The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-09-08

Will ucI ldtilcf, dlu Will buCn BOou
effect, that Mr.. Merton yielded reiuc.
tant consent to have his own and his
daughters horses re-saddled, and to set
off, under my guidance, in the direction
indicated by Sing-Si.
AS we left the camp, lighted by q
broad full moon that bathed the steppe
with silvery brightness, 1 observed that
the northern sky was growing very dark,
and that the long filaments of gray cloud
had become knit together, as though the
Valkyrs were indeed busy at the loom OF
death. The wind also, blowing in fitful
gusts, had become piercingly cold, and
our very horses snorted and shifted the
air as though they scented the approach
of some viewless peril.
By the time we had ridden. as
guessed, some two miles from the
halting- place, the northern sky Had
darkened still more, and the low sobbing
of the desert wind had swelled into a
shrek, while the temperature was per-
ceptibly lowered, 80 that Ellen shiv-
cred, more from cold than fear. We
pressed on. Mr.. Merton, as 1 have said,
had been unwilling to take my counsel,
in opposition to the SCOTS and remon-
strances of his friends, but now he said,
in an altered tone:
81 begin to think, Richards, that you
and the Tartar were right. God blsss
you for your unselfsh kindness, my boy,
whatever comes of this"
Before could reply, terrified out
cry from Ellen's lips made me turn my
head, just as the first quick snowfakes
came whirling down, and there, behind
us, throwing before it, as it came, q
CHASTITY gleam of light, came from the
north shapeless whiteness, rolling pitt
lesslv ON.
"The snow! the snow" we ex-
claimed, as with one voice, urging on
our affrighted horses to their fullest
speed, while behind us, like the tide
rising fast over the sands of the sea-
shore, swept on the white wave, burying
beneath it, as it advanced, bush, and
mound, and watercOurse, and blotting
out every feature of the landscape to the
northward.
Then began race indeed, the alarmed
horses straining every sinew to outstrip
the pursuing fate but with all our
speed the drift gained upon us, and
presently we found ourselves plunging
and foundering, up to our saddle
girths, in snow. The moons radiance
was now totally obscured, but afar off,
to the westward, my eye had caught the
ruddy glow of fire such as charcoal
burners kindle among the hills, and
never did storm tossed mariners watch
the welcome beacon of some harbor
more eagerly than did i this saving
light.
The fire, as 1 had conjectured, was
burning high up on one of the wooded
spurs of the mountain range near the
sources of the Amour, but to reach ii
was no trifing task. Our exhausted
steeds, worn out by the toilsome passage
through the snow, could scarcely be
urged to fresh exertions, while the rush
of the deepening flood, and the binding
showers that dashed into our faces,
threatened at each instant to overwhelm
us. We reached the Amour at last, down
the swollen current of which were whirl-
ing masses of snow, and here Ellen's
horse fell, and could not be raised, while
that of Mr.. Merton, gasping and spent,
no longer answered to the spur.
"Save yourself, Frank leave us
why should all perish 2" groaned the
merchant.
There was some strength and spirit yet
left in the gallant Turcoman that / be-
strobe, and snatching up Ellen's light
form in my arms, 1 spurred into the
river, and struggling through, deposited
my precious burden on the turf beyond,
under the shelter of rocky boulder. i
then recrossed the ford, and bidding Mr..
Merton to cling tightly to my horses
name, for the third time breasted the
current, and half swimming, half wading,
we got through, though on the farther
bank my noble horse reeled and fell,
with faint, low neigh, and so died.
The carcasses of the others were already
buried beneath the driving snow.
The rest of our story-how, after some
fatigue, we scaled the rocky ravine where
stood the hut of the charcoal burners,
and how these rough but kindly beings
warmed and fed us, and finally enabled
us to reach Kiachta in safety-is tale OF
mere commonplace hardship. / have
been for years the happy husband OF
Ellen, and junior partner in the thriv.
ing house of Merton & Paulovitch, al
though our sphere of business has
been removed to less romantic region
than that of Eastern Siberia. OF the
fate of Count Annenkoff and the caravan
under his charge no survivor ever re-
turned to headquarters to tell the tale.
-AU the Year Round.