I wish to write to Captain Paul Boyton."
The materials were given him and the following is a verbatim copy of
the challenge sent by the accomplished English scholar to Paul:
[Image of obviously illegible gibberish]
Next morning Boyton returned to Florence and that evening while
entertaining some friends in his room, one of the guests looked out
at the window and remarked how much higher the river was than it had
been when he started for Pisa. Some of the guests advanced the opinion
that it would be impossible for him to go into the river while it was
in such a flood. Paul, overhearing them, said: "Ladies and gentlemen, if
you will step out on the porch and wait a few moments, I will enter the
river and paddle through the city in order to show you that I am equally
as safe in such water as I would be were it as smooth as glass."
While he was preparing for this short trip, the news spread over the
city like wildfire and by the time he was ready, people lined
either shore. When he proposed the trip, he had forgotten about the dam
before alluded to, and did not know that the water was pouring over it
in such torrents that it was extremely dangerous. He entered the raging
current and was rapidly carried toward it. When he realized the danger
he was approaching, it was too late to retreat, owing to the terrific
power of the current that was bearing him to the falls.
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