A THRILLING VOYAGE
On the night that Ben Mayberry started across the bridge to deliver the
cipher message to Mr. Burkhill in Moorestown, he had reached the center
span before he felt he was in personal danger. The few lamps which
twinkled at long distances from each other were barely enough for him to
see where he was going, and they did little more than make the darkness
visible.
By the faint light he observed a carriage and single horse approaching.
The animal lifted his feet high, walked slowly, and snuffed the air as he
turned his head from side to side, like an intelligent creature which
feels he is approaching danger. The rattling of the narrow planks under
his hoofs and the carriage wheels could be heard above the roar and sweep
of the angry river beneath.
Suddenly the bridge trembled under a blow received from a gigantic piece
of ice, which went grinding and splashing with such violence that its
course could be followed by the bulging upward of the planks between Ben
and the horse.
"My gracious! this won't do," exclaimed the boy, more alarmed for the
vehicle and its occupants than for himself.
He ran forward to grasp the bridle of the horse with the purpose of
turning him back, when he saw that he had stopped of his own accord, and
was snorting with terror. Ben reached up to seize the bit, when he was
made dizzy by the abrupt lifting of the planking underneath, and was
thrown violently forward on his face.
The brave boy knew what it meant, and kept his senses about him. It was
utterly dark, and he was in the icy water with a terrified horse
struggling fiercely, and in danger of beating out the boy's brains with
his hoofs, while the shriek of the agonized mother rose above the horrid
din:
"Save my child--save my child!"
Fortunately for Ben Mayberry the bridge broke up in a very unusual
manner. Instead of the roof coming down upon him, it seemed to fall
apart, as did the narrow planking. Thus his movements were not interfered
with by the structure, and realizing what a desperate struggle for life
was before him, he drew off his cumbersome overcoat with great deftness,
and then swam as only a strong swimmer can do in the very extremity of
peril.
He heard nothing more of the horse, which had doubtless perished after a
struggle as brief as it was fierce; but, unable to see anything at all,
Ben struck out toward the point whence came the cry of the mother, and
which was close at hand.
He had scarcely made three strokes when he came in violent collision with
a huge block of ice in his path. Without attempting to go around it, he
grasped the edge, and, by a determined effort, drew himself upon it.
Fragments of the bridge were all around, and he felt some of the timber
upon the support.
While crawling carefully toward the other side, he shouted:
"Helloa! where are you? Answer, and I'll help you."
A faint cry made itself heard amid the rushing waters and the
impenetrable darkness. It was just ahead, and the next instant Ben had
reached the other side of the ice raft, where, steadying himself with one
hand, he groped about with the other, uttering encouraging words as he
did so.
Suddenly he caught hold of a delicate arm, and with another cheery shout,
he began drawing with all his strength.
It was a hard task, under the circumstances, but he quickly succeeded,
and was not a little amazed to find that instead of a lady he had helped
out a small girl.
But it was the cry of a mother that had reached his ears, and he did his
utmost (which unfortunately was little) to help her. He called again and
again, but there was no answer. He asked of the child the whereabouts of
her parents, but the little one was almost senseless with bewilderment,
cold, and terror, and could give no intelligible answer.
"She must be drowned," was the sorrowful conclusion of Ben, who was
forced to cease his efforts; and I may as well add at this point, that he
was right; the mother's body being carried out to sea, where it was never
found.
For the time, Ben and the little girl were safe, but it will be seen that
their condition was pitiable. It was a wintry night, the water was of an
arctic temperature, and their clothing was saturated. The icy floor on
which they were supported would have added to their terrible discomfort,
had he not been able to gather together several of the planks within
reach, with which he made a partition between them and the freezing
surface.
Ben shouted at the top of his voice, but he was so far below the place
where the bridge had stood that no one heard him, and he finally gave it
up, knowing that even if he made himself known to friends, they would be
powerless to help him so long as the darkness lasted.
The child, so far as he could judge, was no more than nine or ten years
old, but she was richly clad, as he learned from the abundance of furs,
silks, and velvet. She had luxuriant hair, which streamed about her
shoulders, and he was sure she must be very beautiful.
She was alive, but faint and suffering. She did not wish to talk and Ben
did not urge her, although he was curious to know her identity.
"I will learn all in the morning," he said to himself; "that is, if we
are spared until then."
He was too excited and terrified to fall asleep, even had his discomfort
not been too great to permit it, and he found he needed his wits about
him.
Now and then the cake of ice which supported them was crowded by others,
until it seemed on the point of being overturned, in which event another
terrible struggle would be necessary to save himself and the little girl.
Then again, there seemed to be eddies and whirlpools in the current,
which threatened to dislodge them or to break up the miniature iceberg
into fragments, as the bridge itself was destroyed.