The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 13, September, 1835Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 13, September, 1835
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
About the same time, Catherine again insisted upon returning, and Tony
finding all effort at persuasion perfectly hopeless, began to put upon
the matter the best face he could muster. Taking his cousin's arm he
insisted she should vary the walk, by crossing to the other side of
the canal, and return to the city in that direction. Kate expressed
her uneasiness at crossing this insecure bridge, but as Tony was
importunate, she reluctantly consented, not desiring farther to add to
his mortification by a positive refusal. Tony, as a man of gallantry
naturally would do, placed Catherine upon the soundest of the logs, he
himself walking by her side on the weaker of the two, not reflecting
that the weaker log would much more easily bear her weight than his.
As fate would have it, Catherine became alarmed by the trembling of
the bridge, and leaned the more heavily upon Tony for support, and as
he was not in a mood to care much whether he broke his own neck or
not, he insisted upon proving to his cousin, that the bridge was
perfectly secure, and that all her fears were totally groundless. So
taking her by the arm, in a careless way, and telling her gaily, "Now
mind what you are about," he raised himself upon his feet several
times, so as to produce an oscillating motion in the log. At this
moment, Tim had turned about to cast one lingering look, merely to
inquire with himself, what lassie that might be, when perceiving the
danger they were in, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Take
care!"--but it was too late,--down went the log with a terrible crash,
and poor Tony and sweet Kate were precipitated into the water below,
in the middle of the canal, at the deepest point. If ever you have
seen in the hand of some ruthless urchin, an innocent bird (which he
has just succeeded in securing from his trap,) flurried, gasping and
panting with fright, you will have a correct idea of Katy. She gave
one shriek as she fell, and then rose almost breathless, gasping and
panting in an agony of alarm. Luckily the water was not more than
waist deep. Tony went down feet foremost, following the decayed
timbers, (pity he had not fallen on his head,) but Catherine, clinging
to his arm at the time of the accident, and having her support
suddenly taken from her, was precipitated at full length into the
water. In an instant, Tim rushed to the spot. Into the canal he went,
and catching the terrified Kate in his arms, he brought her safely to
the shore. Tony did all he could, but poor fellow he was completely
involved among the broken fragments, and though he strove to rescue
Kate, it was as much as he could do to extricate himself. Tim knew
there was no danger of Tony's drowning, and so he left him to struggle
for himself, giving all his attention to Kate, who was truly an object
worthy of his care, and yet not the less of his admiration. She,
though thoroughly wet, withal looked so grateful, and her countenance
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account