208 THE GREATEST RUN 



sole survivor of it makes its memory all 

 the dearer, though I regret to this day that 

 I had no companion during the last twenty- 

 five minutes to support my evidence, or to 

 discuss with me in after years its wonders. 

 I trust that in attempting to describe it, 

 if I seem to be utterly devoid of modesty 

 and to be blowing loud blasts on my own 

 horn, it will be remembered that every man 

 has some day in a long life, in which he is 

 conscious that he has had the best of it. 

 This was my day, and I certainly felt at 

 the end of it that it would have been 

 worth risking one's life for ; it gave me 

 the sensation that comes now and again 

 in every life, of not having lived in vain. 

 The following account is for the most 

 part from my diary, written while I 



