back I
rushed to my companion. I seized her, and, lifting her in my arms,
without a word, I carried her to that place where the channel was
narrowest; and then, without stopping to consider, but impelled by the
one fierce desire for safety, I leaped forward, and my feet touched the
opposite side.
With a horrible crash, the ice broke beneath me, and I went down. That
sound, and the awful sensation of sinking, I shall never forget. But
the cake of ice which had given way beneath my feet, though it went
down under me, still prevented my sinking rapidly. I flung myself
forward, and held up my almost senseless burden as I best could with
one arm, while with the other I dug my sharp-pointed stick into the ice
and held on for a moment. Then, summoning up my strength, I passed my
left arm under my companion, and raised her out of the water upon the
ice. My feet seemed sucked by the water underneath the shelf of ice
against which I rested; but the iron-pointed stick never slipped, and I
succeeded. Then, with a spring, I raised myself up from the water, and
clambered out.
My companion had struggled up to her knees, and grasped me feebly, as
though to assist me. Then she started to her feet The horror of sudden
death had done this, and had given her a convulsive energy of recoil
from a hideous fate. Thus she sprang forward, and ran for some
distance. I hastened after her, and, seizing her arm, drew it in mine.
But at that moment her short-lived strength failed her, and she sank
once more. I looked all around--the shore was only a few yards off. A
short distance away was a high, cone-shaped mass of ice, whose white
sheen was distinct amid the gloom. I recognized it at once.
"Courage, courage!" I cried. "We are at Montmorency. There is a house
not far away. Only one more effort."
She raised her head feebly.
"Do you see it? Montmorency! the ice-cone of the Falls!" I cried,
eagerly.
Her head sank back again.
"Look! look! We are saved! we are near houses!"
The only answer was a moan. She sank down lower. I grasped her so as to
sustain her, and she lay senseless in my arms.
There was now no more hope of any further exertion from her. Strength
and sense had deserted her. There was only one thing to be done.
I took her in my arms, and carried her toward the shore. How I
clambered up that steep bank, I do not remember. At any rate, I
succeeded in reaching the top, and sank exhausted there, holding my
burden under the dark, sighing evergreens.
Rising once mere. I raised her up, and made my way to a house. The
inmates were kind, and full of sympathy. I committed the lady to their
care, and fell exhausted on a settee in front of the huge fireplace.