New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-02-27


sign Of evil Let rs 20 baek-ws' hav. 3 -
to lose, The Holy Virgin prosect "a fran M, n
avalanche ~ a es1 IT,
q Nonsense, fatherlu replied d aor = -,
Know Know there are never ayalsnches On DIS NOM
4 Don't say 20, my son Trsmembsr heartns 49,
father speak Of . terrible or1e.n =
: AZ big as my hand, = answered the young msu
Nevertheless, the old MANS words had prx,1nsef
an ensct, for, "a il with one accord We all turned
rosihd and began to descend towards the yiEEsres
rns w,na mold cease ~ 4 BY magic, then come
mighty and g strong wind y the sIeet changed 10
thick, fastfalling snow, wIich wlasrlfnr if mai
eddes. . and nylng ap ani dosn aimeas blinded H.
Pieurio, who had assumed the lead, fsut what win
the teasing Of the wind and the slpperiness 81 III
path we could scarcely keep aur feet. After ONE
Dass; wncn nearly harisd us down te sayias We
Not q word Was spoken; for By this time the
bravest heart amongst us quaked with fear, and
many an anxious glance was cant around in search
OF any signs of the dreaded disaster.
| We had reached point about halfway down
| the mountain. where The path passed through y
mere cleft between two rocks. There we were
forced to go two by two. At that instant boom
like that Of distant waterfall struck our ear.
i we atoppedy raised our eyes In terror ana saw
right above us, large white mass, like q living
thing, rise slowly with eonyHisive heaye from the
Eye a 9. ioek, hover for second, toppIe, then
The avalanchel the avalanche p burst from
every lip. -. ~ -
81 The ieito ths caves " shouted Picurio,
In the twinkiing Of an eye down fell Che enor-
nous white mass IN front Of our refuge fherr -.
were, unhgrts but shut in between wan of rock
behind and 9 wall Of ice ID front -
After the first moment Of bewiIderment, pieurio
cried out - ~ -
who is here beside nse ~
trrsaa ait1hr- sa.fy
hand. Mine was the only voice that replied.
MY son, my son exclaimed the old man
i oh! that had died for thee, my son NJ and i
heard him weeping. Awful were these moments.
burled alIye-a fathers agony the only sign of life
breaking the stiffness and darkness Of the grave
Often in the silent watches Of the night az bear
/ again that voice of woe-often in dreams live over
again that terrible scene. -
g Have you yoHr axe, young man ~ said Picu-
| rio. q y N
No. In the perilous moment when be had forced
me under the rock, the axe had slipped out Of my
With all the energy ofdespair we flung the whole
weight Of our bodies against the inert mass which
shut US into our living tomb--helpIess hopeless
must have then fallen into 4 lethaFuy: III the
avalanche fell in the early morning. and Tie Aye
Maria was ringing when recovered my conscious-
| ness. fes we distinctly heard the bell Of the
enafGa III q Aama. 10 words can describe the rap
ture felt in listening to this voice from without II
seemed to say distinctly Hope in Gods mercy.r
Lei US pray, |, said the old man. We recited the
Angeins and toid Dc rosary. After that We felt
more composed. and sat down side By side The
sound of the church bells had taken away he har
rible feeling OF being entirely cut Of from the Nv
ing Wefelt sure that, as soon a. We were missed.
al tae vll,age would turn mt on the morrow to
to hear the bells clearly it would not be iiinlf
i 70 make ourselves heard by any passers. Luckily
our days food was in our pockets; we divided Il
into several portions, that it should last twenty
four hours. Within that period we never doubted
II obtaining our release, H3g7
Presently the Church bell began to ring again
It could not be the De Profunais; stzficient Iima
had not elapsed; besides, the strokes we're auick
4 and sharp. not slow and solemn GLORY 81 II
| God, 1t was the storm bell the alarm was given
and good souls would soon be on the search for
us. Neither Picurio nor spoke, so eager aid We
strain our ears to catch the sound Of approaching
steps, long before it was possible that any enc
could have reached the mountain. think the beat
| dead silence. a
At last we distinguished the barking Of dog.
recognized the bark at once it was Bibi la Pc
| tte,s pet. Nearer and nearer it came, until we
| could hear him whining and scratching the snow
which hid US. Then the blessed sound of human
| voices became audible Full Of hope and jov we
threw ourselves once more against our snow barri-
cade we dug att withour hands and nails striving
/ to open a cresiGe through which we might let our
/ friends know our situation. We shouted with an
our might, but the noise fell back heavily on oar
ears. Many times We were aware that the seekers
i were close to us-we heard them calling to one
another. We could hear, bnt with anguish we nm
derstood that we could not make ourselves heard
Near as the searchers were We could hold no COM
munication with them. Explanations of horror,
| pity and grief met our ears. The names OF our
unfortunate comrades were pronounced IN tones
that plainly revealed their sad fate. There was n
hustle, many directions Of how best to carry away
the bodies, wonder about MS and then onr ex-
pected deliverers departed. A horrible despair
took possession of me as their retreating steps
grew fainter and fainter; but poor Picurio always
cried Let US pray Gods right arm is long
/ enough to reach even here. "
tried to pray, but my thoughts wandered to nv
home. All the childish griefs had known we're
forgotten, and wept bitter salt tears. to think
should never see father or mother, brother or sis
tiers again; all my faults to them rose up in judg-
ment against me how solemnly vowed that
should God grant me life, would never again
rebel against the will OF my parents And la Petite
| what would she do without me? was sure she
| would die of grief
i As the night wore on, my thoughts took another
| turn-the whole scene of my own death, the and
ing of my frozen body, the despair of my poor
little sister, were moving pictures before me.
/ could not detach my fancy from the phantoms it
had evoked. Il was painfully curious the way In
which arranged and re-arranged all the details,
/ sparing myself no revolving minutn Il suppose
must at last have dropped asleep, for knew no
thing more till Pieurio called to me that he heard
posture, and we each ate Q portion Of our bread.
All that day and the ensuing night passed in alter
nations Of hope and despair. By the next morning.
the beginning Of the third day since onr entomb-
1
We were oppressed by feverish thirst and knaWing
hunger horrid death was before rs, the fate Of
those who had persisted at once was to be enYied
in comparison with the lingering suffering we anti
| cipated
We had ceased to speak-ceased to pray; had
no hope now-no faith. In moody silence we sat
| apart, watching, may say the approach Of the
pangs of death, when, suddenly the deep hush was
broken by familiar sharp bark II was Bib
again! Oh, the unutterable joy of hearing the
little fellow tearing and scratching at tho snow
blocking up our cave. There was another sound
that made hot tears rain down my cheeks; it was
childs yoice--no other than la Petite,s--crying
& He is here, uncle am sure he 10 here. OH,
| dig, good men, dig fast!n
Our hearts melted within us as we heard many
| steps nearing our prison. There were dangers.
| too, for many cautions were given. The childsS
voice still rang clear above ALL
:. Make haste-do make haste. Give me q hne-
can dig. My poor brother will be dead ii yoa
don't make haste!n
At last long stick was pushed through the
SNOWFALL; II touched mel seized it. There was
a shout of "a miracle miracle ~ mingled with
the cbid,s wild cry Of Brotherl brother: ~ Ar
other stick was thrust through. and caught by
Picurio. Not whisper was now TO be heard.
| Every one worked. Minutes seemed hours TO ma
before an opening was made large enonah 10 drag
me through.
When we once more saw daylight and dear IA
r,iiiar fall dnuyr