The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1878-08-29
TERMS, 50 90 PER YEAR.

clined to yield; but ,-,aZI Doi Al
that she was dealing with n-,Is, uA
drel, she said J.: "Mr. Van
believe that told you tn. o'
couldn't have any OF my peltries.
"Well, Miss Stysnder, you'll be OF
ry some Day that you didn't obiis'
me-" he said, as he left the door.
When Polly opened the letter, ali
her hopes were dashed to the ground.
It was from Harry. He was very i'll
st st. Paul, and begged Polly 10 come
to him, otherwise he thought he
should die.
"WelI," said Polly, 'ff we must
give up all hopes of buying the farm,
or even forty acres, / suppose we'll
have TO. I'm take a good part OF
what ! have 10 get Henry home, and
it'll take more than q week TO 90 and
come, and New Year isn't fsr of.
Every day is precious. But we must
save HarTy's life, for the poor fellow
will get well If we once get him
home"
And so, without regarding her
mothers warning that there was .
storm brewing, she started out In her
canoe to 20 down the lake to get 3
team with which TO go for Harry.
Her own was an OK team, and to go
In the stage was costly, and besides
Harry couldn't stand the day and
night riding in the stage, for the dis
tance was = hundred and forty miles.
She hired team for q trip to St.
Paul. She could not get II until the
Monday following and so she wrote q
letter to Harry, telling him that she
WAS coming, and then started to pad
die around the shore and look at her
traps. When she had got to q place
which she and Harry had called
Rocky HarbOr, on the opposite side OF
\ the lake, she found a dead deer, partly
eaten by wolves, and knowing the
wolves would return after dark, she
set several traps for them. Then she
| hastened back to her canoe, for II was
now late, and there could be no doubt
that the November storms with
which the winter almost always be-
gins in that climate, were now at
hand.
But before she could SET loot in her
canoe the storm came, and in an in
stant the air was so filled with snow
that an object twenty feet away was
/ invisible. 1t took but q moment for
/ Polly to appreciate her situation. To
paddle across the lake in such storm
was out of the question. The wind
was coming up, and it would be alike
impossible 10 coast around the shore.
Besides it was great distance, and
ice would begin TO form before she
could get half way. There were no
families living on that side OF the
lake. Her only course was to stay
where she was. Her spirit SUNK for q
moment, buS she dashed away the
tears that came up from q desolate
heart, and set about making the best
1T. She found a large log lying in
q rsyine. Dragging her canoe from
the water, abe laid 1t upside down
parallel with tho log, about three feet
away from it. She then cut brush
and laid across them, to form roof.
Creeping under this shelter, she Wss
soon buried beneath two feet OF snoY,
and so felt sure OF not freezing.
There is no better protection from
cold than the snow.
1t was a lonely place. She could
hear her heart beat. But when the
wolves commenced to gather for their
midnight repast, and when they set
up their fFiRhtfnl hOwls, she could
feel the hair rise up Oh her head. She
would have been brave enough il she
eonld have fought With the wolves,
but 10 lie there and listen to their un-
earthly yelling, not knowing how
soon the hungry pack would find her,
WaG more than she cOqld endure. And |
then she thought Of poor Harry, and |
of the land sale, and she Wished for |
the skins of the wild bessts that we're |
so near her. For though the wolf
skin is of little or no value for the or |
dinary purposes to which furs are ap- |
piled, il is in considerable demand for |
lRp-rObes, And remembering that |
she was on the leeWard side OF the |
wolves, she dug away the snow at one /
end OF her DurrOW and lOOken Upt. |
Then, growing bolder, she crept ont to q |
clump Of little bushes near by, through |
which she could plainly see them.
For by this time il had ceased snow |
ing, and the moon was shining though |
the wind still blew. She leveled her |
gun at them two or three times before |
she could get Gourag6 enough to fire. |
At the first shot she killed Gne and |
the pack scattered q little, but the |
smell Of the fresh blood OF the dead |
wolf brought them back again. Sew. |
eral times she fired with like success. |
But one of the wolves, in moving |
round, caught sight of her. When |
q wolf sees any living object he i'm
mediatsly endesvOrs to get TO the lee |
ward OF it, In order to tell by the scent |
what il is. A wolf depends on his |
nose in such matter, and not altogeth- |
er upon his eyes. This one, when he |
caught sight Of Polly, commenced to
make q circle in order to get where |
his nose would inform him what kind |
Of an animal she was. Crowding the
ball down quickly she fired just in |
time to keep tho wolf from finding
her ont, and calling the re9t OF the
pack with his howl. The wolf rolled |
over in the snow.
Another one came near running |
right on her, but she fired in time to
save herself. But this last fright |
alarmed her so that she did not fire |
again until she had climbed 3 tree.
From this point she kept up FIRE up.
on them till daylight, when they left.
AS the result Of the nights work, Pol
ly found that she had killed nineteen /
wolves, and frozen one Of her fingers |
almost off. Two Of the wolves had
been torn by the others, but there |
were seventeen tOlerabIy good skins.
Before she dared undertake to skin |
them, she found it necessary TO have |
q fire TO keep her hands from freezing. |
By whiting thin bass-WOOd shsVings /
from her csnOe-paddle, and taking /
cotton from her clothing, she was able |
to start fire by striking q percussion |
cap in the midst of q bunch Of cotton /
with little powder scattered through |
it. It took her till noon to take the |
skins from the wolves, and by the |
middle of the afternoon the severe /
cold had frozen the lake In its mar.
rOwest part, go that she VentureQ to |
cross. In order to take her wOlf-skins |
scross, she was obliged to make lit |
tie sledge OF the crotch of small |
tree. or course there had been great |
distress at home on account OF her |
absence, and great was the joy at her
return.
On the neyt Monday she put her |
furs on q sled and started to Ct. Raul. |
When she got to Mankato, she took a |
load of wheat for st. Paul, getting a
good round price for hauling it. Ar.
riVing in the city, her first care was to
find Harry and TO cheer him Up,
which she did most sffectually. he
said her merry laugh was better than
all the medicines in the world. She
told Harry that il ehe could get load
back she thought her furs would be
sufficient to psy for forty acres, and
the other one hundred and twenty
they would have to let "old Dan
Dye,n as she called him, have.
"And so you've turned teamster,
have you, little wOodchuck ?" said