Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-12-19

, and howled and whistled. Some
times great gust would come, car
rying a shower of bright sparks il
my chimney, and then howl dow
as if it was some demon that wan
ted to get. into my house. Thel
again the gale would moan ant
whine like some one in pain, O.
pant and shrek, as though some
poor creature were perishing in the
drifts, then would come the roal
like a furious wild beast!
Atlength the sound grew gradu
ally fainter and fainter, the WIND
seemed to be dying away, until
at last all was still and silent as
the grave, except, it may be, q
low, muffled growl, very, very fa'
/ off.
1 dropped to sleep. How long
slept knew not; but when l
woke all was dark, and my fire
was nearly out. / jumped up,
laid some splits on the ashes; but
there was not draught enough to
kindle them, and the room was
full of smoke. When l opened
the door l found one solid wall
of snow filling up the entire door
way. This, however, was no
more than l expected. Going
back to my fireplace | looked up
the fue, and the snow seemed to
form an arch over it. Can it be
possible, thought l, that | am bu-
ried alive beneath the snow.
Taking my shovel, l dug into
the white mass that blocked my
door; but, after excavating some
five or six feet, no daylight ap-
peared 1t was evident that the
hut was many, many feet beneath
the surface, being situated at the
foot of the hill, which rose some
sixty or seventy feet in the rear.
/ came to the conclusion that from
the brow of the hill, out to per-
haps the well, or even beyond, was
all one solid block of snow, which
| could not expect to see removed
for three or four months To dig
my way out wonld be difficult, if
not impossible, and certainly some
what dangerous; for, should the
tunnel cave in, where was L?
Smothered!. To remain idle
would never answer, on the other
hand; for my fire would not burn,
but only shoulder, and fill the
premises with smoke, bad enough
to blind one; and then my stock
of water would soon be exhaus-
ted.
After pondering the matter over
for long time, l resolved at last
to risk tunnel, at any rate. 1
thought, as I had no difficulty in
breathing, and as my lamp burned
pretty well, that air must come in
from some hole or corner, and per-
haps the drift might not be SO
high after all. So, tying string
around my waist, and fastening
the other end to the staple of the
door lock, | commenced to work
my way along. 1t was dreadful
hard work, and no mistake-that
it was; for, as | could not remove
the snow, / had to trample it down
and press it each side, and melt
it, and SO make away with it as
best could.< And then the air
was so close and hot that l was in
a bath of perspiration all the time.
One night l woke up with the
cold shivers; and the next day,
if l may call it day, l was prop
er sick, violent cold. The way
l cured myself was to get up and
dig for dear life at the snow tun-
mel, until | was dripping wet, and
as hot as plum-pudding just out
Of the poi,
In day Qr two | began to hear
. faint roaring sound of wind, and
then the light grew stronger and
stronger, which gave me hopes
that l must be coming oHt. This
caused me to reneH labor with
fresh vigor. At every shovelful,
almost, the noise of the wind and
the glimmer of light increased,
until at last, all at once, the top
of the tunnel caved in, and, after
considerable struggling and toll
ing, l came out once more to the
light of day. Shaking
the snow from myself, l found it
c,,nDoco1 Tbaro xuos a |