The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-05-20


q on our journey old lightning lost {
q shoe. We had expected TO reach Far
e ing by five ia tie afternoon at lat
a est and at nOon we stopped at a way
e side farmhouse and got dinner. and
l Eben tried to hire another horse, fol
= the road was rough, and presently
Lightning would be lame but thC
] farmer had driven \ span into Farine
e that morning, and wouldn't return
TIL next day. So We logged on again,
: kOen however, knew Of a place of
e the high road where ne thought he'd
I be able 70 get our horse shed, but by
the time it was done il seem ed al.
most dusk, and when got into the
! sleigh again, the cold cut me like a
knife. You know hoT short the
; December afternoons are, and it must
2 have been growing colder and colder
! every minute, only We hadn't thought
{ of 1t.
+, People in the back woods get used to
z it, only this was something / hadn't
bargained for and just as was
! wishing myself back in Aunt Lack
? lands snuggery, Eoen reined up, and
! said lie must have taken the wrong
turn. It was pitch dark by this time;
We couldn't have seen our horse IL iI
hadn't been black, or if the ground
hadn't been white with snow, and the
cold pinched me at every pore.
''On, dear ~ cried ''hOW much
trouble I've given you, Eben I' And
what do you think he answered
Nothing Is trouble that L do for
you, Lefty"
1t was as good as a hot soap stone,
if you'll pardon, the comparison it
stirred the blood to .my fingers ends,
till l was all q glow. Well, We got
back upon the highway, as we
\ thought, but it proved mistake, and
we turned to the right, and we turned
to the left, but FarIng seemed to be
playing hide and seek with us.
This beats everything" SAID Eben.
II thought knew every inch of the
road, in the country"
'Everything-looks oks-sO-different-
ly-Dy daylight" gasped, my teeth
chattering in my head.
"1Ou are freezing TO death, Lefty"
said ne. "What a blOcknead am 2"
aud lst then shaft broke, and there
we were Lost on a dreary country
road, at nine o'clock of bitter, star
less night. As luck would nave it,
We had come TO grief only few yards
from log hut, which stood out DARK
ly against the snow.
Tine inmates have gone 30 bed"
said Ebsn, "but We will rouse them :"
and he knocked upon the rude door,
which swung open at bis touch. We
had happened on q road made for
their own convenience by the lumber
men, and the hut was a remnant of
last years camp deserted and cheer
less as last years nest.
at is q shelter at least" said Eben.
81 will build fire, Lefty, aud stop
your chattering." And he built fire,
heaven only knows how, with MOTH
ing but the matches he carried in his
pocket TO light his steps and he sat
down before the grateful blaze
swathed in buffalo robes and a half
burned pine knot, which he found in
the hut, served him for lantern,
while he blanketed and led poor old
Lightning to the hovel where the
lum bermen had hOdsed their cattle,
and left an armlul OF straw, and he
made tie bolt fast with a piece of
wood.
"Letty," said he, 'I'm AFRAID we
GAeAAA w OLeAg aIAC iii
L think We have taken some back |
country road which has led us away |
from Fariug; and the shaft is in |
splinters, and there's not an inch OF
rope or anything about the premises, |
and was too big a fool to bring any |
thing of the kind. l don't know |
where am any more than If I'd been |
born blind. L don't know how l be- |
came so bewildered. We might ride |
pillion, perhaps, but you'd freeze TO
death here can kesp you from per-
ishing, at least"
"Oh, let US stay here it is quite
comfortable in comparison" | said /
land Pm afraid to go out again into |
the great dark night.-What a pre-
cious thing daylight is Aren't you
cold, Eben On what's that some |
Dody's dog 2" AS the door OF the hut |
tremoled, and a pair of sharp eyes |
looked in.
"Only q wolf" laughed Eben,
"Don't be troubled he's too wise TO
come in; he's afraid of the fire."
"Oh, but you'll have to go out after
wood to keep the fire alive On Eben
if it hadn't been for me !"
"Never fear, the pine knot will |
keep him at a respectful distance; and i
if that fails, why hereis my pistol. l
never travel to Faring without it,"
81 never regarded a pistol as q /
blessing BEFORE" said L.
But oh, what night it was 1 |
couldn't think of anything but DR.. |
Kane in the artic regions. Though |
our wood fire snapped briskly, and |
Eben kindly heated q rock to put at |
my feet, and the buffalo robes were as
warm as wool, yet there was dread
full sense of isolation aud danger out |
there in the woods, with the wind |
roaring through the trees like thing |
possessed, and bOughs cracking, aud |
sometimes the howl of a wolf, making |
ones heart stand still for an instant. /
Perhaps you don't know what q
camp III the woods is like ? Well, in |
tue first place there is no floor but the |
bare ground, with spruce bOughs laid
over it for carpeting I; it is built of half
heWn logs, and il has q window or
two, with wooden shutters, and there's
hole in one end of the roof fer the
smoke to pass through Sometimes
tney build rough chimney of stones;
but this hut was without this modern
convenience, and there were knot
holes ih the shutters, and the door
had no fastening, and sometimes the
wind blew it wide open, and gave one
glimpse of the black frosty night
outside, with now and then the CLINT
Of star on the ragged edge of cloud,
and the fir trees standing out darby
and taking ali manner of shapes.
1t seemed 10 me that Eben was al
ways stirring about, gathering fire.
wood, or attending to my comfort in
some way. couldn't persuade him
that there were enough buffalo robes
for Us both and once, when he was
outside gathering fuel, put my head
out the door, and froZe the tears on
my eyelids. Sometimes Eben would
presume to take my hand in his, to
make sure l was warm, and tuck the
wraps about more snugly; and he
tried to distract my mind from the
situation by telling me stories of the
wood choppers and life on boom of
logs and once or twice he tried to
sing, and he whistled like all the
birds in the forest, just to seem cheer
ful and at last fell into a dOze, and
walked, shivering, with a start, to find
the grey dawn creeping in through |
the chink5 and knot holes and TO hear
q strange voice outside calling, "Good
morning to you, Sir Gee, Bright
How's this for cold snap, eh ?' 1t
was q teamster, tOiling up from the
mill village to haul logs and as soon
as he knew our straight, he turned
about, took out his oxen, and put
them up in the hOvel, harnessed old
Lightning into his team, and drove
US to Faring more dead than alive.
"a pretty cold snap" echoed the
landlord of the Sunbeam Tavern. as
we entered ga pretty cold snap, 1
take it. Hollao, what's the matter ?D
Eben had slipped from his seat
upon the floor in dead faint You
may guess was pretty well frightened
'as 1 deserved to be-
ats all my fault-all my fault 81
1 cried, forgetting the by-standers and
the strange doctor.
''Pity's sake" said the landlady, "is
the cold snap your fault ? Are you too
blame for the weather, miss? Pm
afraid the cold has drove you out of
vour head You had beftar have /