Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-09-01

! hills and through the valley. The drifts
were piled deep and it was bitter cold.
"A meeting had been called, but such
was the fury of the storm that it was
given up. Midnight drew on, but the
stages had not come nor been heard
from. s@s
| The crowd at the post-office was
| smaller than usual, and huddled closely
about the great stove. Nobody dared or
cared to 90 to bed, and lights cleaned
fitfully from nearly every window in the
village e
40, Lord ~ said the taciturn Deacon,
with real awe in his voice, rs blast after
blast rocked the little post-office and the
sleet ratified against the windows, 81
hope there hahn t no harm come to them
fellers a-ridin' up the river"
Grandpa Billin's rose as the pointer
| on the old clock began to get around to
one.
"Guess they haint a-comin' tonight"
he said. mildly. ''Likely they stopped
to the Halfway House for all night"
But no one else stirred, and the old
man sat down to wait a moment longer.
The spell of q coming calamity seemed
to be over them all.
| Suddenly they all started and turned
pale. There was hand outside FUN
bling at the latch. Then hoarse voice
said, weakly, "Let me in"
/ A dozen sprang to open the door,
when one of their neighbors, who had
ridden down that morning with Seth
Plunkett, stumbled in, more dead than
alive from the severity of the storm.
They brought hot drinks for him and
rubbed his nearly frozen limbs; and
soon he was able to say, brokenly:
"Seth's comm, but Pelt's stage is all
! broke up down below the bend in the
sstraigh t cut, Lost the road an run off.
Somebody go fetch two they had to
leave, and the horses" 4.u-
Several men started up to 60, and,
hastily gathering together such things
as they needed, they pushed off to find
the wreck, leaving team to follow.
They had hardly gone when the door
swung violently open and Seth Plunkett
entered, bearing in his arms, as If it had
been baby, the apparently ifeless
/ form of Pelt Greasy. The village folk
had learned the news in an incredibly
short time, and came focking in, in
spite of the storm which ragged outside,
till the store was full. Seth could not
speak at once, but he managed to call
for the things that he wanted, while
some one took his exhausted horses to
their stable. Three male passengers
had aliehted from the coach. Between
them they bore the body of woman.
She was one of their neighbors, and was
taken to her home near by.
Pelt Cressy was stretched upon a set
tee by the fire, with a coat for pillow.
They brought snow and rubbed his
frozen feet and hands. There was an
ugly cash on his forehead and the Doc
tor announced that one of his ribs was
broken. II @lA A<it o-
Under the genial influence of heat and
stimulants, however, the poor fellow be-
gan to revive, and the white face, which
no one would ever have recognized as
the handsome young face of Pelt Cressy,
showed little color once more. The
watching crowd heaved sigh of relief.
ssHe's all right" said the slow old
Doctor, counting his pulse. ''Better get
| him home at once" Then he stopped
and looked around him in perplexity.
Pelt Cressy's home was back on the
hills, five miles away. He had boarded
sometimes at the tavern. Should they
take him there?
Seth Plunkett, who had been sitting
in semi-stupor by the fire, got up at
this point with sort of wrench, and
shook his shaggy coat like colossal
dog, . :, - ,,,,,o >, ,o said ~
q firm voice. ssHet'l take care of him. -
| The men looked at each other in
amazement; but silently fixed the young
man according to the Doctors direc-
tions, and bore him through the storm
/ I, of tho Plnnk otto
There he was laid in Seth's own white
bed, and for many days thereafter till
he was strong and well once more,
ssHetn joyfully 'stook care of him"
The week after the storm the meet
ings, which had suffered a temporary
relapse under the overpowering sensation
of the hour, took on a new vigor One
of Pelt's horses had been killed, and he
had declared that he never would carry
the mail again. So it was finally ar
ranged that Seth Plunkett should take
his old place and pay, and harmony
prevailed once more among the distract
ed inhabitants of Clearpond. They
could even, joke about the furious pas
sions which had divided them only a
few weeks before They could not,
however, clearly understand the mental
processes in Seth and Pelt, through
which these extraordinary changes had
been brought about. Nobody but them
selves, of course, knew anything about
it, and they had been mysteriously silent
as to the particulars of their reconcilia-
ton. Even the most adroit of the village
gossips interviewed them, only to be baf-
fed; but at last it all came out. emq
e Seth Plunkett grew more and more
. interested in the revival as the Spring
wore on; but he was a man of deep feel
, ing and the work of conversion in him
was not rapid. He rose for prayers
night after night at the meetings. The
, brethren all 1abored with him; but he
said he sscouldn't seem to see no
light
One night, after the elder had made
| a particularly moving appeal, the last
part of which Seth Plunkett had come
in in time to hear, the latter rose, with
, vehemence which nearly upset the
, seat in front of him, and began to speak
earnestly. The Judge was there, and
even the Deacon had stopped in "tC