The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-04-02

H. Mr.. Oakhurst was light sleepe
oil Toward morning he awokg benumb,
v and cold. As he stirred the dyir
n fire, the wind, which was now bio,
ic ing strongly, brought to his che,
" that which caused the blood toilea,
le it-snow o. ,TL,.
r. He started to his feet with the i
r. ,ention of awakening the, sleeper
4, for there was no time to lose.f B,
te turning to where Uncle Billy ba
70 been lying. he fonnd him gone.
,r suspicion leaped to his brain and
ID curse To his lips. lie ran 10 the So,
% where the mules had been tetheretl
Ie they were no longer there tPf
l. tracks were already rapidly disaJ
1t Ipearing in the snow. l..
e The momentary excitement bro
Mr. Oakhusst bask 10, the FIRE wit
l. his usual calm. He did not wake
= the sleepers. The Innocent sluu
d bered peacefully, with smile o
Ii his good-humored, freckled face; th
S virgin Piney slept beside her fraile
y sisters as sweetly as though attende
s by celestial guardians, and MI
8 Oakhurst, drawing his blanket owe
= his shoulders, stroked his mustach
d and waited for the dawn 1t cam
J, slowly in whirling mist of snow
l flakes, that dazzled and confused th
= eye. What could be seen of the land
scape appeared msgically changed
t lie looked over the valley, an,
3 summed up the present and future il
5 two words-"Snowed in! ~ 3,
t a careful inventory Of the provis
ions, which, fortunately for the party
) had been stored wi hin the hut, anC
: so escaped the felonious fingers oil
Uncle Billy, disclosed the fact that
t with care aud prudence they NIGH
, last ten days longer. "That is'' sait
; Mr. Oakhurst, soto roee to The In
, nocent, ''if you're willing to board
us. Ii you aint--and perhaps yon'd
better not-can wait till Uncle Billy
. gets back with provisions" For SONS
occult reason, Mr.. Oakhurst could
not bring himself 10 disclose Uncle
Billy's rascality, and so offered the
j hypothesis that he had wandered
from the camp and had accidentally
stampeded the animals. He drop.
1 ped warning to the Duchess and
! Mother ShiptOn, who OF course knew
the facts of their associates dclec.
ton. They'll ind out the truth
about us all, when they find out any.
thing" he added, significantly, land
there's no good frightening them
now" ,e .Ir-
ron Simson not only put all his
worldly store at the disposal of Mr.
0akhurst, but seemed to enjoy the
prospect of their enforced seclusion
"We'll have q good camp for a week
and then the snow'll melt, and well
all go back together.' The cheerful
gayety of the young man and Mr.
Oakhurst's calm injected the others.
The Iaroceut, wish the aid OF pine
boughs, extemporized thalch for
the roofless cabin, and the Duchess
directed Piney in the re arrangement
of the interior with a taste and tact
that opened the blue eyes of that
provincial maiden to their fullest eX-
tent. 81 reckon now you're used to
fine things at Poker Flat,' said
Piney. The Duchess turned away
sharply to conceal something that
reddened her checks through its
professional tint, and Mother Ship
ton requested Plney not 20 "chatter. :"
But when Mr.. Oakhurst returned
from weary search for the trail, he
heard the sound OF happy laughter
echoed from the rocks He stopped
in some alarm, and his thoughts first
naturally reverted TO the whisky
which he had prudently cached.-
sand yet it don't somehow sound
like whisky" said the gambler. 1t
was not until he caught sight of the
blazing fire through the still binding
storm, and the group around it, that
he settled to the conviction that it
was square fun."
Whether Mr.. Oakhurst had cached
his cards with the whisky as some
thing debarred to the free access OF
the community, cannot say. 1t was
certain that, in Mother ShiptOn's
words, he ''didn't say cards once"
during that evening. Happily the
time was beguiied by an ACCORDION,
produced somewhat ostentatiOusly
by Tom Simson, from his pack.
Notwithstanding some difficulties
attending the manipulation of this
instrument, piney Woods managed
to pluck several reluctant melodies
from its keys, to an accompaniment
by The Innocent on pair of bone
castinets. But the crowning festivi-
ty OF the evening was reached in a
rude camp-meeting hymn, which the
lovers, joining hands, sang with
crest earnestness and vOciferation.
| fear that certain defiant tone and
Covenanter's swing TO its chorus,
rather than any devotional quality,
caused it to speedily infect the
others, who at last joined in the
refrain: .Hr
'I'm proud to live in the service of The Lord,
And I'm bound to die ia Ills army.
The pines rocked, the Storm edd;ed
and whirled above the miserable
group and the flames of their altar
leaped heavenWard, as II in token of
the VOW. #s..... -+ ...
At midnight the storm abated, the
rolling clouds parted, and the tsrs
glittered keenly above the sleeping
camp. MIR. Oakhurst, whose pro
fessional habits had enabled him to
live on the smallest possible amount
OF sleep, in dividing the watch with
Tom Simson, somehow managed to
take upon himself the greater part
of that duty. He excused himself to
The Innocent by saying that he had
soften been a week without Sleep"
''Doing what!' asked Tom. '.Pokerh
replied Oakhurst, senteBtiously
''when a man gets streak of luck
nieger luck--he don't get tired. The
luck gives in first. Luck" coniinu-
ed the gambler, refiectively, lis
mighty queer thing. All YOU know,
about it for certain is that it's bound
to change. And it's finding out
when it's going to change that makes
you. We've had a streak of bad
luck since we left Poker Flat-yo ou
come along and slap you get into it,
too. If you can hold your cards
right along you're all right. "For,"
added the gambler, with cheerful
Iirreleyance, -d a--.