The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-12-28

began to think that the SOUND j had neard
was only al imaginary one, and born Of my
nervous and exhausted condition. But
again the shrek of the iron horse echoed
among the hills! No longer stopping to
think, Ihastened on, aud q half hours walk
brought me in full sight Of the Valley-and,
To-! before my astonished gaze lay q little
cluster of houses, on one of which was a
sign bearing the name, ssWeatherWax.' All
around, in the valley, were numerous farm
houses, surrounded by waving fields OF rip
ening grain, and a railroad track lost itself
in the undulating prairie to the north and
south.
I was soon at the little village, and eagerly
inquired of the first person [ met what place
and what railroad that was. He replied !:
"WeatherWax. The railroad is the Judith
and Benton branch of the Northern Pacific"
"How long have they been here
s'The railroad was built six years ago. be
replied, s''but the station has only been here
dve.'
'ssix years ago! Am I dreaming What
year is this 2
why, 1891, of course! What is the mat
ter with you? Where have you been, that
you do not know what year this is e
And then I knew that the sleep which had
seemed but q few hours to me had, in reality,
been ten years. Ten years had | lain on the
rocky floor of that chamber in the mountain,
insensible under thespell of some Invisible
and unearthly power. AS a full realization
of what had befallen me forced its way
through my beWildered brain, a sudden faint
ness seized me, and I fell forward, to be
caught in the arms of my informant.
When [ recovered my senses a crowd Of
people had gathered around me, and in an
swer to their questions / told my story, which
was listened to with many EXPLANATIONS of
wonder. In return they told me how, when
nothing was heard Of me, Bill Parker and
Frank Seymour had been arrested on sus-
picion Of having murdered me, as ! happened
to have quite q sum Of money with me, but
as they both persisted in asserting that had
strayed away from them, and as there was
no evidence against them except my contin-
ued absence, they were discharged, though
the suspicion with which they were after
ward viewed had led them both to leave the
country.
From the people at WeatherWax ! learned
much Of what had transpired in the world
during thel time I had slumbered. Queen
Victoria was dead, and Albert Edward now
occupied the throne Of England as Edward
VII, and had proved quite a liberal monarch.
Great concessions had been made to ireland,
and though still . dependency Of Great Bri-
tain, she was governed by her own Parlia-
ment, sitting in Dublin, and the only show
Of British authority was the Lord Lieutenant
appointed by the crown.
Dakota had been a State since 1882. Poly
gamy had been stamped out Of Utah, which
was now q prosperous State, as was also
Washington Territory, which had been aided
greatly by the North Pacific railroad. Mon
tana, through the able efforts Of Z. c. Pow
or, who had been elected Delegate to Congress
in 1882 by a handsome majority, had been
admitted to the Union in 1884, and Mr..
Power was now serving his second term as
U. 8. Senator. his colleague being Joseph K.
Toole, who had succeeded Hon. Martin Ma
ginnis at the end of the ~latter's first term.
All these things / learned, together with a
great many others. one Of which was that
Benton, which in 1881 had been a compar-
atiYely small town Of less than 1000 inhab-
itants, was now a large and fourishing city,
with a population of about 10000. But it
would take too much time and space to tell
the half Of what was news to me.
The next morning the train from the south
rolled into WeatherWax, and / boarded it for
Benton. How can I describe the feelings
with which / gazed on the country through
which the road passed! Where last / had
ridden on horseback for miles and miles
without q sign of human habitation, farm
houses now met the eye OF every side, nearly
all bearing evidence Of the worldly prosper
iy of their owners. Utica, which then
boosted of but one small store, was now a
thriving town in the midst of a prosperous
community, and the only thing which was
familiar to my eye was the old name, ssCut-
ting 8 Co.," which now hung over a large
and handsome store. Nearing Benton, the
signs of advancement became more evident.
AfeW miles from the city a train Of cars,
loaded with people, passed us on atrack run
ming parallel for some distance with the one
we were on, the cars bearing the inscription,