Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-25

ana paln1uly urOu tHe ueSCeUeuuS uiui
toward the river.
Suddenly, amid wild roar of wind
| and creaking of trees and whirl of freez-
ing snow, the storm burst, and in its
fury swept me from my feet, and rolled
me, crying and shouting, far down the
canyon side, until a great bowlder caught
and held me- Then it ragged on.
Fierce and relentless the wild wind
tore through the wilder forest, pitiless
and cold the snow fell, and except 1 had
dragged my broken, bruised body into a
crevasse of the rock-ledge before me 1
had died where I laid. Then even blacker
than ever fell the storm, and ragged I'M
ceasingly through all the slow hours of
the day, until night came second time
to cast its pail upon the scene. And as
the darkness crept up from the east, my
last friend, my dog, who all day had laid
at my feet, deserted me, speeding away
through the shadows and snow. was
alone.
And so, faint, wounded, cold, despair
ing, as the moments grew life ficf"rad,
and when at last midnight H. ~
lamp went out. Again I IL
scious.
ALI night the gale continu t
until the dawn of the secon r
cease, when the newly-fai :
deep and white over all.
Within the crevasse of the rock, shelf
cred from the touch of the cold white
death and yet beneath it, I lay motion
less above me the storm had spread a
shroud so thick that no ray of light pen
etrated to my tomb. Half-frozen, in a
dreamless, painless sleep. the forerunner
Of swift-coming rest, mere wreck of
a man, was stretched upon rock, and
the CLINT of the sunshine among the
pines or the tread of the wild beasts Of
the forest overhead mattered naught to
me. When my eyes opened they beheld
nothing, when my hands were out
stretched they touched only the stone
and the snow, when my tongue cried
out no ear listened. Again I was in
tombed, and this time by an enemy
more relentless than Black Dan even,
by hands more stern and pitiless than
his. Fate and the storms of the mount
ain had combined against me. L was
buried second time, but now with
death for companion!
I knew that I could not escape, and
the very thought quoted me.
There was no struggle, no moaning,
no agony; only dull recklessness and
want of care for life that betokened the
depth Of my despair. was dying.
Slowly the moments passed. My
thoughts we're few and simple-thoughts
of fire and wood, thoughts of home and
friends and comfort, thoughts Of things
warm and bright, but even these were
fading and my mind was YEARLY wrap
ping itself in the cloak of humiliation,
and my body was fast sinking toward
inanition when a bit of snow fell upon
my upturned face.
Had it been fire it could not have
aroused me more quickly.
The next instant more fell, and still
more, and then light began to CLEAN,
and I heard the hurrying scrape of feet
mingled with low whining.
Don had returned and was digging me
out.
The revulsion of feeling was terrific !;
a moment before I had laid passive in a
tomb, longing for death /; now fought
and tore at the loosening snow like a
mailman, wild with the thought of Life.
Nearer and nearer came the rescuing
feet, deeper grew the pile Of snow be-
meath me, brighter the light above. The
whining was mingled with growls now.
Don had friends to aid him. The bar
rier was but three feet thick-two-one,
it was gone ! and, even as breathed
the free air of heaven and my heart
leaped within me and my lips uttered a
glad cry, dozen pairs of great hollow
eyes buried into mine, a dozen gaunt
forms crouched before me crashing
their cleaning fangs-I had been res
cued by pack of mountain wolves.
For a single instant surveyed my
enemies I weak, wounded and un-
armed; they strong, hungry and fero-
cious, a dozen to one, and then with a
yell sprung into their midst.
It was the act of mailman, but I was
mad. Death should tear me limb from
limb now, and, with bare hands, I
clutched at the first gray monster before
me, and grasped his shaggy throat as
with hands of steel, seeking to throttle
him.
Then the entire pack with demoniacal
bowls hurled themselves upon me.
The struggle was short. Ifelt the hot
breath Of the brutes in my face, their red
mouths yawned upon me; their strong
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