Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-01-04
A Brave Christian Woman.

Here is a true story of mining life,
is worthy to be readunder any Christ
mas tree In last. October, a farmer
with his wife, and three children left
the Scotch Presbyterian settlement in
Western Pennsylvania to which he be-
longea, and set out to the Black Hills
in the hope of mending his fortunes.
Ill-luck steadily followed him. On
reaching the camp, he was struck down
with fever and lay helpless for weeks,
during which he was nursed by the
miners. In November his wife gave
birth to a baby, and died the next day.
The camp had now the father, who was
sinking day by day, and four helpless
children ON its hands. A certain little
woman in a distant camp heard o, their
trouble and came to see what was to be
done. The baby was weak and sickly,
and after a few days she declared it, to
be impossible to keep it alive through
the terrors of a winter in camp with
the thermometer 80 degrees below zero.
The only safety for any of the children
was to go back to their home in Penn
sylvania. G" 90 - 81 aS s Z.
But how were they to 90? There
was the journey of nearly 1000 miles;
the wagon trains were in danger Of
daily attack from hostile Indians, the
snow was from six to ten feet deep.
The woman Ito whom the children
and their parents were neither kinsfolk
nor acquanintances) offered to take
charge of them. A wagon train vas
to pass the camp in a few days on its
way to Fort Laramie. Our camp pre-
pared a wagon, furnished it with a
feather bed, etc, and our gallant little
woman gathered together a spirit lamp,
provisions, and such poor comforts as
could be had for the children. The
train arrived; every miner was busy
making them ready; enc brought his
bedding, another clothes; there was
not a dry eye left in camp when the
poor babies were taken in to say good
bye to their dying father. After he
had kissed them for the last time, he
turned his face to the wall, and they
were hastily carried out and started
upon their long and perilous journey.
Their kind friend was the only woman
in the train of thirteen wagons; one of
her helpless charges, be it remembered,
was a baby two weeks old. The
cold was extreme; several times
the wagons were blocked by
snow; twice attacked by scouting par
ties of Indians; but this woma and
her children were made o sacred
charge. AT night her wagon was placed
in the center of the corral, the others
forming a line of defense about it.
They reached a station on the Over
land Route at last, and she was put safe
ly aboard the cars. Our exchange, a
country newspaper, states that she had
arrived with the children, delivered
them to their grandparents, and in1me-
diately started on her return to the
Black Hills.
There is the whole story. The chill
dren are safe; their father, lei us hope,
still lives in camp and will sec them
again. We do not know the wopan'S
name, nor whether she is maiden, wife,
or widow. In all probability she will
never be heard of again. But she had
a friendly soul, and, we can not but
think, had, like the woman of Israel,
touched afar off the garment of Christ,
and that virtue had gone out from Him
to her. We tell the story just as it
comes to US, not because such friendly
souls, and good women, and unselish
deeds are rare, but because they are
many, and because it is the most whole
some of all things for US to remember
az this Christmas season how many and
how possible they are.-N6v York
Tribune.