The mill-dam, to which we have made more than one reference, had not been erected2, like that at Johnstown, to afford fishing grounds for those who were fond of the sport, but was reared fully3 twenty years before to provide water-power for a company of capitalists, who proposed erecting4 a series of mills and manufactories in the valley below. They progressed as far in their enterprise as the formation of a substantial dam when the company collapsed5, and that was the end of their scheme.
The dam remained, with its enormous reservoir of water, which, in summer, furnished excellent fishing and, in the winter, fine skating; but during all that time the valuable store of power remained idle.
The sudden breakage of the dam, without apparent cause, was unaccompanied by the appalling6 features which marked the great disaster in Pennsylvania a short time since. The town of Piketon was not in the course of the flood, nor were there any dwelling-houses exposed to the peril7 with the exception of the home of a single humble8 laborer9.
The water became a terrific peril for a brief while, but such masses speedily exhaust themselves, though it was fortunate indeed that the topography of the country was so favorable that the uncontrollable fury was confined in so narrow a space.
But the camp of the Piketon Rangers10 lay exactly in the course of the flood. Bob Budd and his friends had pitched their tent there because the spot was an inviting11 one in every respect, and no one had ever dreamed of danger from the breaking of the reservoir above.
It was night when that fearful roar interrupted the conversation of the Rangers. The young men were silent on the instant, and stared with bated breath in each other’s faces.
“Great Heaven!” exclaimed Bob Budd, rising partly from his seat, “the dam has burst!”
“Nor me either!” added McGovern; “I guess the end has come, boys.”
“I can swim,” replied Bob, trembling from head to foot, “but that won’t help me at such a time as this.”
“Are we going to stay here and be drowned?” demanded Jim, rousing himself; “we might as well go down fighting; every one for himself!”
As he uttered this exclamation13 he dashed through the tent and among the trees outside, where the rays of the moon could not penetrate14, and it was dark as Egypt.
A strong wind seemed to be blowing, though a few minutes before the air was as still as at the close of a sultry summer afternoon. The wind was cool. It was caused by the rush of waters through the dense15 forest.
It was evident to McGovern and the rest that there was but one possible means of escape—possibly two—and he attempted that which first occurred to him: that was by dashing at right angles to the course of the torrent16. If he could reach ground higher than the surface of the water, as it came careering through the wood, he would be safe; but he and his companions knew when the awful roar broke upon them that the waters were close, while it was a long run to the elevated country on either side.
But if anything of the kind was to be attempted there was not a moment to spare. One second might settle the question of life and death.
“Maybe I can make it!” was the thought that thrilled McGovern as he began fighting his way through the wood, stumbling over bushes, bumping against trunks, and picking his way as best he could; “it isn’t very far to the high ground, but I have to go so blamed slow—great thunder! my head’s sawed off!”
At that moment a stubby limb caught under the chin of the frantic17 fugitive18 and almost lifted him off his feet. He quickly freed himself and dashed wildly on again with feelings that must have resembled those of the multitude fleeing from before the sweep of the overwhelming lava19.
A vine enclosed the ankle of the fugitive and he fell headlong; he was instantly up again and collided with a tree, which he did not detect soon enough in the gloom; at any other time McGovern would have taken his own time in rising and vented20 his feelings, but he did not do so now; his single thought was one wild, desperate hope that he might escape.
He never exerted himself so before, for, despite the stirring experiences through which he had passed in his short life, he had never encountered anything like this.
Those who have hovered21 on the verge22 of death have made known that in the few seconds when life was passing, the whole record of their former lives has swept like a panorama23 before them. The events of months and years have clustered in those few fearful moments.
Jim McGovern’s experience was somewhat similar. There were mighty24 few seconds at his command, while struggling with the whole energy of his nature to reach the rising ground beyond reach of the flood; but in some respects that brief interval25 of time was as so many years to him.
How well it will be if, when we reach that supreme26 moment which must come to all of us, the hasty retrospect27 brings us pleasure and hope rather than remorse28 and despair!
There was nothing of this nature in the review that surged through the brain of the miserable29 fellow. Broken promises, disobedience to parents, wrangling30, thievery, drinking—these were the scarlet31 tints32 of the picture which memory painted for him in vivid colors.
“If you’ll only save me,” he gasped, addressing the sole One who could rescue him, “I will stop the bad things I’ve been doing all my life, and do my best to live right always.”
Would he never pass the boundary of this narrow valley? It had always seemed straight to him before, but now its width was expanded not to yards and rods, but to miles. And never were the trees so close together or the bushes, vines, and undergrowth so dense, or his own wind so short, or his muscles so weak.
Suddenly something cold was felt against his ankle.
He knew what it was—it was water!
The fringe of the flood had reached him. Where the bursting away was so instantaneous and the released volume was so enormous, the flow could not be like that of an ordinary torrent, which rises rapidly because of the swiftly-increasing mass behind it. The awful rush at Johnstown resembled the oncoming of a tidal wave or wall of water, so high, so prodigious33, so resistless that nothing less than the side of a granite34 mountain could check it.
It would have been the same in the case we are describing, though of course to a less degree, but for the interposing wood, which, beginning at the very base of the dam, continued the entire length of the valley, which was several miles in extent.
Some of these trees were uprooted35 as if by a cyclone36, others were bent37 and partly turned over, while the sturdiest, which did not stand near the middle of the path, held their own, like giants resisting death tugging38 at their vitals.
The woods also acted as a brake, so to speak, on the velocity39 of the terrific rush of waters. The flow could not be stopped nor turned aside, but it was hindered somewhat, and, as it came down the hollow, was twisted and driven into all manner of eddies40, whirlpools, and currents, in which the most powerful swimmer was as helpless as an infant.
“It’s no use!” panted McGovern, when he felt the cold current rising about his ankles like the coiling of a water-snake; “I must die, and with all my sins on my head! Heaven have mercy! do not desert me now when a little farther and I will be saved!”
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1
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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2
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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3
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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4
erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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5
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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6
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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7
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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8
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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9
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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rangers
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| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
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11
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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12
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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13
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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14
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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15
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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16
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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17
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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18
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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19
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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20
vented
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| 表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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22
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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24
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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25
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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26
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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27
retrospect
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| n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯 | |
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28
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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29
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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30
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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31
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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32
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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33
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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34
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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35
uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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36
cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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37
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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38
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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39
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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40
eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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41
agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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