The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1875-04-17
a Struggle in the Dark.
a STORY FOR YOUNG rEorI.E.

Twenty miles tonight! Confound
moosc-hunting !" cried the doctor, looking
round to the rest of us, who were much
of his opinion, rs we stood there, with the
snow sitting down through the bare for
est branches and rattling incicmcntly on
the dried leaves.
"3y ucorgcr' cried Brown. This is
tougher than anything l saw in the ser
vi :G! Twenty miles in such Storm"
mo use grumbling; you would come,
you know; may rs well make the best of
it," said Sanders. "But we've got long
tramp; SO let's he or"
We were, We judged, somewhere in the
town Of Grafton, Maine, on the head wa
tcrs OF Bear River, tributary of the An
droscoggin. We had come up the day
before, with hounds, after n moose re-
ported Ia have been seen some miles he
lew. Yesterday had been a beautiful
Indian summer day, the last Of its race
for winter had burst down upon us with
hail md snow, driven by the cutting
northeast wind, which sighed and h0wlcd
with November drcarincss through the
lcatlcn forest.
The moose Ind Jared much better than
his hunters, for, after leading us off stead
us to get back tho best way we could in
storm and darkness.
Our purity consisted Of five: the "iloc-
tor" y0ang medical student, just "ut ri
schrnl and never in the woods before
Brown, IL returned cavalry man; my
brother Tom and myself, then boys Of
fifteen, and lastly, Sanders, an old back
wOodsman who, in his younger days, had
Il.
and trnppcr. Twas queer party, col
lcctcd rather hastily, TO CRAFTY the doc
tors ill-timcd enthusiasm 10 hunt IL moose.
Sanders was the only one possessing the
slightest knowledge of woOdcraft.
For two or three hours VIC trumpcd OH
steadily, following down the river, and
consoling ourselves, as best we might,
with the reflection that, provided wrdilln't
get lost, we should get down to some
farmhouse hy midnight, possibly. Ii
was now past five O'Clock. and getting
quite dark, when we noticed that the for
est lightcncd up ahead, md few mo-
mcnts later we came out into large
opening on tho stream, containing lig
building Of some sort.
"IIurrah!" shouted the doctor, "ihcrc's
L house"
"Not house, exactly" said Brown,
straining his eyes to rccOnnoitrc. 81
should call TINT barn"
"IIay-fnrm hero, guess, said Sanders;
"whcrc they cut hay for the logging
camps. No house here
mo light, anyway" said Tom.
"Wcll, Them" cried the doctor, strik.
ing out across tho clearing, "in lack of n
house, VIC will try the barn"
We all followed; any snrt Of shelter
wns gndscnd on such might, and We
were soon stumbling round the corner Of
II great deserted structure Of rough
boards, looming up loncsomrly nmd the
| whirling SNOW, with one of its "grcat
doors" swinging and banging with dis.
nal slams.
We d0dgcl in, however, and cnntrivcd
To secure the reckless old door by stand.
ing piccc Of timber slnntingly against
il on the outside. There was large
quantity of hay stored within. The scat
folds and mOws were filled up Ia the
"high beams" and there was also lut
lying ,sc on tho ilonr.
Il wouldn't do to kindc fire in there
nnd nobody wanted ono enough to buiIt
IL out in the SNOW, so wc divided the rc
mnindCr Of our "cpld bite" in the dark
and after eating it, shook down bed o
hay aud turned in sidc by side, with
beautiful cOvGrlct of the same material
For n long time wc lay talking and con
graduating ourselves in our comiurtnbl,
bunk, till, after n while, first Brown, thcI
the doctor, and soon after Sanders, brgal
snoring drowsily. Tom took up the cho
rus, and didn't listen much longer.
don't know how long wc had beer
nslccp, when all Mt once I woke with
jump and in considerable alarm. Some
thing was snulling aud scratching through
| the hay down nj my feet. was sure
felt claws on my bont. II took me mo
mrnt to rccollcct where wus, and I
then flashed into my mind that the doc
tor was playing of another Of bis joke
(hc was always Ht iO to frightcn me.
The scratching and rustIing continued
working up nearer; but I waited for