story and the house was tottering. Fearing that he would be crushed by the falling building he returned to the tree just as the house gave way and fell into the seething flood. He then swam to another house in which he found a pair of pantaloons--the only article of clothing he had to protect him from the cold, which he now felt benumbing. He was rescued late on Saturday evening, when the water had partially subsided, and it will be readily believed that by this time his condition was pitiable. This is his account and, certainly, at least, a =part= of it is true, as his story is corroborated in many particulars by the testimony of others who saw him at various stages of his strange adventure. After the disappearance of Hoff great excitement was noticed in the houses of Mrs. Overton and Mr. Murphy, into the latter of which it appears that Jerry Harris and his family had rushed from their own as to a place of greater safety. Lights were seen carried rapidly from place to place at Mrs. Overton's, and, from Mr. Murphy's the sound of Harris' voice was heard apparently in earnest appeal to Heaven for assistance. A light was seen for an instant on Mrs. Overton's porch, and, but for an instant, when it disappeared and the porch was seen to drift with the current. It is supposed that either Mrs. Overton or Mrs. Mills had taken the light to see how the water stood around the house, and that just as she stepped on the porch it was torn loose and she was overturned into the water. Thus was the sudden disappearance of the light accounted for by the spectators. In a minute or two the building was heard to fall with a crash and none of the occupants was seen again or, if the bodies were found, it was by strangers on the lower Potomac, who knew not whose remains they were. In a short time Murphy's house also disappeared and with it Harris and his family, making a total of ten deaths in this one group of buildings.