Jacob Hamblin, a narrative of his personal experience, as a frontiersman, missionary to the Indians and explorer, [microform] disclosing interpositions of Providence, severe privations, perilous situations and remarkable escapes. Fifth book of the faith-promoting series, by James A. Little. Designed for the instruction and encouragement of young Latter-Day Saints

Jacob Hamblin, a narrative of his personal experience, as a frontiersman, missionary to the Indians and explorer, [microform] disclosing interpositions of Providence, severe privations, perilous situations and remarkable escapes. Fifth book of the faith-p - Page 78

76 NARROW ESCAPE FROM DROWNING. on to ground which had apparently before been safe from its inroads. Our fort, constructed of stone, and which was one hundred feet square, with walls twelve feet high and two feet thick, stood a considerable distance north of the original bed of the creek. Inside the walls were rooms occupied by families, and we had considered it safe from the flood. One night, when most of the people were asleep, some one discovered that the water was washing away the bank on the south side of it, and also that the water was beginning to run around it, between it and the bluff. It was raining heavily at the same time. The people were removed from the fort as soon as possible, and some temporary shelter was constructed of boards, blankets, etc. While I was making an effort to save some property near the caving bank of the stream, the ground on which I stood suddenly slid into the water, about twenty feet below, and took me with it. I still stood on the mass of dirt, but realized that it was being rapidly washed away from under me, and that I was liable at any moment to be precipitated into the raging torrent. The thought flashed through my mind that there was not one chance in a thousand of my being saved. I heard some-one say above me that I was gone ; it was of no use to try to save. I shouted at the top of my voice " It is of use to try to save me ! Bring a rope and throw to me, and haul me out before the bank caves and I am gone ! ' ' In a few moments I felt a rope drop over my head and shoulders. I lost no time in grasping it, and was pulled up just as I felt the last foothold giving way under me. Again was my life preserved by that kindly providence which has so often saved me when in imminent peril. What seems remarkable in the history of that gloomy night is, that in a few minutes after being rescued from death my-self, I should be the means of saving another life. A heavy and rapidly increasing current of water was now running between the fort and the bluff.