The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-06-29

down by the side of burning log. The
pack lashed to him was soon afire. /
had been foolish enough to take with
me into this place sixteen pound can OF
blasting powder, wrapped In gunny-
sack, which / had strapped to that mule
Here was a new and terrible danger
threatening us. How to get the can of
powder Off that mule before some flying
spark should reach 1t was our first
thought. Every moment was fraught
with terror, for IL 1t should explode
while we were hemmed In with fallen
timber on every side some lives might
be sacrificed. The anxiety to save our
property made us hazard the effort.
We tried our mightiest for while to
remove the pack, but 1t was no use as
the pesky critter was lying on the lash
ropes. So we left him to his fate and
moved along q little to await the
explosion, which we thought sure must
come very soon.
confess felt no little curiosity as to
where the biggest part of that mule
would land when the upheaval took
place, and as we stood around joking
about this most serious matter-serious
not to the mule alone, but to ourselves
as well-we failed to notice that the
wind freshened into gale and that the
fire was sweeping through the foliage
of the pine and spruce trees under which
we had taken shelter. Sprigs of fire
were torn from the burning wood and
blown in showers, which kept us busy
knocking away the hot embers that fell
upon us. Our horses suffered terribly,
and 1t was as much as we could do to
keep them from rushing headlong down
the mountain. They floundered around
as if they were possessed by evil spirits.
expected every moment they would
go down. The old fellow who was with
me seemed to feel the effects of the fire
and smoke more than any of us, and
kept gasping out, "Oh, my lungs my
lungs ~ until his lamentations became
most pitiable. To proceed on our way
was impossible, to remain where we
were was sudden death. Our only way
was past that mule Imagine the situ-
alton if you can. The mule had fallen
so as to completely block the way, and
at any moment that can of powder
might go off, and two to one everything
within radius of hundred feet would
be blown to pieces. 1 waited few min
utes for the explosion, which did not
come. The heat was getting terrible.
was compelled to keep my eyes partly
closed to save my sight. My whole
body grew numb and heavy and my
throat parched. I realized that it had
become with us a matter of life or death,
and some bold effort must be made to
get out of this hellish corral, or we
would suffocate. All this came to me
sooner than L can tell you, and the
resolution was quietly acted upon. I
handed the reins of my horse to COM
panion, and started for the spot where
we had left the mule lying. To my
surprise he had regained his feet, but
some part of the harness had fastened to
the log and he was evidently SO exhaust
ed he could not pull loose. The pack
had shifted under his belly and must
have impeded him in his efforts to tear
away. He was prancing around as well
as he was able, and realized more than
any of Us no doubt the discomfort of the
situation. But had no time to spare
to help him. My purpose was to get
him out of the way and that as quickly
as possible. The pack hanging to him
was burning, and the sack containing
the powder was half consumed. took
hold of it and tried to tear 1t loose, so as
to hurl it down the mountain. was
unable to do so as the lashing had not
burned sufficiently. However, man
aged to get the mule out of the way so
that it was possible to get the other
animals past, and shouted to my COM
panion to come on with the horses,
which he did, and all got safely past the
magazine. We then made our way
back to the little willow flat where we
had stopped at noon. We had several
narrow escapes from falling trees which
had burned off near the ground. When
we arrived at the fiat we were very
much exhausted. A party of men had
arrived at the camp from above, DEEM
ing 1t unsafe to proceed further as the
fire was spreading in every direction.
Deer, with their tongues out, were COM
ing down Off the mountain, seeking
safely along and In the stream which
flowed through the canyon. Grouse