The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-04-09
An Exciting Adven. ure.

w. N"Omn III I'LL parts OF Nevada, was
visiting White Pine, recently, and was in
terVlewed oy a reporter who gained from
MN material for long and interesting mar
| ratiVe. we publish one Of his adventures,
as wen lor Its thrilling excitement as to give
an iaea OF the fatigue and prlvations viii
ingiy undergone by the men of whom
| tive: '"
"Reccntly, said the Reverend Father.
u tried to cross into Ruby Valley, jusi
Sixty miles from here, to perform q bap
| tish. There is no house between here AMI
there, ana l was never before over tho
same road. thought could make it by
having IN early start, as l had ridden on
several occasions during last Summer sew
enty-hvc miles per day, collecting funds
lor my church.. Everything being ready,
my horse was shod, etc, aud Istartcd ont at
eight o'clock on Monday morning. Every.
| thing went merry as a marriape G bcll' mi
came TO the Cherry Creek summit. where
l encountered heavy snow.
Nothing discouraged, proceeded on
my way feeling we'll as gay as a lark.
thinking that tho snow would not he so
deep as proceeded. But instead of eet.
ling lighter the snow became dceper and
deeper. Yet would not return, and was
SILL under the impression that. l could
make Kuby Valley. Besides, 1 felt half
ashamed to return, as such action mipht
denote cowarqicc, and cowardice cannot
tolerate IN any one, much less in myself,
The snow lasted all day, two feet deep aud
frozen over on top, which made it more
olnlcult OF travel, as it was not frozen
strong enough to keep the horse up, which
al every step went down knee. keep, and
with much ado ut times TO cxtrIcatc him.
self.
sat five o'clock in the evening I found
myself ascending the summit bctwcrn
Long and Ruby Valleys, when l then and
there got into about three feet of snow on
tbe level. No road was then recognizable,
Even the sagebrush was not to be seer.
ihe whole region round was covered with
the deep, deep snow, to o depth Of three
lcet on the level, and in the drifts six to
ten 1cet. My horse sunk and fell down
under me. l jumped of and fell down
alongside of him.
'Imagine my feelings in such a predica-
ment 1t was showing at the time. and
the wind was bowling tcrrifcally. such no
it is wont to howl in Nevada All this
coupled with tho night coming on, and
with'thc dreadful prospect OF one foot O,
snow more being on tho ground, before
morning, rendered my situation gloomy
and dcsoate in the extreme,
"Sly horse, now lcg-tired and weary
and myself ex-equo, lost all hopes Of
escape. The danger, however, seemed to
nerve me up. and in fact it almost made
mo mad; 80 | ploughcd through the snow
as best could
'Aly horse, which still held by the
relns, Jumped up and followed after, aud
u nai ePvh4fa'E fnsGt Aqqgy.yHS9s;sa way,
on side hill, under a wite-s spreading pine.
We were still standing on two feet OF snow.
The wind was high and there was a drlzz-
ling sleet. l had matches in my pocket
in abundance, we'll secured, and thought
that 1t would be good idea to light q
fire.
ut is very easy to talk about lighting
fire. but it was not easy to do 80 In such
place and under such adverse circum-
stances l was cold at the time. My
hands and clothing were wet, and even the
bark which pulled off tho pine seemed to
be saturated with moisture, and it was i'm
possible for me to start fire. I tried and
tried In vain. Match after match was
ignited, and as often expired without any
effect, and 30 gave it up rs a bad job.
"And now no fire, no possibility of pro.
ceeding any further, and not much prospect
of returning, as | was then thirty-six miles
from home! My horse was tired, and the
average depth OF snow over the thirty-six
miles was two feet.
II began to think seriously On wb at was to
be done; yet there was no time Ior think
ing OF musing, as something had to be done,
and that Immediately. TO remaiu till
morning under that dismal tree was to al
most certainly perish from cold, or if l sur
yivcd the night, there were thousand to
ono chances of slow but sure starvation. as
six inches more Of snow would keen me
there forever.
such were my thoughts, when suddenly
lheard barkl 1t startled, Mo and thought
or st. Hernard's dogs in the mountain fast
ness Of Switzerland, which saved the lives
OF many hundred snow- bound travellers In
the Alps.
My joy was great, and exclaimed to
myself, What can this be2 Surely some
friendly aid must be near at hand some
miners or Woodman's cabin must be close
ny, Tor have heard that familiar bark of
the favored dom estic of the miner or wood
man in these isolated and distant regions ::
or perhaps an Indian wigwam, which
would afford me covering and shelter for
the night.
"But my cheering hopes were so m dis
sipatcd. In vain did look around mo for
the smoke and wished.for cabin. No In.
dian wigwams or domestic dog greeted my
view; but, in an instant, like flash OF
| lightning, was surrounded by pack OF
coyotes, six IN number, which seemed to
dispute with me the mastery of tho place.
But not with any motive or evil afor
| thought did disturb their den. ! had nc
love or longing for the spo;, and would
have left them alone il they had the grace
| OF letting mo alone.
"Approaching me and my horse, they
simultaneously set up yell, which /,
seemed to mo penetrated the very skies.
They growled, and howled, and snnrled,
and barkcd, until it seemed as if the heavens
as well as the woods were swavming with
infuriatcd, maddened, raging, hungry, dc.
mon-liko coyotes. Ccrberus at Pluto'f
gates could not open more ferocious. Then
very cyc-balls seemed 20 start from their