The Hermit of Shut in Valley: Chapter 1

This will undoubtedly be chock full of spelling errors, bad punctuation, erroneous transcriptions and errors on both my own and the authors side. This is the first chapter that I've tried to copy word for word. Chapter 1 About the year 1888, a party of tourists from central new york were touring the western states and the pacific coast. It is not necessary to tell what they had already seen or the places they had visisted up to the time. of the opening of this story. So we will only deal with those who are interested in this naration. This party was all ascending a trail or path around the pass of a mountain chain bordering the Grand Canyon. of the colorado river, in northern Arizona. This immense chasm, over a mile deep and over three hundred miles long, is one of the grandest of the many wonders in nature. the variety of shades and tints, in the many colors of its rocky walls, the beautiful and ever varying scenery are ever an awe inspiring wonder to the beholder. Miss Jeanne and Doctor John F. Cameron, her brother, were a few hundred feet ahead of the main party and guides. The trail was crowded by the mountain wall to the bring of the canyon, leaving only a narrow space for it, some twelve feet wide. This trail was overhung by an immense cliff, they could not tell how high it was, from where they had stopped to rest, and admire the wonderful and inspiring view. "My goodness, what was that?" said John in alarm, as a dark objext they not what, shot down from the cliff above and crashed into the top of a tall tree, growing out of the side of the canyon wall, the top of which being dense yards below when jogn and jeanne had stopped on their journey. John dismounted from his burro and catiously on his hands and knees, looked over the edge of the canyon and beheld a strange sight. on a dry sharp limb, near the top of this gigantic tree hung a man. The limb projected upward through the hunting blouse the man wore, and came out between his side and right arm. John could not tell whether the limb had gone clear through his body or not. He hung without motion, as though life had left him. John arose, and hollering for the rest of the party to hurry up, they all finally arrived, when john and jeanee were anxiously waiting for them. John soon told them what had taken place, also ppointed out the man in the tree top, some fifty feet below.the question was, how could any body get to him? The tree was growing out of the canyon wall, and down to the river from it's base was still many thousands of feet. One of the guides, who was a borwn fellow, finally proposed to have himself let over the edge of the canuon by a long braided lariat some one hundred feet in length, if the men above would let him down gradually, until he had sufficient length over the edgge to grasp one of the limbs that came nearest the canyon wall, and by that means, pull himself over to the body of the tree, he could then decend to where the man was suspended, this the brown fellow finally accomplished. When he reached the man he found him breathing but uncoincious. The guide, securing the larial around the body under his arms, called for them to hoist away, buy found he would have to cut the blouse to free the man from the limb. the blouse, being made of buckskin, was very strong. With some good hard pulling, by all of the men above, they finally raised the man to the edge and into a place of safety without further injury. Then by direction of the guide, they took a strong cord and tying a small stone to the end, threw the stone carrying the cord out, over and in the lap of the crew. By tying the larial to the cord, the guide soon pulled it over to him and tied it around his body under his arms and they soon had him back on the trail again, with but little trouble. It was soon decided that they all turn back and bring the wounded man along the best way they could. After some delay they finally constructed a sort of litter with two tent poles and a hammock. Four men could then carry him along the canyon trail quite comfortably. On examination of the man before they started back, Dr. John Cameron found his head dented in, and it would be necessary to trepan the skull and raise the bone from pressure on the brain before the man would become concious. Dr. Camerons case of surgical instruments and medicine had been left at the rail road station some miles beyond the ranch, where they were stopping. One of the guides had been sent on ahead in order to get the case of instruments and get back to the ranch with as little delay as possible. after the arrival of the tourists and the wounded man.