he young men was receiving her hand, that he might pass her to
the next, she lost her momentum, and was instantaneously precipitated
into the boiling current.

"The wild and fearful cry of horror that succeeded this cannot be laid
on paper. The eldest sister fell into strong convulsions, and several
of the other females fainted on the spot. The mother did not faint;
but, like Lot's wife, she seemed to be translated into stone: her hands
became clenched convulsively, her teeth locked, her nostrils dilated,
and her eyes shot half way out of her head. There she stood, looking
upon her daughter struggling in the flood, with a fixed gaze or wild and
impotent frenzy, that, for fearful ness, beat the thunder-storm all to
nothing. The father rushed to the edge of the river, oblivious of his
incapability to swim, determined to save her or lose his own life, which
latter would have been a dead certainty, had he ventured; but he was
prevented by the crowd, who pointed out to him the madness of such a
project.

"'For God's sake, Paddy, don't attimpt it,' they exclaimed, 'except
you wish to lose your own life, without being able to save hers: no man
could swim in that flood, and it upwards of ten feet deep.'

"Their arguments, however, were lost upon him; for, in fact, he was
insensible to everything but his child's preservation. He, therefore,
only answered their remonstrances by attempting to make another plunge
into the river.

"'Let me alone, will yez,' said he--'let me alone! I'll either save my
child, Rose, or die along with her! How could I live after her? Merciful
God, any of them but her! Oh! Rose, darling,' he exclaimed, 'the
favorite of my heart--will no one save you?' All this passed in less
than a minute.

"'Just as these words were uttered, a plunge was heard a few yards below
the bridge, and a man appeared in the flood, making his way with rapid
strokes to the drowning girl. Another cry now arose from the spectators:
'It's John O'Callaghan,' they shouted--'it's John O'Callaghan, and
they'll both be lost.' 'No,' exclaimed others; 'if it's in the power of
man to save her, he will!' 'O, blessed father, she's lost!' now burst
from all present; for, after having struggled and been kept floating for
some time by her garments, she at length sunk, apparently exhausted and
senseless, and the thief of a flood flowed over her, as if she had not
been under it's surface.

"When O'Callaghan saw that she went down, he raised