The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-12-16

off I can get there by ten o'clock
te-nigh,tl !, can ! make the Eastern ex-
!" You can, but l doubt if you can get
there at all" ....-....
9"Why r' asked. y
He was not man to waste words. He
only said: s'sisa i-@''s'af z
8The stage won't go on account of the
storm"
aAre you sure of thatY'. i yentured to
"Quite sure" and he closed his Lip
~" Who owns the stage 2" -
81 do" he replied. "And won't let
it go, because Che road lies over that
mountain yonder; it runs close to the,
edges of precipices several hundred feet
high /; it is rough and slippery; the snow
Is deep now, and getting deeper every
minute, and don't believe horse can
pull through it. 4
1 thought of the little children waiting
for me yonder-ef their bitter disap-
pointment if l did not come. Then I
said:. 2
81 am very anxious to go, and I am
willing to pay well for being TAKEN" K
The landlord, leaning over the bar,
asked:
Chow muchf' y
1 told him what 1 was willing to give.
cru 90 and get the stage ready" he
said. - 80 .
After all, it was only the higher price
he had been waiting for. In'fve min
utes the stage was at the door. 1t was
an ordinary box wagon, on geod, strong
springs, having cotton cover, open in
front. The horse was halfstarved,
jaded Hooking beast. | took all this in
as stood on the porch waiting for the
driver. AT last, getting impatient, 1
t"Where is the driverr' -
/ The landlord, without speaking,
pointed to an ill-clad boy standing at
the horses head. ss4I looked closely at
him. He might be, 1 thought, fifteen
years old, or he might be not more than
ten. His eyes were clear blue, and he
hearing my questions, turned them full
upon mine with frank, boyish smile,
rebuking the distrust my words implied,
and lighting up every +, ature of his del
icate face. His complexion was like
that of a girl, his mouth small and ten
der, his hair yellow, and his figure slight
and sinuous.
looked at him, standing there shiver-
ing with the cold, out through the
driving storm, along the snow. covered
mountain road we were to travel to-
gether, and asked:
care you not afraid to go?"
The landlord interrupted:
at don't matter If he is afraid. He
| Ill 30 II I'll
"No," said, he shall not 60 if he is
not willing"
."I am not at all afraid" the boy re-
piled, "and am quite willing to 60. l
have gone often and often through worse
storms than this" ESQ
There was an earnest, manly grace
even in the way he shook the gathered
flakes from his tattered cap and in his
voice there was such hearty, CHEEKY
ring, that from that moment trusted
and loved the boy.
jumped into the stage, took the back
seat, drew my great frieze coat close
about my legs, and we drove off from
among the gaping, soOty crowd OF miners
into the lonely mountain road, and into
the cruelest storm of wind and snow that
/ ever saw. ~ .aA"
The boy sat on the front seat, waiting
to be spoken to, looking straight ahead.
When we were quite clear of the
struggling huts of the miners, on the out
ermost limits of the town, asked him
his name. M =.
"They call me Lewis Snively," he
said
"How old are you, LewisT was my
next question.
Fourteen next April, sir"
"Do you live at home with your
father and mother2"
"That man yonder is all the father or
mother have, and his stable loft is the
only home have ever had since he took
me from the poor house. That was bet
ter than the stable, though, for they
taught me something there"
There were no complaining chords in
the tones in which these bitter words
were said; and while he was speaking he
was drawing the long whip gently across
the horses back, brushing of the snow
that had fallen on it.
"Have you been driving on this road
long~ l inquired.
"Going on three years; it will be three
years in March,"
as it cold out there? Colder than in
here, ImeanT
II think it is," he replied; the
wind and snow cut 20. But j don't
mind, sir; We get used to rough weather
up in these hills" f.e
az wish you would come in here; my
coat will cover us both"
"No, / can't" he said. "I must
watch the road now. We have to 60
pretty close to precipices sometimes"
"How close % asked.
"Within a few inches. can't zee
now five yards ahead, the snow falls SO
heavily"
"Do you think it is safe, then, to go
onw - -..f...f --.gsyr-2 tIa
"Quite safe, sir, and don't mind the
cold" But his teeth chartered as he
said it, and the ruddy glow was all gone
from bis cheeks.
did not talk much more then. There
were, I discovered, wide cracks in the
bottom Of the stage, through which the
wind poured mercilessly. was chilled
through to the heart in less than an hour
after starting. do not know how far
we had gone, or how long we had been
upon the road, when heard the boys
voice, CHEEKY and bright, asking:
"How are you now, sirf Feeling
4 pretty comfortable, sirT'
nodded my head and crept closer
into the corner. But he was, wiser than
/, and would not let me have the sleep I
coveted. f 80
"You are in hurry to get home," he
said, for want of something better to say
to arouse me. s.srsf
eyes; want to be al home on Christ
mas eve" / replied.
"The best days I ever knew were
Cbristmsses--a good while ago."
He said it as II he were ever and ever
80 old, and, what was saddest of all, as II
he were done with Christmas forever. !
told him Of the tree was to get, and
how Christmas day was kept In the great