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Show A REAL EEKO. As the train swept around the curve and advanced upon the magnificent suspension bridge, it moved slowly in order to allow the occunants of the cars an opportunity to catch a passing glimpse of the wonders and beauties of the great Niagara, At the distance of a mile and a half above they could see the majestic fall, with its rainbow hued columns of mist ascending in the sunlight; sun-light; below lay the unceasing agitation agita-tion of foam and rapids vhieh lead to the turbulent whirlpool. The children composing a merry little partv of tourists lister ed eagerly as an elderlv gentleman in charge drew their attention to various points of interest. in-terest. "There is one place I want tO( see more than any other." said Phil, "and that is the place where Blondin crossed. Where was his rope stretched?" . "About here, I think," said his uncle. Indicating certain points with his head. Phil gazed at them in deep interest. "He's my idea of & hero," he said, with an air of feeling himself perfectly qualified to judge of heroes. "I think he was the most courageous man X know of," - "To think of his walkyig over the boiling, seething current." Uncle George looked, too, but did not seem as deeply impressed as the boys. "But," said one of the younger boys, "remember some of the great heroes, Phil. You mustn't forget about Washington, Wash-ington, and Wellington, and Napoleon." "I don't think one of them did such a wonderful thing as cross on that rope. Do you. Uncle George? There's a young fellow at our school," continued Phil, "who is fond of trying the same kind of daring exploits. If ; there is a dangerous thing to do, he is sure to do it. I have seen him walk along the very edge of a roof of a four-story building, and once he crossed a bridge that was almost shattered shat-tered to pieces by the ice, and every one was warned that it could be crossed only at the risk of one's life. .You ought to hear the boys cheer him when he got over." "For what?" asked Uncle George. "Why, because it was such a heroic thing to do, of course, Uncle George!" "But what good did it do?" "Well, none, I suppose, except to show his pluck and nerve." "But what are pluck and nerve worth if they are not directed O the accomplishment accom-plishment of some good?" Phil did not seem to have any answer an-swer quite ready, but strained his eyes anxiously to obtain a last glimpse of the place where his hero had distinguished distin-guished himself. "YYhen I was a boy, went on uncie George, "I met a boy who must have been very like the schoolmate you tell of, Phil. He was always fond of doing anything which looked like boldness or daring. But I remember a circumstance circum-stance which cured him of taking foolish fool-ish and unnecessary risks." "Tell us about it, please, Uncle George," said Hugh. "A party of us were out nutting one day up among the Vermont mountains. In the course of our rambles we came to a place where a sheer precipice of fifty feet, or more, went down to the stony bed of a dried up stream. It made me almost dizzy 4to look down, but Jack Conway took pleasure in showing how near to its edge he dared to go. "There was a little fellow in our party who had never been among the mountains before, and who seemed struck with terror at the sight of the risk Jack ran. " 'Oh! don't do it!' he begged. 'You will surely fall.' " 'Ho! you're a little coward,' said Jack, sneeringly. 'You stand twenty feet off, and even then you're afraid. You wouldn't dare venture within a t-o r-A this " 'Yes, I would,' said Charley. 'It can't hurt me to come just a yard from the edge. But I wouldn't go where you go.' "'Wouldn't, eh?' cried Jack. 'Try it now; it won't hurt you.' And he made a sudden effort to sieze hold of Charley. "How it came about we never knew, but. as Charley dodged back. Jack seemed to lose his balance. In a moment mo-ment he had disappeared from our frightened gaze, and we heard a death-ful death-ful cry; and then, we started into one another's eyes .none daring to look after him, and we heard his voice again: " 'Help, boys! Quick, quick, or I shall go down! Can't you reach me with the rope?' He had caught hold of a small tree not many feet below us, but was quite unable to help himself. "I can't hold on long,' he despairingly despair-ingly cried. "No help was near except such as we could give him. In our bewilderment we at first knew not what to do; but presently a voice said: 'Tie the rope around me, and I'll go and tie it around him, and then you can draw us up. "It was Charley's voice. Some one else said: 'Will the rope bear two?' "We did not know, but again came a despairing cry from Jack. " 'Hurry,' said Charley, and we lowered low-ered him over that depth, where death seemed waiting at the bottom, with only, our feeble hands and the doubtful doubt-ful rope to stand between it and those tw o- - , . , "Charley's face was white, but he never flinched. Soon we heard his voice: 'I'm going to get into the tree while you haul up Jack, and then you must lower the roDe for me. Now, pull!' "We pulled with our might, and in a few moments Jack was drawn to a place of safety, where he fell in a dead faint. Then we waited for Charley, almost fearing his brave hands might fail him; but they did not, and the cheers we gave him as we landed the young hero aroused Jack from his swoon. I am sure the cheers were mingled with very heartfelt if unspoken un-spoken thanksgiving to the Lord, whose abundant mercy had interposed to prevent pre-vent our merrymaking being turned into -an awful tragedy, j "Now, Phil, what do you think of my hero?" "Well, sir, he did not do quite as daring a thing as Blondin, but 1 think I like him better." "His was the true bravery, you see. He had none of the spirit of daring which leads some boys to place themselves them-selves in danger, but, fully realizing the risk he ran, he braved a great peril in order to save a life. Believe me, Phil, it was sinful to expose the lives which the Creator has given us, through mere bravado or the desire of making money." Evchange. |