Louisiana capitolian., 1880-08-14

brain rolling these words up ana down
Buried alive" until from sheer mac
ness and loss of desire knowledge lie
Q second time. sA 80 "
| And then it was the tongue Of my do
which awakened me. Don dug me on
and Tapped me back to life again.
As the dull gray of the winters morn
ing dawned, with groans l dragged m
stiffened limbs from their narrow bee
and crept tremblingly down the littl
trail toward the river, the blood oozin!
from the rife wounds in my head, III,
eyes wild and fierce, my heart pantin,
my life half gone.
As | thought Black Dan must hav
followed and ambushed me then suppos
ing me slain, he had the, grace to seel
to bury me. 1t was owing to his hast'
or bis carelessness that my dog ha(
been able to paw the loose dirt from my
grave, and save me. If l could reacl
Johnson's ranch might live; if not
had been saved but to die second time
for a fierce storm was brewing along the
mountain tops above my head. My horse
was gone, my rifle, pistols, knife, gone
only the dog remained. and, faithful to
the last, followed az slowly and pain
fully trod the descending trail toward
the river.
Suddenly, amid a wild roar Of wind
and creaking of trees aud the whirl OF
freezing snow, the storm burst, and in
its furys wept me from my hold and rolled
me, crying and shouting, far down the
canyon side, until a great boulder
caught aud held me. Then it ragged on.
Fierce and relentless the wild wind
tore through tho wilder forest pls'less,
and cold the snow fell and, except had
dragged my broken bruised body into IL
crevasse of the rock ledge before me, 1
had died where laid. Then even blacker
than ever fell the storm, and ragged un.
ceasingly through all the slow hours Of
the day, until night came second time
to cast it's pail upon the scene. And as
the darkness crept up from the east, my
last friend, my dog, who all day laid at
my fe4k deserted me, speeding away
through the shadows and snow. was
alone.
Aud so faint, woulded, cold, despair
ing, as the moments grew life hickered,
and when at last midnight broke, my
lamp went out. Again lay unconscious.
All night the gale continued, and not
until the dawn Of the second day did it
cease, when the newly fallen snow lay
leep and white over ALL
Within the crevasse of the rock, shel.
tered from the touch Of the cold white
lea.h andye beneath it lay motionless;
above me the storm had spread a shroud
80 thick that no ray of light penetrated
my tomb. Half frozen, in a dreamless,
painless sleep, the fore-runuer of swift
coming test, mere wreck Of a man, I
was stretched upon rock and the CLINT
If the sunshine among the pines or the
read Of the wild beasts of the forest
'@erhead mattered naught to mk Whe. |
ny eyes opened they beheld nothing, |
when my bands were outstretched they |
ouched only stone and the snow, when !
ny tongue cried out no ear listened. |
again was entombed, and this time by !
N enemy more relentless than Black
Jan even, by hands more stern and pitt
ess than his. Fate and the storms of
he mountains had combined against
ne. | was buried a second time, but
ow with death for companion.
knew that | could not escape and
he very thought quieted me. |
There was no struggle, no meaning,
70 agony only dull recklessness and
;ant of care for life that betokened
he depth Of my despair. l WIS dying.
lowly the moments passed. My
houghts were few and simple thoughts
+ fire and food, thoughts of home aud
lends and comfort, thoughts of things
arm and bright, but even these were
'ding and my mind was wearily wrap.
ing itself in tho cloak of annihilatiou,
nd my body was fast sinking toward
hamilton when bit of snow fell upon
~ upturned face.
Had it been fire it could not have
reused me more quickly.
The next instant more fell, and still
ore, and then light began to CLEAN,
I'd | heard tho hurrying scrape of feet
insled with low whining.
Don had returned and was digging
9 out.
The revulsion Of feelinSwas terrific, a
oment before l had lain passive in a