The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1879-01-16
"l hate to abandon him, but"
UHark %

and before tney could gather What II
meant, an immense snow-slide came
down upon them.
Garvey appeared. to be in the direct
line, and was caught up and carried
away from the others, and buried at the
same time in the snow to his shoulders.
AS soon as he could collect his wits,
he found he was not injured, and he
looked about for his friends.
They were not to be seen, and when
he shouted to Penifeld he knew the
storm hurled the sound back, when
only few yards away.
But Garvey was plucky and deter
mined, and was not the man to freeze up
in a snow-drift so long as the power to
struggle remained. eE2
He was carried down to the bottom of
the summit, and, after the hardest
kind of labor, he managed to e3tricate
himself from his dangerous predica-
ment. IL 8,s
Blinded and stifened, he could not
locate his companions, nor even con-
lecture where the slide had carried
them.
Self-preservation now demanded that
Garvey should look after himself. He
had done his utmost for Mcdonald, and
it was beyond his power to do anything
more. it0 .si-t ..,.,
He therefore struggled forward as
best he could, fighting brayely against
the polar cold, until he reached the fiat
on the Alma side of the range.
The form of building loomed through
the storm, and he labored toward it.
Itproyed to be the Paris mine cabin,
and was deserted and cheerless. But ii
afforded shelter from the driving tenn
pest, and Garvey remained within it un-
til sufficiently rested.
He was in a quandary as to what he
should do, but he finally yielded to
brave philanthropy.
az will find out whether they are
dead or alive" he muttersd, once more
stepping out into the tempestuous con-
fiict.
Accordingly he turned his face up the
mountain, and began working his way
forward, with the grit of a hero. 1t was
hard, and no man who has not faced a
storm in the mountains can appreciate
its appalling fury.
Again and again it seemed as if he
would be hurled off his feet and carried
bodily back from his self-appointed task;
but every time he was brought to stand
stillhe summoned his energies anew, and
pressed forward more resolutely than be-
FORE.
In this exhausting fashion he toiled
on until about half the distance was
-..o.ol ,.,bo, la J;eoorarad fba Gpura of
man walking toward him through the
binding tempest. As they met, it proved
to be Penifeld.
"Where is McDonald?' was the
natural query.
"Dead," was the answer; " that is,
dead bv this time"
How was itf
~ helped him part of the way down,
the poor fellow seeming to rouse himself
for last supreme effort, and then the
final collapse came. 1 could do no more,
and, if l stayed, was sure to die; so
1 left him, and it is all over by this
time"
The men were saddened and sorrowful,
for there could be no doubt that one of
their number was lost beyond all posi-.
bility of hope.
Garyey and Penifeld resumed their de-
scent Of the mountain, and found the
task more prodigious than even they an
ticipated.
Many of the drifts were up to their
arm-pits, and they were literally COM
PEELED to wallow through them, pausing
now and then, when winded, until they
could regain breath, and pushing on
again. 1885
At last they struck the travelled road
at Mosquito Forks, and had not gone
far when luckily for them, they en-
countered Matt Baker, on his way from
the London mine, with his sled and
team.
The exhausted travellers, were taken
on board, and Baker moved on toward
Alma, vet several miles distant
No one, no matter how mentally
strong, can fight off the insidious ell
croachments of the stupor which results
from intense cold, any more than he can
sit still and resist natural sleep.
During the disastrous expedition of
Fremont, when his entire command went
astray in the mountains, the very men
who cautioned their companions against
yielding, and warned them to master the
fatal drowsiness, were the first them
selves to succumb.
After Garvey and Penifeld were
stretched upon the sled, they evinced
this same dangerous sleepiness; but
Baker was level-headed Humanitarian,
and he did notpropose to carry two dead
men into Alma.
"Come, wake upw he called out,
with vigorous physical emphasis. IF
you can't sit up like civilized beings,
you've got to walk"
Sure enough, the next thing he did
was to tumble them out into the snow
and compel them to hurry forward.
got circulating, were grateful for this
piece of practical WISDOM and told
Matt to exercise it when necessary.
You needn't take the trouble to tell
me that" he replied; " for that's the
kind of medicine Pm going to dose you
with" ..--
The poor fellows themselves did all
Guey COulu uuI IuclE cSCdpc 1IOlu 1ICCZ'
ing to death was due, under heaven, to
the common sense of Matt Baker, who,
if necessary, was ready to give both q
sound cart-whipping to keep up their
circulation.
Alma was reached at about seven
o'clock in the evening, when the suf
ferers were effectuaily thawed out. In
those regions the settlers are accustomed
to severe weather, and they know how
to treat victim. Garvey and Penifeld
were soon warmed through and made
comfortable, after which they told theil
story to the sympathizing crowd which
filled the saloon.
Garvey had an ear and finger badl.
frozen, while the back of Penifeld'
hands and the soles of his feet wer
nipped by the frost.
lhe following morning was Thanks
giving, and party, headed by JOhl
OBrien, and accompanied by Penifel
and Baker, with his team, started bac
, with the purpose of bringing in tn
frozen man.
t They proceeded with the sled as far g
the London mine, from which point the