Out from the Blizzard

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 368, 28 May 1903, Page 8

Out from the Blizzard

8 9f "Mger s, Stnaese. "c

i __________ B*S. RCTHVEN, tall, brilliantly dark, with the breath of the preiIn her carriage, swept oat of the lining-room, and her husband. George _k 9i r«», tad I turned to our coffes *■— "teorge, how did yon gain that ssews_Bcant woman let a wife?" Not at all discomposed at the broad■ess of my compliment to his wife, George smilingly responded: "Ten remember the great blix-ard cj_Ua swept over the western prairie staCSs, particularly Nebraska, during January of 1887? Yes? Well, it was from that blizzard that I was rescued by the most beautiful woman it hai ever been the happy lot of man to possess. "1 waa at that time, aa you know, embarking in the practice of law, and bad, to use an old-time phrase, 'articled' myself to one of the most prominent legal firms in this city. I grew steadily in favor of my superiors, whe are now my partners, so it happened that when an occasion arose in an important land suit, requiring that a man be sent to Ainsworth, Neb., to obtain ■assess ry information from the recerts, I was selected for the, duty. "I reached Ainsworth without incident and spent a couple of days there examining the court records, -until I discovered that one link of evidence was missing. 1 shortly learned that it eouid be replaced by certain affidavits which a banker at Atkinson, 55 milei ftown the road could give, if he should be so disposed. Unfortunately only one passenger a day was then running and I found that had just left and that no other train would start until! late in the night. That would be s •low freight, which would not get me in Atkinson much before the passenger the next morning. So I concluded to drive the 55 miles. "Hurrying to the livery stable I induced the- proprietor to take me as far •s Long Pine, the next station, where I could and did obtain a relay of bronchos and another driver to Bassett. There I obtained another relay and started for Newport, the next stop, And by the time we reached there, the snow waa falling quite fast, but still there was no indication of the horrible storm in which-so many ljves were lost and in wHch the cattle ranches suffered almost to banknfptcy by thousands of head of cattle being destroyed. As we proceeded, the storm increased in virulence and I was glad, indeed, (when I could toast*'my chilled feet at the blazing hearth in,, the small hotel the place afforded, white mjr driver was seeing about an exchangehof horses. "The liveryman returned and informed me that he had not been able to induce' the local stable keeper to undertake a journey, even to the next town, Stuart, though he said, if the ease wan very urgent, he would let me have a. team, to drive through myself, provided I would assure him against loss. Unaccustomed aa I was to western blizzards, I jumped at this chance, and quickly closed a deal with Mm,

"He produced the scrawniest-look-ing team of bronchos one ever saw, and hitched them to a ramshackle sort of slat-bottomed buckboard boggy and bid me godspeed with an expression on his face clearly showing he never again expected to see either his team or myself alto. As 4o the team, he never did see it, as both the animals gave up the ghost—bat I am anticipating.

"By this time the storm had assumed terrific proportions. The snow, which had been falling softly and lazily, now pelted down in solid masses, mixed with flakes of ice, cutting with biting force Against my face, while the soughing of the wind had risen to shrieks and bowls and came with a force that at times seemed powerful enough to lift bronchos, buggy end driver into the next county. My course lay along the railroad track. There was no road worthy of the same to follow, as the level character of the country and entire absence of fences permitted one taking a "straight shoot' from one point to another, with only, the possibility of meeting with some small slongh that would require a little careful driving to cross. "Driving along with my head downwards to shelter my face from the pelting sleet and ke, I quite forgot to look for my landmarks, the telegraph poles, bu| a more ugly blast than aos> I had experienced caused me to •*' ' » quick glance about over my * ~ ake Instantly..l awoke to my * - mufflertelegraph poles had * ranger. The had turned fro*- disappeared! I driving aero*' ** m y road and was habited " -* tne desolate, uninyn> ■ prairies, on which a bouse . not to be met for miles, "The storm now swirled and pounded and roared with ferocious power about me. Already I was passing through drifts so deep as to compel my small bronchos to tug and snort in the effort required to pull the buggy through them. Heavy darkness was rapidly taking the place of the gray-: ish light, the dull, whirling snowbanks of clouds lowering and plunging about until it seemed that they and the masses of snow and sleet beating against me were one. The cold, too, had become intense, and'the stinging pain in my fingers told me my hands' bad been frost-bitten, while my feet seemed mere chunke of «se ( no power ef mottoa.

ray nearly frozen ftet, and brushes away with my hand the sow which waa packing in front of the buggy. "I waa horrified to aee that the bronchos had parsed over one of the many graves which mark the failure of some hardy pioneer on these interminable prairies, and ray buggy had crashed against the small monument that some mourning friend or relative had placed at this savage, solitary resting place. "I tell you, Harry, my boy, I never want again to experience such an uneosefortable feeling as that which -••-.•• ee>er me om my discovery. Ibis obstruction really appeared to me to be the mark of say own end. I am willing t« admit that it waa witb something of the unreasoning pc»,er of a maniac thai I lifted and pulled at the buekboard, until with a shoni of wildest joy, I raised it over the obstruction and jumping Sato it. whipped up the fainting bronchosunti! I had driven far away from the lonely, soul-harrowing locality. "But now I saw the strength of my broncho* was fast waning, and, threatened by this new difficulty, madly urged them on, shouting and cursing, crying in my despair. Slower, slower became their pace, while about me the storm raged and snarled, receded and attacked, hurling the battering ram of its power dead in the breasts of the mean, little, feeble team, and many, many timee bringing them to a dead stop.

"I think J must have become a maniac as at-last-1 saw one stumble and fall, with his hoof caught in some orifice in the ground, while the other sank slowly, patiently, into the snow, his life going out in his last struggle to rise.

"I remember indistinctly of sitting by the side <sf the bronshos with that awful storm beating about me, and laughing and chattering as I toyed with their ears, or playfully tickled their sides with the broken butt of the whip. Then I remember of springing to my feet and gibbering as I ran, making wide circles about them, dashing up to their heads as 1 have done in my school days, waving my arms to scare them into a scamper- N "Then as the fatal warmth began stealing over me, a sank into the snow and tossed handfuls of it at the scurrying clouds and flying sleet. "When I opened my eyes I believed myself in dreamland. About me was every evidence of comfort and refinement. The delicious sense of warm fur coverings impressed me, and I raised myself slightly to take in more of my surroundings. As I lifted my eyes they feasted on the fairy who had provided my dreamland with all these comforts. She'was darkly, radiantly beautiful, and I reached out my arms to'bestow a shower of affectionate gratitude upon her. Then 1 recalled the storm, saw again my dead team, myself running in madness about them, and how I had sunk in exhaustion into the snow. 'And is this death?" I cried to.the beautiful spirit hanging over meT 'No,' she answered, 'you have been saved, and will, I hope, soon be able to arise.'

"It is useless to dwell on my recovery to full consciousness, the myriad of questions asked and the answers returned to them. My escape is easily explained. You know, Harry, how it was almost impossible in those days to obtain lumber for the construction of houses on the immense prairie lands of the west, and how, even in the present day, houses are built by cutting long strips of sod from the buffalo-tramped earth, laid in layers to the desired height, and covered with a roof of thatch so closely woven aa to be impermeable to the rains of summer or the snows of winter. Bough as they are in exterior, many of them are the homes of wealthy ranch owners, and are filled with all the comforts to be found in the most palatial reatdeaeee of the city.

"Well, in pranging through the drifts my bronchos had st last fallen in the yard of one of these sod dwellings. Frank Coleman, the proprietor of the ranch, pushing from the. barn through the banks of enow heaped before the door, saw the dead team. Shouting encouragement to the driver he knew must be- somewhere near, be worked bis way about until he discovered my unconscious form partially covered by the drift. Then, witb the fairy upon wfcom ay eyes had opened, be canted me into the house. --»- * "You now know- etbusb. I am not galag to tetf yott bow my 'fairy - became &* We occasionally visit ranch on whieh my father-in-law, Mr. Coleman, has since constructed one of the most handsome residences in the west, and then we live over those scenes. "Well, going, old boy? Glad to see you at any time, and my 'fairy* may herself tell you the rest of our story. "Oh, yes. I obtained the affidavits I went after in time, and the result of my adventure was my present partnership." r ' __* ir«4 Wfce 7uf«-«-tas/. "Jimmy," exclaimed the first boy, "teacher jumped on you pretty quick. Yanked you up and walloped you like lightning, didn't he?" "No," replied the other boy, ruefully, "not like lightning. He hit me too often in the same place."—Family Herald. ■ i m _ 8«* Csre. A New York man cured himself oi tlh grippe by merely fasting. This treatment, however, says the Chicago Tribune, if continued long enough, will put a stop to any disease. C «««-«" «« State*.** No new «t«t«a were adnJttcd k_ tween IK* and ISO 6. New JSse?_wt wna and Oklahoma are new Si *