A PERILOUS ADVENTURE AT KANAWHA FALLS. 67 



with a clatter and deafening roar such as a man hears when he is drowning. My 

 face was toward its approach, and I saw the engineer looking out of the side of the 

 cab, being as white as a ghost. In a twinkling he was gone, but after that instant 

 the procession of coaches seemed interminable. A string of Dakota "empties" was 

 never so long. Before it had half gone by I declared I could hold on to the rocks 

 no longer. The draft of reflux air which the train displaced in its passage pulled 

 at me like seven devils, tearing me away. If I quit my hold I would not simply 

 fall ; we would both be hurled like winnowed chaff under the rattling wheels. My 

 fingers bled, and I felt the flesh tearing from my hands. 



At last the ordeal was over and I fell like a log. Wife bent over me and 

 helped me rise. My palm-leaf hat made a good fan. When I had leaned a while 

 and rested, we dragged ourselves out of the cut, homeward. We forebore to fish 

 that day. As we neared the hotel we met a party hurrying out, and received their 

 greetings. They had apprehended worse results, taking their cue from the train- 

 men. 'Twas a close call. 



