The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1869-03-31


after the last station. for Alice waited
for him ut the residence ota relative be- |
vond Montreal. Her aunt Ind per-
sualcd her to have tho wctldin" there
where wealth could give its glow to
tie ceremony. and what girl could re.
Si>t such an invitation:
If she were only in Montreal
murmurcd Russell. and the first few
flakes began to DRIFT slowly down.
ward.
Soon the air WAS tillrd with fine.
sharp particles. 1t grew collier ILL
stead OF warmer. or apparently so. for
the wind rose amh whir!rd the snow
iitrcrIy.
Il had showed two hours when Rus
sell ali.htr,l at the station IN M"nIr"aI
II was air~nhv dark. save iha, the
"lnu.u WAS nliti"atra by Il full moon.
! lie was half bcnumhca by cold and
/ .itiin" 80 LONG. but he could not wait
Reason told him that he was day
early. and might easily stay in the city
until tomorrow; but som" frrrri>h.
morbid haste urged him Ont WAS
! impossible for him TO rest 4uic, mo-
| mcnt..
lie stood q few moments by the
! bright fire in the waiting room. Then
! he decided TO 20 to the house occupied
! by Alicc'S parents.
! Arrived ut the house he learned with
,liSmav that Alice had left two or three
hours previous. Oppressed with fear.
lu iorrbnhing II" hurried on. taking
! thr road whirh her servant supposed
+, her driver had srlrrtnl. As h"
emerged into the open country ihr
runurrr OF the rnli"r sank deep into
the snow. tn" hnr,c4 struggled dr~-
prrnirlv through The drifts. while the
! bliu,.iu" storm and brnlimbin4 cold
almost "vrrpow"rrd him. l." arouse
himself from the lrthar"v which he
! f",t was the precursor OF death. lic
i>,rpprd out. Of the si,i"i and pl"'ll"l
on br>idc IT,. For hours. il seemed I"
! him. hr travelled. alternately. walking
and riding. ;hc animals he drove being
aiu"s, exhausted.
: Suddenly, with snort Of surprise. Of
alarm. his horse. stopped and threw nr
,hrir heads. their eyes startling i'll their
sockets 1T snucthng mhiSlimr; in The
gloom ahead.
Thrr" iS something injecting in IA"
ta'rEm Of IN animal. and l;n~Srll felt his
cheeks pal" as he moved slowly for
wrr,!, leaving the horses standin"
there.
\ shuddrr like The first chill OF IN
imprnhiny doom. shook The Young man
Il il, came upon cutter overturned IN
! the SHOW. llr was close 10 il h"inr"
! M could make out what it WAS. There
were no horses niiachcd--tlai h" SAW
. at 4 "iau"c--hut the iH"~ cut short OF.
were fastened there. The snow had
hIown away :rum one side OF ih" sleigh,
white the other side was deeply i'm
: br,idrd. lie lcapc'l uron the runner,
aHd hnrririiy pulled l;r buffalo robes
away i fear came upon him such is
! hc had never known before.
AZ la>,--;t seemed 10 him 50 long.
though il was hardly Il momentum
I that snowy rnnom>hin" he SAW the pal
!id face Of L wohan lying m"ti"nIr->
am"Hg her fur,.
! With suppressed cry hr lifted that
beautiful Form TO his >Euul,l"r. anti sat
down on The cutter. bending his lips
: to the rn'd ones ;liai could not rrSpUHl
to hi, cares. And vet >!lr WA not
,lrad--a faint breath u-t i.l!cd across
! his check.
Wa. il thus lir hal though, to greet
his promised wife: ilr could not
/ ihink--hc knew nothing but that he
! had found Alicr--.ana his whole being
rose to the resolve that il" would save
! hcr-ihat neither snow nor ice, nor
cold should take her from him. She
was his and he claimed her despite cr-
/ rrything.
Bul he could not linGcr there; he
must be moving on. though ever so
slowly. lie bore his burden to his
own cutter. taking with him the furS
! that could not save her after that fear.
lul Sleep had begun. His horses walked
on a"ain-thrr needed no guiding
they could tinl their way better than
man could direct.
| Anything but intense love would
have dr<paircd in that tempest Of snow
with that pitiicss wind freezing across
the earth. raising no glow on the blue
white l:lrc against his own.
! lie roughly rhalrd with snow her
hands and face; but he soon saw that
>cyrrcr measures must be tried; that
the lrlhar"v WAS too deep. She dimIy
! felt the deep friction. Tor she moahc!l
and seemed to shrink from it--a word-
less request TO be left alone.
! Russell had forgotten the cold for
, himself. the snow swept by him un-
hrcdcd. Again hc lifted her in his
arms and stepped ont into tue snow,
lrt,in. her stand beside him. then try
in. To make her tight her way on.
KNOWN. that if she could once be
reused she was saved.
AZ first She fell down hclplcssly.
sank inanilnalcly. with no wish to stir.
But in measure his cca>clcSS efforts
had some effect, and lie could compel
her to use her muscles slightly. though
her head dropped in IN uuknowing
stupo".
Russell fc!, that he had never suffered
before. He thought the pain aul sor-
rows Of all his life were crowded into
that one night. By slow degrees, aI-
nl"st hopclcssly slow, consciousness
and horrible suffering returned. !
Ills face was pale and sick. rs he
knew the asonics she endured. But
pain WAS the signal of life, and not now
would hc despair.