True Stories of Wonderful Deeds | Page 7

Hollow, a small frame house came pitching
down the mad tide, an eddy floated it in, near to the train, so close that
the wailing cries of an infant were heard, piercing their way through the
roar. Charles Hepenthal's heart was touched and his courage was equal
to the emergency. He determined to rescue that little wailing waif from
a watery grave. Strong men urged him to desist, insisting that he would
only sacrifice his own life for nothing--that it was impossible for any
one to survive in the surging waters. But the boy was resolved. He cut
the bell cord from the cars, tied it fast to his body, and out into the
whirling gulf he went; he gained the house, secured the infant and
returned through the maddened waters with the rescued babe in his
arms. A shout went up from the passengers on the train. "Wait!" he
cried; "there is still another in the house, I must save her!" and, seizing
a plank to use as a support, he plunged again into the surging waters.
Ah! his struggle this time was harder, for his precious load was heavy.
In the floating house on his first visit he found a little girl, apparently
ten years old, disrobed and kneeling beside her bed, on which lay the
screaming infant, praying to her Father in heaven to save her and her
baby brother from the fury of the flood. "God has heard my prayer,"
she cried, as Charles entered the door. "Oh, save the baby, quick," and
then fainted away on the floor. When Charles had landed the babe in
safety and returned again for the girl, he found her still unconscious on
the floor, and the water was fast flowing in at the door. In another
minute she would have been drowned. But the brave boy's manly arms
were soon around her, and with his precious load the young hero fought
his way back to land and was given three times three cheers and a
"tiger" by the passengers of the day express.

A CAT'S EXTRAORDINARY LEAP.
In the latter part of 1880, at a time when the Washington monument
had reached a height of 160 feet, an adventurous and patriotic cat
ascended the interior of the shaft by means of the ropes and tubing.
When the workmen arrived at the upper landing the next morning, and

began to prepare for the day's work, pussy took fright and, springing to
the outer edge, took a "header" of 160 feet to the hard earth below. In
the descent which was watched closely by two score of men, the cat
spread herself out like a flying squirrel and alighted on all fours. After
turning over on the ground a few times in a dazed manner, she prepared
to leave the grounds and had gotten almost beyond the shadow of the
monument, when a dog belonging to one of the workmen pounced
upon her and killed her, she, of course, not being in her best running
trim, after performing such an extraordinary feat. One of the men
procured the body of the dead feline, smoothed out her silky coat, and
turned the remains over to a representative of the Smithsonian
Institution, who mounted the skin and placed it under a glass case. The
label on the case tells this wonderful story in a few words: "This cat on
September 23, 1880, jumped from the top of Washington's monument
and lived."
[Illustration: Queen Boadicea]

=A Brave Queen=
Long ago, when this country was a wild land, there lived a beautiful
and brave queen named Boadicea.
Her husband, the king, was dead, but she had two daughters whom she
loved very much.
Boadicea was queen of a part of Britain. There were no large towns in
her land, but there were forests of fine trees, and fields of corn, and
wide stretches of grass-land where many cattle and sheep roamed and
fed.
Her people were called Iceni. They were tall and strong, with blue eyes
and yellow hair. The men were brave fighters and good hunters. They
hunted the bears and wolves which lived in the forests, and they fought
the foes of their beautiful queen.
They made spears to fight with, and strange carts called war-chariots to

fight in. These chariots were drawn by swift horses, and, upon the
wheels, long sharp knives were fixed. The Iceni drove the chariots very
fast among their foes, and the knives cut down and killed many of
them.
The Romans from over the sea were the most dangerous enemies of
Boadicea and her people.
In those days the Romans were the best fighters, and the strongest and
wisest people in the world. They came in ships to Britain. They had
been told that it was a