American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-04-03
NO. A..

| tOnishing happened.
| A violent gust of wind seemed to leap
| from around the corner of tall mass of
rocks and crags, and in its arms it car
ried a vast cloud of snow, which it raised
| in the air and hurled down upon our
travellers, who were instantly buried
| from sight.
This was one of the terrible whirlwinds
| which often occur in the Alps, when
great volumes of newly-fallen snow are
| carried through the air and thrown here
| or there in masses many feet In depth.
1t was as sudden as a flash of lightning
one moment PaolO was walking cheer
| fully along the road, and in the next he
| was buried deep under an immense heap
of snow!
For "a moment he did not know what
had happened-it seemed as if he had
been struck blind. He was not hurt, but
the world had suddenly disappeared
from his sight.
1t was not long, however, before he
! knew what had happened. There was
snow above and below him-snow in his
eyes, snow in his cars and nose and mouth
He could not get up because there was
snow on top of him, and when he tried
to get his legs under him he could find
no support for his feet, for there was
| nothing but soft snow beneath him.
He could breathe, but that was about
all he could do.
Paolo soon felt himself sinking lower
and lower in the soft snow. He tried
again to get his feet straight down I'M
der him and this time they touched
something hard. He knew then that he
stood on the ground.
He had no idea how much snow was
piled up over him, nor did he think
much about it. Now that he could
get his feet on something firm, all
| that he thought of was to push or scratch
| himself out of that bed of snow just as
| fast as he could. He thrust his feet
| against the ground; he leaned forward
and scratched and dug with his hands
| and arms like little terrier after rat.
| dug and sputtered snow out of his
| mouth, and so scratched his way along
| for several yards. Then he suddenly
| stumbled out into the open air and went
plump down precipice.
He did not know far he fell, but he
knew that he went backforemost into a
! bed of snow with a crust on it, through
| which he broke with gentle crunch, as
when you throw a stone through pane
of glass.
The snow under the crust was not very
hard and his fall only Jared him little.
And yet the snow was packed hard
out of the hole he had made and to look
around him. He found that he was on
an old bed of snow that lay on ledge
some twenty feet below the road and
from which the fresh snow had been
blown. The mass of snow which had
overwhelmed him and his companions
he could see piled up on the road above
| him. If another gust of wind should
come around that corner it might be
again.
So he hurriedly scrambled to his feet
and tried to get away from under that
steep precipice with it's great cap of
snow. But he could not 60 very far.
The crust broke beneath him very often !;
there were hollow places filled with new
snow, through which he could scarcely
push his way; it was showing faster and
faster and he was very cold. He could
not climb up to the road, and # he could
have done so there was that great mass
of snow out of which he had been SO
glad to get.
He did not know what to do; SO he sat
down.
! Then he drew up his knees and tried
to get warm and to think. He could not
get warm, but he could think very easily.
He thought about his parents, and what
wretch he was to come away from
them as he had done. What was goat,
after all, that he should risk his life for
it9 And yet he didn't know, when he
started, that he was risking his life,
though that was no matter now, for he
had done it and there was no going back.
Here he was. alone in the midst of the
great Alps. 1t was dreadful solemn and
cold The air was full of the smell of
snow. Snow beneath him and all around
him. Above him, too; for it was falling
on him until he looked like n little snow
boy as he sat there drawn up in a bunch
He did not expect any help now. He
knew the Alps too well to suppose, even
if his companions had succeeded in get
ting out of that snow-drift, that they
could find him where he now was. He
could not shout. His lips and tongue
seemed frozen stiff. He could not see
very far.
He began to feel a little warmer now,
and drowsy. He knew that if he went
to sleep he would never wake again.
But he didn't care; he might as well be
comfortable. And there was nobody on
earth who could save him. If anybody
came to him there, they would die too.
The best thing he could do would be to
go to sleep.
In all the whole world there was no
! one who could save this poor boy-that
| is if you did not count in Caspar: the
snow-king.
He could do it. And he did do 1t.
Right through the snOw-storm came
| that great beast! Rushing over the
| frozen crust, plunging through the deep
places; bounding, leaping, caring not for
| drift or storm, like a snow-king, as he
was, came Caspar!
He made one dash at Paolo and rolled
| him over in the snow Then he parked
| at him, as much as to say:
Wake up! you foolish boy! Don't
! you know Pm here? It's all right now"
He pushed Paolo first on one side and
| then on the other, and when he had made
! him open his eyes and stare about him
| the great Caspar barked again, in his
| ioudest, freest tones. A snow-storm
didn't interfere with his voice.
Again and again he barked, as if he
were shouting:
"Hello-o, I've found him, Here he is!''
Caspar had not barked very long before
two men came toiling through the storm.
| One was St. Bernard monk and the
! other was one of the men with whom
Paolo had started out in the morning.
These two took the boy by the arms
and raised him up. They shook him and
they made him drink little brandy that
| the monk had with him and then they
led him away between them.
Caspar went ahead, so that it should be
all right.
| They walked back with great difficulty
by the way they had come and soon
reached a place where the road could be
regained, ut IA point some distance be
| yOnd the Snow-dritt.
Then they pressed on to the convent.
The four men had been overwhelmed