The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-01-25
Bessie and Luke

Bessie and Luke.
The stage-driver was a rough-loOking
giant, his big paws hidden away in fox
skin gloves, and his body well covered
with a bufialo-skin coat. He flung the
mail bag into the sleigh, united the
ponies, and his shout Of "all aboardn'
brought out a solitary traveller for the
cold ride of eighteen miles over the
suow-covered hills Of Wisconsin.
weather is breakin a little just now,
but it has been awful on this rOute,n re-
marked the driver, as the ponies got
away. "T kin git along fus' rate with
five or six degrees below, but when il
comes to ten in the valley, there's good
fifteen on the hills, an the wind e'en-
amOst cuts the ponies in two.'
Wisconsin winter weather never
makes a failure, and when a snow-storm
begins, there Is no let up until the
heavens have sent their last flakes. The
snow was two feet deep either side Of
the single track in the center OF the
highway, and where the wind had a
good sweep there were drifts covering
the fences, with several feet to spare.
No other teams came alter-nOne
We're encountered. The fierce, cold wind
was too much for farmers aud ordinary
travellers. The United States mail had
the track TO itself Wrapped in furs,
blankets and robes, and bot bricks
steaming away on the straw, stage
driver and traveller rode in silence for
miles. By-and-by, as the ponies slack
ened their pace little to climb long
bill, the driver pointed TO the right and
asked:
"D'ye see that Lighthouse up thar E?
Bar it i'm mind an pll tell We a story. %
It was a gloomy pile Of logs, curtain
down over the windows and snow-drifted
clear 10 the sills, and most Of the land
around it was sterile hill or tangled
thicket. over the hill, and half a mile
beyond, and the driver pointed again
and said:
"An' now take a peep at that place
place, an pll begin the story
It was a small frame-house this time,
partly surrounded by wind-break of
poplar trees. The house was old aud
weather beaten. The windows were
covered with frost, the path to the gate
was hidden by drifts, and the only liv-
ing thing TO be seen was poor old horse
standing on the lee-side Of a hedge. His
ribs could be traced clear from the road,
and be greeted the horses with a neigh,
telling Of hunger and lOnesOmeness.
"Three weeks ago." began the driver,
as he cleared his throat, "both o. them
places was full Of cheer. The one back
there had an old man, his wife, and
handsome daughter, an this one was
occupied by a bachelor named Luke
Warner. / don't know how he came e
live here alone; but here be was, an he
worked hard, an took care O. things
but he had bite to eat for beggars, an
a good word for travellers. Them folks
back in the Lighthouse were kinder new
TO this section"
The driver pulled the robes away
from his mouth and went on:
"Cracky to grashus, didn't they have
a handsome gal She was trim as an
angel, handsome as June day, and II
was material that Luke should fall in
love with her. He was at least thirty
five, am neither good lookin' nor ede-
Gated; but you can't tell when a gal is
goin' TO love or hate. I speet it riled
the old folks 20 think she'd take up with
farmer, an ] s'pOse they forbid him
comm there, leastwise that was the
talk along the road last fall. Luke
pegged away the same as ever
"ltOw Old was the girl >" asked the
traveller.
Bout eighteen or nineteen, and she
bad hair like gold. 10 just makes NY
heart ache 10 remember her. Well, il
seemed that her and Luke were bound
10 marry. The old folks wouldn't give
iB, and Luke fixed it 20 be married down
here a bit at the red farmhouse. The
preacher was 10 be there, a crowd was
comm 10 dance, and the gal was 10 slip
away from home an come down with
Luke, kinder hand in hand, as the
newspapers say. The gal got away in
the evening; walked over 20 Luke's,
aud he had his horse and sleigh ready.
They got started all right, happy as two
doves, but they had only turned out of
the yaru When u began 10 snow. Ii
Just dropped down in cbnnts .a5
patches, and in half an hour fbe roaJ
was OUT OF sight under six inches ~
snow, ana the wind was fifnpini n ZEN
l7g- hlsh wherever 1t could strike.n
Ane eIlNef looked back over the Ionsl,,
i"h-i "lrW o long breath. aud wont ,,,-.
me Lord only knows how IL ,.o,,-l
about, but Lnke's horse fen into -
ditcni aud then the lovers s,t c9t ~ ~,
foot. They went right aein the drefI,i
Storm determined to reach The red f3rn,.
house. Right ahead here, iust half ,yay
between the houses, Is where W.. f,r,15
'em. The storm ragged for three 5avs
ana 10 some places the drifts were fer
feet high. When 10 cleared awav. III,
gal was missed, Luke was missed. an.
a gang Of US sot out 20 search the road
We found the horse dead aud stiff. an,
then we knew it was all up with IN,
children. We had an awful time dig
GIN through these drifts and trackin,
the pair, and just under this hill her,
is whar we found iem
He waited half a minute for an an
swer that didn't come, and then he said
"AIay the Lord bless Luke Warner
When the snow got deep, he had takel
the gal on his back. When he fouDl
she was freezin' to death, be had takel
OF his coats an put them around her, an,