[Dan DeQuille, The Eagle's Nest, The Overland Monthly, May 1891]

 

THE EAGLE'S NEST.

            IN the upper part of its course the South Yuba River dashes and boils down through a tremendous cañon for a distance of many miles. Everywhere from the town of Washington upward the mountains on both sides of the river, north and south, rise to such a height that one must "look twice" to see their tops. But down near Washington the inclosing mountains are not vertical, as are the walls of rock up where the river breaks down from the main range of the high Sierras. Up there the waters of the river thunder along between perpendicular walls hundreds of feet in height.

            It is above this mighty cañon that the waters of the river were, in the early days, turned into what was then known as Kidd's Ditch, -- I suppose the same that is now called the South Yuba Canal. In constructing this ditch it was necessary to carry through the cañon a large flume. This flume had to be carried along the vertical south wall of the cañon for a great distance, at a height, in places, of from three hundred to five hundred feet above the bed of the river, and from two hundred to three hundred feet below the top of the wall, from which at several points lumber and timber were lowered by means of ropes.

            The flume was supported on iron brackets, holes for which were drilled in the face of the cliff by men suspended on platforms like those used by housepainters. These platforms were lowered from above by means of a strongly anchored windlass. To construct a flume thus in mid-air was a costly and perilous work, but for gold men will venture all things, -- even life.

            The men working on the flume in time became accustomed to the dizzy height, and indifferent to the dangers that beset them. In the whole work only two or three lives were lost. Though the men employed upon the flume seemed to move fearlessly about in their work, one not hardened to such business could with difficulty nerve himself to venture near enough to the awful chasm to look down to where the river boiled along its bottom.

            Owing to the swiftness of the current through the cañon, and to the many jutting ledges of rock, bowlders, rapids, whirls, swirls, and swashes, the water was everywhere churned into foam. Seen from the top of the cliff, the water in the channel of the river looked as white as milk.

            One experienced very peculiar sensations while looking down upon the boiling and foaming waters, -- a very creepy, unpleasant feeling. In looking into space above one feels all right, but on gazing into space below all is wrong ; one's head seems turning upside down.

            Besides this there was in the scene

536 The Eagle's Nest. [May,

something weird and unnatural. But what was it ? Presently it occurred to one that what made the scene uncanny was the silence, -- the absence of the roar that should accompany waters visibly so tumultuously tossed and agitated. Instead of the-deafening roar and swash natural to such a scene, we only caught now and again, as brought near or wafted afar by the shifting winds, a faint and monotonous murmur, -- the one note into which was merged and blended all the pouring, plunging, splashing, and dashing, so far away below.

            To stand on the brink of the chasm and look down upon the wild whirl of waters at its bottom gave a man about the same uncanny feeling he would experience were he to see walls and buildings falling on all sides of him, without producing more sound than if they were walls and buildings of air, -- the structures of dreamland.

            It required great nerve to move to the brink of the precipice, and look down upon the white line that marked the windings of the river. No beginner could endure to stand so for many moments. Then came on a feeling that his legs were preparing for a leap into the abyss, and in spite of all the resistance his head could make, would soon plunge his body into the chasm, unless he at once turned away. This feeling begins with a sort of lifting and throbbing motion in the ground, apparently, and a tickling sensation in the soles of the feet that is very unpleasant.

            One Sunday while the work of carrying the big flume through the cañon was in progress, I went with a party of half a dozen miners and others from the town of Omega to see it. We had heard so many wonderful stories about the great undertaking, the difficulties that were being overcome, and so on, that we were all anxious to see with our own eyes what was being done.

            Some of us obtained on the trip such a surcharge of the peculiar sort of sensations which I have tried to describe above, that we have never since had any hankering after a repetition of them. In going to the point where the flume-building was in progress, we procured horses and took to the main ridge above the town, where we had for nearly the whole distance a wagon road, -- the Bear Valley road, I believe it was called. When opposite where the flume was going in we left the road, and taking to the forest, zigzagged down the face of the mountain to the camp of the workmen. There was not another dwelling of any kind within ten miles of the spot.

            Being all young and full of fun we charged down upon the quiet camp like a band of wild Indians, and soon had the place in a considerable state of commotion, for we were received in about the same spirit as we exhibited by all who were visible about the camp. Then an irruption of visitors was not an every day occurrence.

            With our party went a Mr. Van Vrankin, the hotel-keeper of the town of Omega. He was the hero of our first adventure, as he came near being plunged head first into the abyss. On our arrival at the camp we had dismounted and tied our horses to some trees near the boarding-house ; that is, all except Van Vrankin, who being older than any other of the party, and more careful of his bones, had lagged behind executing numerous elaborate zigzags on the face of the mountain.

            When Van arrived we were all out near the verge of the chasm. Seeing with us a carpenter who was an old acquaintance, Van rode directly up to our party. Shaking hands with his friend he dismounted, and stood talking with his bridle on his arm.

            Van had a shepherd dog he highly prized, and this dog had come with him on the trip, as he and the horse Van rode were inseparable companions. Had the dog been left at home, he would have cried his heart out.

1891.] The Eagle' s Nest. 537

            Now, it so happened that there were two or three cows kept at the camp, and one of these had a calf that was kept in a pen near the lodging-house. As soon as Van halted and dismounted, his dog began prospecting the camp. About the first thing that attracted his attention was the calf, and he went to the pen to see it.

            No sooner, however, had he reached the pen than he was discovered by the mother of the calf. The cow charged with a snort of wrath, and the dog turned tail and fled toward his friend the horse.

            Seeing the yelping dog coming with the cow in full chase, the horse was startled, and throwing his head up began backing directly toward the brink of the precipice. The more Van pulled the higher the horse threw his head and the faster he backed. In running backward the horse pulled Van with him, who with feet braced was sliding along on the carpet of pine needles, quite unaware of the near proximity of the precipice.

            "Look out!" "Let go the horse!" " Look out for the cañon ! " cried a dozen voices, yet Van held on. Having been engaged in conversation from the moment of his arrival, he had not looked about him, and little thought he was so near a vertical precipice over seven hundred feet high.

            Not heeding the babel of voices roaring at him, Van still pulled at his horse, which caused the animal to pull back all the more stubbornly, going squarely to the edge of the chasm.

            "Let go the horse for Christ's sake !" yelled the carpenter, at the same time making a rush for Van and grabbing him by the coat-tails. At the very instant he did so the horse went over the brow of the cliff, the bridle luckily slipping out of Van's hands.

            The horse seemed to cling to the brink a fraction of a second by his fore feet, and then disappeared. No sooner had the horse tumbled into the abyss than the dog ran to the verge and without an instant's hesitation leaped over after him.

            All was over so quickly that Van hardly realized what had happened, and would have run to the brink of the chasm to look after his horse and dog had not his friend the carpenter held him, and told him of the danger. Van said afterward he thought all the time the fuss was all about some little gulley.

            The next moment after saving Van the carpenter was again all excitement. " My God ! " cried he, " My God ! the men below ! The men on the flume are all killed ! " and he ran to the railing by the windlass and looked over. After a glance he turned to us and said, " Thank God, they are all right ! "

            We afterwards ascertained by calling down to the men that the falling horse had passed only about ten feet in front of the end of the flume where they were at work.

            One of the men said : " We thought old Satan was coming with one of his imps after him ! " Another said that they all very plainly "felt the wind " of the falling horse.

            Looking down from the railing by the windlass we could see a black spot --  the horse was black -- at the edge of the milky stream. We could see nothing of the dog. We called down to the men, three hundred feet below ; they said the horse was motionless, but a speck that was probably the dog seemed to show some motion at times.

            As the horse was in a place that could not be reached except by a tramp of five miles up the river to where a descent into the cañon might be made, Van left ten dollars to be given to any one among the workmen who would bring out his bridle and saddle, and send them to Nevada City at the first opportunity. The man was also to bring out the dog, if he were not hurt beyond hope of recovery.

            I may say right here that the man who the next day descended into the cañon found the dog with his back and both

538 The Eagle's Nest. [May,

hind legs broken. The poor brute had dragged himself to the head of the dead horse, beside which he lay. He greeted the workman with glad barks. In order to give the dog a last gratification the man gave him all the water he could drink, and then put a bullet through his head.

            The windlass and railing of which I have spoken were on a platform of timbers of large size and about seventy-five feet in length. The ends -- there were a dozen logs -- had been pushed out five or six feet over the brink of the precipice, while the " inshore " ends were anchored far back from the bank, and weighted with cribs of stone. When we had been shown this place, we could in safety stand and look down into the chasm.

            As we were about starting for home, the men at the flume camp told us that about a mile and a half down the river was to be seen the nest of a pair of eagles, in which were two eaglets. They said we might return that way and see the nest, which was on a scrub cedar growing on the verge of the precipice, and projecting over the abyss.

            " But," said the man, " we do not feel afraid of your carrying off our pets. The nest is over a part of the cañon that is about one thousand feet deep, and out on the branches of a nearly horizontal tree. Not a man in the State has the nerve to climb out along the trunk of that cedar and bring in the young eagles ! "

            We concluded to ride by the eagles' nest in returning, as it was not out of our way.

            As we rode along down the river all the talk was of the eagles. "Evidently no one working on the flume dare try to get the young eagles," said Van, who had made a bargain with one of our party to go home on foot and let him ride.

            So much talk was made about the feat of going after the eagles, that I at last said I was not afraid to go out after them. I had gazed down into the cañon so long from the windlass platform that I imagined I had cured myself of dread of mere depth, and had gained such control of my head that I could trust it ; besides, I would not look down into the cañon. I would follow the rule of the rope-dancers, and see nothing but the trunk of the tree and the eaglets.

            I was dared, hooted, and scouted. Two or three were ready to put up fifty dollars to fifty cents, and as many more one hundred dollars to one dollar, that I would not dare go out after the young eagles. I said I would consider the bets when I had seen the situation of the nest.

            When we came to the nest it was seen at a glance that it could not possibly have been so placed as to be more difficult of access. The cedar grew on the very brink of a precipice, rooted in a large cleft that contained some soil. It was only about eight inches in diameter, and extended almost horizontally from the brow of the precipice, which was vertical. Out about ten feet the tree put forth several branches, which spread out like a fan. The boughs of the tree formed a sort of platform on which was the nest and the young eagles, with naught below for a distance of a thousand feet more substantial than thin air.

            The eaglets seemed to be pretty well feathered, and after a critical examination of them and the situation I told my companions I would take all their bets and go out after the birds, but would not agree to bring them in, as they might perhaps fly away.

            All held to their offers.

            I stripped to shirt and drawers. Then even such as before had been doubters began to believe me in earnest. Bob Paxton, a brother " Buckeye," earnestly labored to dissuade me from the undertaking. He had a real brotherly regard for me, not alone on that occasion, but to the last day of his life. Poor Bob ! his bones now lie in the land of the Mormon.

1891.] The Eagle's Nest. 539

            An eagle that had been wheeling about at a height of some hundreds of feet above us -- probably the mother bird -- began to grow uneasy at sight of our party so near its young. It uttered several shrill shrieks as it circled above our heads. Its cry was presently answered, and we saw coming from the north, as from the top of the great pine-clad mountain on the opposite side of the river toward Eureka, the mate that had been called. The two shrieking birds swooped about in a manner so threatening that Bob Paxton said they would surely attack me if I ventured out near their young. He made me belt to my side a long "Arkansaw toothpick," which he always carried, and which he informed me would " cut like a razor."

            The belting on of the big knife completed my preparations for the perilous adventure. My determination was to see nothing except the tree and the eaglets. By persisting in that I thought I should easily succeed in the venture. Had the tree been out on level ground, any one of our party could have climbed out to the nest in three minutes. All I had to do was to keep out of my head the awful space below. I might look upward into space, for that I was accustomed to.

            I was barefoot and stripped to undershirt and drawers. A silk handkerchief was bound tightly around my head. Amid a silence that was almost breathless I advanced to the verge of the cliff, and dropping to the ground crawled astride the trunk of the little projecting cedar. I fixed my eyes on the young eagles and would see nothing else.

            It was only ten feet out to the nest. Soon I was out to where the branches put forth from the trunk, and spreading fan-like formed the platform on which was the nest. I could almost reach it. The old eagles screamed nearer and nearer, and I could hear the whistling of the feathers in their wings as they swooped to and fro above my head.

            The young eagles soon became alarmed. They reared up, spread their wings, and opening their great mouths began to make a hissing noise. This appeared to enrage the parent birds, and one of them came so low as to brush my head.

            Thus far I had not ventured to look up toward the old birds. Seated astride a pole only eight inches in diameter, I was not in a position to look aloft. Let any one make the experiment in a safe place on level ground, and he will at once discover that it is difficult to retain his balance, -- to escape toppling over.

            After being touched by one of the old birds I saw that it was absolutely necessary to pay some attention to them, or I should be struck on the head and knocked off my slender perch. Reaching out with my left hand to where the limbs put forth, I grasped one that was about two inches in diameter. Thus anchored I was at liberty to make some use of my right hand. I must finish the fight with the old eagles before touching the young ones.

            Drawing my bowie knife, I held it above my head, and when next one of the old birds swooped down at me I struck it somewhere on the body, cutting out a little shower of small feathers.

            Either the glitter of the knife or the upward motion of my arm frightened the young eagles. Both hopped out of the nest and went fluttering downward and away. Down, down they went, their wings but half supporting them in a feeble flight that carried them toward the opposite side of the cañon, with the old birds dashing headlong after them.

            I turned my eyes to watch the course of the eaglets, and in doing so for the first time caught sight of the milky water of the river and the rock-strewn earth toward which the birds were half falling, -- the earth and the stream dimly seen far, far below.

            In that downward glance of a moment my eyes had taken in the awful depth that lay below me. In an instant, terror -- the terror of the awful space beneath

540 The Eagle's Nest. [May,

-- seized and overwhelmed me. I felt impelled to pitch headlong downward into the chasm, and at once terminate the torture which knowledge of the great gulf below me inflicted upon every nerve and muscle of my frame.

            The knife dropped from my hand into the abyss, and the self-command that I still retained was barely sufficient to give me such control of my senses and use of my muscles as to permit of my tightly closing my eyes, and bending forward until my breast rested upon the solid substance of the spreading branches of the tree.

            That last half instinctive action was all that saved me. Had I remained upright astride of the tree trunk another moment open-eyed, I should have ended the torture that throbbed through every nerve of my body and brain, by throwing myself at once into the space below that so thrilled me.

            With my breast upon the boughs and each hand firmly grasping a thick branch I lay with closed eyes, determined not to make another move until I had become composed, and regained sufficient self-possession to do what remained to be done in order to escape with my life.

            The eaglets being gone, it only remained for me to make my way back to the brow of the cliff and to the firm rock. Without moving I mentally glanced over the route. That which immediately occurred to me was that I was faced the wrong way. I could not well go backward and make a safe landing upon the brow of the cliff ; I must turn and get my face toward the top of the wall.

            I studied over the maneuver that would be necessary to place me in the desired position. I saw that it would involve my having for a short time both legs on one side of the trunk of the tree ; that for a moment I should be seated sidewise upon it, as a woman sits upon a horse. It would be no trick at all performed on a pole in a gymnasium. It was wholly in the thousand feet of space below me that the trouble lay. I therefore determined to perform the feat of reversing my position with my eyes shut. The branches which my hands grasped were about two feet apart, which would give me a good deal of purchase.

            When I felt myself thoroughly nerved for my maneuver of facing about, I accomplished it almost in an instant, that I might have no time in which to think of the perilous position it involved.

            Not until I had again firmly clasped the trunk of the cedar with both hands did I venture to open my eyes ; and then I directed them in advance so that they would rest upon the edge of the cliff at the root of the tree.

            As I completed my reversal feat I had heard a sort of tumultuous cry from my friends on the cliff, -- the first sound I had yet heard from them, -- which I took to be a sort of spontaneous outburst of applause, but when I opened my eyes I saw at once that it must have been a cry of horror.

            My tree was rapidly sinking, -- was giving way at the roots. Now that my attention was directed to what was occurring, I could hear the cracking of small roots as the tree settled down .and swung in toward the wall. I could no longer see any one on top of the cliff, for I was already several feet below its brow. I could see the earth crumbling and dropping from the brow of the cliff as the roots of the tree stretched in the ground.

            Each moment I expected the tree to tear loose and carry me with it to the bottom of the abyss. Strange as it may seem, I did not in this situation experience any such feeling of terror and horror as that which for a moment overwhelmed me when I looked down after the falling eaglets. The calmness of desperation now took possession of me. There was no more of the horrible tingling and thrilling of the nerves. All would doubtless be over in a few seconds,

1891.] The Eagle's Nest. 541

and I was braced for the shock. I knew the worst and was prepared to endure it. I even looked down to the rocky floor of the cañon a thousand feet below without a tremor. Space gaping beneath no longer had any terrors for me. I was already no better than a dead man.

            But the roots of the tree did not tear loose as I had expected to see them do. When the top of the tree had turned directly downward the roots still held, and I clung to it ten feet below the verge of the cliff. I was astride the trunk just at the point where the main boughs, spreading out like the ribs of a fan, supported the whole weight of my body ; indeed, the trunk of the tree being about eight inches in diameter, I could not so clasp it except with my arms as to sustain any weight.

            The tree did not hang flat against the vertical face of the cliff. There were projecting branches that kept it about three feet away from the wall. In this position it stopped ; and as the roots still held, I began to hope that they would continue to hold until I could be rescued ; however, with the least motion or agitation it might give way at any moment.

            Finding that I was not to be instantly hurled down to death, I presently ventured to lift my eyes to the brow of the cliff. I could see no one, nor could I hear the voices of my late companions. I began to fear that I was deserted. Having seen the tree sink down out of sight, they probably believed it had fallen and carried me with it to the bottom of the cañon. Not one of them would have the nerve, in view of the happenings of the day, to come to the brink and peer over in search of me.

            I looked upward along the trunk of the tree, meditating as to whether an attempt to climb it would be likely to prove successful. I saw at once that to escape in that way would be impossible.

            Even though I should be able to climb the trunk, I could do nothing when I came to the brow of the precipice. I also feared making even the slightest motion, -- the least jar might cause the tree to give way.

            My thoughts then again turned to my friends. My soul sickened at the thought that they might have gone away, -- gone up to the flume camp to report the latest accident.

            I was scanning the line of the cliff as far as my eyes could follow it, in the hope of seeing one of my party out at some curve, when I heard a voice far above me, in the sky, as it sounded to me, " Are you still alive and safe ? " it said.

            Was I " still safe ? " It seemed a cruel joke.

            I turned my face upward to answer, but for a short time I hesitated. I feared that my mere exertion in shouting would so agitate the small tree as to tear loose its roots. At last, however, using my voice carefully, I cried, "Can you hear me ?"

            " Yes, plainly," was the reply.

            " Well, then, I am still alive and on the tree, but not safe ! "

            " Hang on," came back. " Hang on, and we will try to save you ! "

            I looked up. No one was visible on the verge of the wall. They were afraid to approach it ; afraid to stand where I would have given worlds to have been placed. What to them seemed a place of peril would have been to me as the Rock of Ages.

            Again I was left to my thoughts and fears. I did not like this seeming desertion. It appeared to me to be very cowardly in them not to show themselves and stand by me. In such a situation, even the sound of the voice of a fellow man is a comfort.

            At last another voice one that seemed almost by my side called to me. I looked up and saw peering down at me over the brink of the precipice a face that I recognized as that of a young man named Peter Bowers.

            " Hold on as you are," said young Bowers. " My brother John has gone

542 The Eagle's Nest. [May,

back to the flume camp on the best horse for a long rope. He will soon be back."

            Good God ! " Soon be back ! " It was a mile and a half to the camp. I must wait until a man had ridden three miles. Here was a wet blanket for me.

            Somehow, when I saw a face within ten feet of mine, I had felt as though I was saved. I would be up on the cliff at once. Now they were going to make me wait until a man could ride three miles before trying to try to save me. It was rascally ! Why not help me at once ?

            "Can't you drop me the end of a lariat ? " cried I.

            " No. We 've only got one lariat. That 's tied around me and the men are holding the other end."

            "What is all that for?" cried I, in astonishment.

            "Why, to keep me from falling over into the cañon."

            " To keep you from falling ! Good Lord ! Why, are n't you safe enough anywhere up there on the solid rock ? " sneered I.

            " No. I can hardly stay here with the lariat fast to my waist. My head wants to go down and my heels feel like they 'd fly right up into the air in spite of all I can do ! "

            "What a cowardly set !" thought I. " All up there is so solid and safe, yet every man there is afraid to come near enough to give me the end of that lariat ! "

            But I was in no position to fight any one, therefore I softly said, "Surely they can come near enough to drop me the end of the lariat ! "

            "Yes, but who is to come to the edge to drop it to you if he is not held fast ? -- and we 've got but one lariat.''

            I groaned.

            After a moment's thought I said : " Where is Bob Paxton ? "

            Pete turned his head and looked. " Out holding your horse," said he.

            " Ah," said I, "he is always thoughtful. Bob is determined that I shall not go home on foot."

            I was so mad that I did not much care whether the tree held or pulled up by the roots.

            "Wait a bit and hold fast. Do have patience!" said Pete. "John will soon be here with the rope."

            " Well, if I am to wait till then I wish you'd send me down a lunch. I saw Bob Paxton slipping some biscuits and cold meat into his pockets just before we left the flume boarding-house."

            Pete's head disappeared. It may to some appear very unlikely that I talked and felt in my situation as I have reported. My situation was in truth so desperate that I also became utterly desperate ; and coolly so. The brink of the precipice, which an hour before would have turned my head, was now as nothing. I could have danced along it from end to end. I could now gaze down into the chasm without a qualm. My greater danger, my imminent peril, had killed all the smaller dangers. To paraphrase Pope --

                        Small dangers intoxicate the brain,

                        But great ones sober us again.

            My danger was so great that I was perfectly sobered by it. I was about the same as lost. There was, however, a chance of a rope's coming before the tree gave way, and I would make the best fight I could for that chance.

            Again I was left alone, suspended between heaven and earth. To add to the terrors of the situation, gusts of wind began to sweep through the cañon and sway me and my tree. I was still keenly alive to whatever threatened the stability of my tree, -- if stability could be said to pertain to such a thing. Occasionally I could hear a root snap, and at times dirt fell from the edge of the cliff ; as if the tree were slowly but surely giving way. All these things gave me very keen little starts and pangs, but had no power to overwhelm me, -- to upset my brain.

1891.] The Eagle' s Nest 543

            To find all drawing back from me and keeping out of sight disturbed me not a little. I thought they should have appeared to be doing something, -- might at least have given me the comfort of their presence. I have since seen how eagerly a man that is about to have the hangman's noose placed about his neck catches at a kind word or even a nod of recognition, and know that the word and nod filled a yearning vacancy.

            Finally, after, as it seemed to me, I had been hanging over my grave a month, I heard a great a mighty cheer.

            "John Bowers has come with the rope ! " thought I.

            Soon Pete Bowers again peered down at me and said : " They have got a long rope. They are going to tie one end of it to a tree, and will then make a noose in the other end and let it down to you. Hold on a little longer and we'll get you."

            " I can hold on a month," said I ; " I am well enough fixed for holding on, but what is the good of my holding on if the tree gives way ? You fellows seem to think all depends upon me and my holding on. This tree is giving way all the time."

            Pete withdrew to impart this information.

            It seemed an hour before he again crawled to the brink, for he came by crawling on his belly. " I 've got the end of the rope," said he, " but I 'm afraid to come square over you to drop it. I 'm afraid to go near the roots of the tree. The ground there is all cracked and loose."

            "For God's sake, keep away from there ! " cried I. Then " Can't you throw the rope so that the loop will pass beyond the trunk, and slide along down to me as it slacks in drawing back ? "

            Pete threw the rope, but it fell short. Again and again he tried. Once it came near me and I reached out and clutched at it. As I did so there was an ominous cracking above, and small clods of earth fell and rattled down through the branches of the tree that rested against the wall.

            I clutched the tree, afraid to wink or breathe for some moments. Then I said to Pete : " What is the matter of you ? why can't you fling the rope as I told you ? "

            " I can't throw so hard."

            "Why not ?"

            " If I do my heels will fly up and I 'll go head first into the cañon ! "

            " What ! With a lariat around you and a dozen men holding you ? "

            " Only four, and they 'll let go and run if they see me go over. They say we 've lost too many men already today to take any more chances."

            " O yes, I see ! " said I, again beginning to forget that I was not on terra firma.

            I thought a moment, and then said : "Tell the men to cut a long, slender pole ; sharpen the upper end of it, then twist the strands of the rope at the noose backward and thrust in between them the point of the pole ; then you can pass the noose down into my hands. Do you understand?"

            " Yes, I 'll have it fixed," and Pete withdrew.

            In about ten minutes -- it seemed to me as many hours -- Pete was back with the pole and rope.

            I wrapped my legs tightly about the trunk of the tree in order to have free use of both hands.

            Down, down came the noose at the end of the pole. I never saw a thing move more slowly. At last I clutched it, and with a death grip. I soon had the noose over my shoulders and about my waist. I then told Pete to haul up the slack. As soon as the noose tightened I felt that I was safe.

            With my left hand I took a vise-like grip on the rope above the noose and prepared to emerge.

            " How many men are now holding you ? " I asked Pete.

            "Only three now."

544 The Eagle' s Nest. [May,

            "Can they hold you while you give orders?"

            "I guess so."

            "Well, don't let your heels fly up. How many men are holding me ? "

            " Four or five."

            " And is the end of the rope still fast to the tree ? "

            "Yes, sir, still fast"

            "Well, then, I may as well make a move and get out of here. However, now I think of it, -- where is Bob Paxton ? "

            "On the rope, sir."

            " My rope or yours ? "

            "Yours, sir."

            "Tell him that I 'm hungry, and ask him to please to save for me the lunch he has in his coat pocket."

            Pete opened his eyes in astonishment, but turned his head and gave the order.

            Though I felt almost as safe as if out on the brow of the cliff, I knew that the "space fright" still held Pete in its power, and I did all this talking to try his steadiness before giving him my real business orders.

            The first thing was to taut the rope in line ; for Pete was still holding it. I told him to let go of it and tell the men to haul gently on it until I cried halt.

            Pete did as directed, and repeated my order when I called a halt. The rope did not lie directly in a line with the trunk of the tree, and I made him veer the men by motioning with his hand till it was right.

            I had studied out the whole programme while waiting for the rope. I wanted to steady myself by the trunk of the tree in going up, instead of swinging in against the wall and banging about, as the butt and roots of the tree would be of assistance in getting up to the crest of the cliff.

            I explained this to Pete after the rope was in line and taut. Then I said to him : " Now, Pete, if you feel quite safe we 'll start up."

            "I am ready, sir."

            "Very well. Now repeat my orders to the men instantly and exactly as I give them."

            "Yes, sir."

            " Haul away steadily ! " cried I.

            The order was repeated and acted upon. Up I went, calling out as I went : " Steady, steady ! -- not so fast ! – so -- steady, so ! "

            I made but one halt. That was when my head was on a level with the brink and at the point where I had partly to support my weight upon the butt of the tree in order to mount over the roots. After that a steady haul brought me upon the brink, when I lost no time in making a few rapid steps inland, where I tumbled down all of a heap.

            I was weak as an infant.

            " Water, water ! " I murmured. " I 'm so faint ! " and I came near fainting in reality.

            Water was brought from a rill, and with it was mingled some brandy, which Van Vranken had remaining in his flask. Next I took a shivering fit, -- I began to feel the cold, -- and was helped into my clothes. I was still too weak to stand alone, so sat on the ground for a time and rested. When helped to my feet, I rose the biggest coward in the crowd. A yoke of oxen could not have drawn me to the brink of the cliff over which Pete Bowers had thrust his head while helping me. Pete went out and got for me a piece of cedar root, to show me that it was almost as tough as a buckskin string. I thought it was very hardy of him to brave so much for so little.

            At last I was able to mount my horse with some help, and we started for home, sending the rope back by some men that had come down from the flume camp. In about an hour I was all right, the motion of the horse starting my blood again through all my veins.

            It was not until we were almost in sight of Omega that any one ventured to speak of the bets I had won. I said that I wished never again to hear them

1891.] Heat as a Form of Energy. 545

mentioned, -- that I would hold the man to be my enemy that ever again said a word about the bets; and I felt and meant it. Strange as it may seem, while I was hanging in the tree and vexed with my friends for not doing more for me, I said to myself over and over again that if I ever got out alive I would exact from those fellows the last cent of every bet I had made.

            My performance was not one that I was proud of, and for years it was not mentioned in my presence by any one who cared to be my friend.

            As long as I remained in the town of Omega, -- even till the year 1860, -- when I saw myself pointed out and eyes following me, I thought it was being said : "There goes the blamed fool that went after the eagles' nest ! "

            Also, even to this day, the adventure often interferes with my sleep. Just when I am on the point of quietly entering the realms of dreamland I find myself out on the cedar, see the young eagles falling fluttering down, down into the awful abyss, and again I am thrilled in every nerve with the old " fright of space " yawning beneath me. It is true that I have discovered the cure for this fright, but it is "big medicine" and I don't hanker after it."

Dan De Quille.