The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-05-18

At that moment filmy particle, soft
as down, touched my cheek. In an in
slant we were enveloped by the soft white,
accursed fakes
My Godl Flint" l cried, sinking in
the sled, eve are lostW
"Pm afraid So" said Flint.
"Great heaven!" 1 exclaimed, "our
bones will lie bleaching here for months
Our families went even know VIII at has
become of u.s."
81 haven't any family" said Flint.
Neither have |, for that natter
said /, "But that doesn't make it any
pleasanter, does it, to die here like dogsw
"Of course not" said Flint. You'd
better take some brandy, Scott. It's I'M
fortunate; I'd like to have hunted out
that Bernard, but it can't be helped"
He took a pull at the brandy flask and
handed it over to me. He was as cool as
the climate, my friends. In the mean
while the horses, feeling the reins falling
loosely from my fainting hands, trotted
rapidly on. Heaven help those cyclists
that hold the human intellect supreme!
The ponies chose the right direction. In
less than ten minutes those blessed ponies
carried us within sight of the line of fir
trees. Twas transported by the felicit-
Gus view of some honest smoke wreath
ing up between the scraggy branches
which sheltered low, struggling, red
rooted, house with diamond-shapedp anes
in the windows, through which we could
see the red light of the household fire.
The squawk of fowl suggested it's
speedy conveyance to neighboring spit;
the granting of pigs near by was more
melodious to my ears than the music of
the spheres yonder in the storm-t tossed,
binding snow
We're saved, Flint, my boy" I cried.
"Thank God, we are saved"
This must be Bernard's," said Flint,
looking about him with his sharp gray
eyes; "and over yonder | think can see
the outlines of the haunted house."
Five minutes after we sat in a long,
low ceiled apartment that covered half
the ground floor. The rafters almost
touched the head of tall trapper who
was lodging with Monsieur Bernard. He
had long blonde beard and singularly
melodious voice. There was quite a
number of guests there, all of them
trappers, so Monsieur Bernard said; but
this tall man they called Cameron had
the shoulders Of Hercules with the face
of an Apollo. | suppose | was some
thing dazed with the sudden relief and
rescue, for it appeared to me that a
young woman who sat by the fire, pairing
carrots the very color of her long braids
of hair, was as beautiful as an angel.
Her eyes were soft and luminous, her
forehead low and white; an indescriba-
bic air of tender melancholy Swallowed
her face. The chemisette she wore was
as white as the snow upon which it
was bleached; her bodice was of home
spun; the big buckles on her shoes could
not hide the pretty arch of her instep.
She sang under her breath a little coup
| let, of which the refrain was "Jamais,
jamais!" Hungry as | was, | could
scarcely touch the fine grilled fowl pre-
pared for us, but my soul devoured the
daughter of Monsieur Bernard. The
trapper and his companions were supping
in a neighboring room; we could hear
their glasses rap upon the table or hit
against each other; scraps of songs and
disjointed sentences reached our ears.
Flint picked the chicken to the bone, in
the meanwhile talking in quiet tone to
Monsieur Bernard, who was in the heat
that poured from the sides of the sheet
iron stove, and blinked at Flint like an
ancient lizard. He was little, dried up
man, with a close cap upon his head; his
leather breeches reached just below his
knees; a warm furry jacket, high wooden
stockings and wooden sabots completed
his costume. An hour or two went by;
tie trappers in the neighboring room
had finished their meal, and apparently
gone to bed. Flint and the Frenchman
pursued their conversation. AS for me,
| had drawn close to the beautiful young
woman, who was washing some quaint
yellow mugs at the end of a long table.
! Her name was Marie. In this primitive
region cOnventionalities were set aside
an earnest passion glided along like snow
shoes. | got over good deal of ground
in very short time. | began to believe
| this journey was marked out for me.
told Marie so, and raised one of her long
braids to my lips. [ was just thinking
what sensation that peculiar colored
hair and her beauty would create in our
| circles at home, when Flint called out to
me that he had resolved to go over and
sleep in the haunted house
"Don't you want to go along, Scott, 7"
! he said, 6 or are you afraid ?''
The latter part of his sentence had a
peculiar sneering intonation. | said ]
was not afraid, but thought it a very
absurd and Internally uncomfortable
thing to leave a warm freside and 60
plunging over there in the snow and the
freezing air for freak of curiosity.
Marie clasped her hands, and besought
of US, for the sake of the Redeemer, not
to go; that in the room upstairs, upon
that very pallet of straw, the murdered
man had been found; and nobody had
slept there since, or staid in the house.
Except the ghosts of Chatelousse, u
said her father, in a dry, wheezy voice
But Flint got his lantern ready. Oh
course / had to go. If one man ventures
upon fool-hardy freak, another must
follow, or rest under the imputation OF
cowardiee. Monsieur Bernard helped us
or with our overcoats. | looked into the
sweet eyes of Marie; they were dilated
with that expression of terror one sees in
the eyes of fawn. | took her cold
hands in my own.
Rest tranquil, my sweet child"
said, for [ was touched by her tender
ness; I" will return to you"
We made our way through the blind
| ing snow, and found the house black and
empty. The door creaked on its rusty
hinges, the shutters banged, melancholy
wind howled through the corridor.
"We shall have our labor for oul
pains" I said. as we entered the room