The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-03-20
A Pioneer Thanksgiving.

feel lonesome II is o good thing you
are not q coward, or / should have ia
take you and Daisy to mill with me.
shall be back by noon tomorrow, so il
you get along tonight, You will be al
right. By-by, Daisy"
He waved his hand to baby, and
drove off.
He was going to get eur winters flour
from the mill, seventy-five miles off, the
nearest one to us; we were early set
tiers on the prairies, and the nearest
house was three miles OF, but we
were young, strong, full oflove and am
bition, and not afraid of either work or
hardships, and though we had only been
on the prairie short year, and lived in
a log cabin of two rooms, we called ii
home, and looked forward to the time
when we should build nice frame
house, and take the old one for stable.
sometimes grew lonely, shut out as
was from the companionship Of my sex,
but l had the sweetest baby in the
world, and / filled mp all my leisure
moments in working for, or fondling
her. '
1t was the evening before Thanksgiv-
ing on which Frank started for the mill;
circumstances had rendered it necessa-
ry that he should go at that particular
time, but intended to prepare little
feast for him, when he should return
next day, and then we would read over
our last letter from home, and talk over
what we knew they were doing in the
dear New England farmhouse, and so
manage to make bit of holiday.
was busy till it grew dark; had
two cows to milk aud stable-Frank
had cared for the rest of the stock-and
number of little things that divided
my time with Daisy, who was ten
months old, and perfect cherub, at
least so her father and l thought.
When had eaten my supper, with
Miss Daisy on my lap, snatching every
mouthful away, in the most cunning
manner imaginable, got the rude
cradle III which she slept, in order to
receive her, and divestiHg her plump
little form of its day clothes, rolled it
in q warm flannel nightdress, and nest
ling her into her cradle, sat and rocked
her until her blue eyes closed in slum-
Der. Then placed the cradle-a bar
rel sawed in two lengthwise, and pro.
vided with rockers-on the table, to
protect her from draughts, and my work
being finished, sat down by the win
dow, and looked down upon the night.
1t was clear moonlight, and as far as
| could see, one broken crust of snow,
for winter had come upon us early that
year. felt very lonely, as / sat and
looked for miles across the level plain,
and knew there was no human being
IL. IL, - II kY,a
afraid, for Frank had frequently been
from home before, all night; but it was
so dreadfully still and dreary. | al
most wished an Indian visitor would
come, as they sometimes did. Frank
had been powerful agent in their be-
half with the government, and they
were very friendly with us.
But no step or sound broke the still
ness, except the short bark of distant
prairie wolf, or the lowering of the cat
tie in the barn near. was not afraid
of the wolves, though they roamed about
in immense packs, but they were small,
cowardly animals, only dangerous when
suffering from extreme hunger.
AS | sat and watched the moonlit
snow, thinking of home, and Thousand
things in the happy past, l saw that
the wolves were becoming quito nu-
merous, drawing near with short steal
thy steps, then springing back with
their discOrdant howl. / could easily
account for their unusual numbers.
The day before, Frank had killeda bHf.
falo, which had been cut off from pass
ing herd, and he had left the offal in the
barn yard. The carcass was cut up in
a.. l. ha
er, and the skin was frozen on the ridge
pole of the house, where it would stay
until spring thawed it out. was not
the least afraid of the wolves, but their
presence made me feel lonelier, aud
determined to 60 to bed.
But first 1 hung Daisy's stockings
over the fireplace, pendant from fork,
which | drove in among the bricks, and
after filling the toe with sugar plums,
put in the rattle and shoes, and pleased
myself with imagining how cunning she
would look in the morning, getting
them out with her chubby fingers.
Then | raked up the hot embers, first
covering them well with ashes, then
packing them down under sheet of
old iron that kept them until morning.
Wood was hard to get, for we did not
live near timber, and we had to be
economical oft.
Daisy was SO warm and so soundly
sleeping, that I thought / would not
disturb her; she seldom woke until
morning, bat l never left her in the
crib except for few hours. scarcely
knew why | determined to let her sleep
in the cradle that night, but she looked
so sweet with only her dimpled cheeks
and nose visible through the soft blank
ct that hated to disturb'her.
So went into the next room-there
were only twO-and left the door open,
so that | could see the cradle on the ta-
BILE from where / lay, and l fell into q
doze with my eyes fixed on it.
dreamed vague disturbed dreams, in
which l seemed still to be going my
daily rounds, and even thought l went
and got baby, and laid her in the bed
beside me, and then sank Into q heavy,
dreamless sleep, that lasted l know not
how long, when I was awakened by q
| fearful crash-a succession Of the most
terrific noises. 49, -.-.-.---.-
Ihad left O dim light bnrning, and
my first thought was to look beside me
for Daisy; she was not there; then re-
membered with inexpressiblo anguish,
aud self-reproach, that bad left her in
the cradle. sprung into the next
room,- and merciful heavens! what a
sight for O mother, The table and crib
overturned on the floor, and the room
Ifilledvith raveneus wolvesl They had
crept down through the square open
chimney needed them not-my child
my darling-I might yet save her
but even in that awful moment seemed
to possess every faculty, aud like light
ming it flashed over ME. Why did she
not cry' Another Instant, and / had
caught the cradle from the floor and
shook it free of the table, while the
wolves snarlsd around ME like fiends OF
darkness. God help me! my baby
was gone was frantic
] then If the wolves had
been so many dogs, Icould not have
feared them less. They were tearing
and eating the freshly killed meat,
whose scent had attracted them, and
dashed into their midst to find my baby
! There was not trace of her, not raj
meut of her clothiDg-nothing that