St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-02-02

Mabers head wasn't over a foot from
mine. could not see her features, and
could only dimly see her form. tried
to peer downward beside the sleigh
and see the earth beneath a snowbank.
| could feel motion to the sleigh, 80
that | knew the horses were still NOV
ing. The cold was intense. tried to
ask nv wife if she was suffering, but |
could not hear my own words.
During the two or three minutes that
interviewed between the time | saw the
storm approaching and the moment it
struck us the horses had run at the top
of their speed, so we were not much
over mile from home. 1t did not
seem possible for the horses to keep
the track. No one could live an hour
in that storm. The only hope lay in
the horses being able to keep to a track
that was being buried deeper and
deeper every instant. 1t isn't pleasant
to sit still and freeze to death. In ten
minutes | was chilled through and |
felt that | was freezing. The horses
were still moving, and although could
not see them, | dashed them with the
whip. 1t seemed hours since the storm
| had shut us in, and | was just becom
| ing convinced that the horses had got
out of the path and that we were lost
on the prairie when there came "A sud-
den lull of the fierce wind. The air
was still full of whirling snow, but |
could see objects about me, and it did
not take long for me to ascertain that
we were in the barn and were safe. !
had left the barn doors open in the
morning, and the horses had fo md
their way back | think, by instinct,
but my neighbOrs think it was sheer
accident, and declare that it wouldn't
happen again in thousand years.
Although we had reached the barn,
we were not in the house vet. From
the barn to the house is about twenty
yards, but as far as seeing it was con
cerned, the house might rs well have
been in the moon. The little woman
helped me unharness the horses and
put them into their stalls. Then told
her to remain where she was, and made
IA break for the house. 1t is difficult
for any one to believe that in blind
ing storm he cannot go twenty yards
in il line sufficiently straight to find IL
house, but try it some time!
Do you see that pump? | stumbled
over it. 1t is twenty feet to the right
of the path from the barn to the house
If it hadn't been for that pump would
never again have found either house Oh
barn. knew that the handle of that
pump pointed directly toward the
; house, and that it was not over ten
yards away. raised the handle and
felt for my bearings. | let go of til,
pump handle and plunged toward the
=, house. When | tell you that | RAJ
''smack" against it You will understand
that seeing was out of the question
After got into the house took a bal
=. of Irvine, tied one end to the door
knob and succeeded in getting back t.
the barn, and, by following the string
we reached the house again. For tire,
days and three nights thereafter mel
Their of us even opened the door. Wher
the storm ceased, we could not see TIA,
; barn, for the snow had piled in be
tween the house and the barn so deeI
that it covered the windows on thai
side of the house. On the east side o
the house, however, there was very
little snow. The shovel happened t.
be in the house, and the little woman
> and | succeeded i'll tunnclling through
to the barn, but we had to carry every
shovelful of snow taken out of the tun.
mel through the house and throw it OF
the east side Detroit Paper.