The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-02-08

! show of valOr and chlvaIry, ne was {
braggart and bully. But these ole
and deadly quarrels did not have the
( ears of the world at the time, and, be-
i ing now happily forgotten, they car
! concern no one. have only thrown in
! this last paragraph or two to show how
! dangerous and how deadly was thi:
! quarrel we now bad on hand. The
horses, mules, and ponies were freezing
! in the snow where they stood. Two o1
the guards did not come in at midnight
They we're found nesting against q
dead mule on the hill frozen stiff. But
still the fight must 90 on.
The moon hung high and calm and
right overhead. The stars stood out
and sparkled in the frostlike fire. The
keen cold wind swept the plain above
and threatened to fill the canyon with
drift-snow. Wolves, that had eaten
now began to attack the weak and
dying. One of the thousand that hover
ed about had even that night laid hold
OF man. There were enough wolves
gathering about us, bowling, fighting,
devouring our dead horses, and even
each other, to attack and eat us where
we stood. But still the fight must go on.
The deadly hatred must find some ex-
preston. Fortunate if it should end
with this duel just before us.
Fleecy clouds began 10 drive over the
moon at midnight and drift away to-
ward Idaho. The stars went out as
though the fierce wind had blown out
the myriad lights of heaven. Then the
snow began to fall thick and fast, as
the men sat about their feeble fires and
talked of the coming duel. These groups
grew as white as huddlcd flocks of sheep
Now and then a man would get up and
shake himself, and the snow would
slide off in little avalanches thicker than
your palm. The wind ceased, and the
snow then simply possessed the world.
The fires all died out. 1t was a weird,
deathlike darkness. The men could
not see each others faces. When they
spoke it was as though someone called
from deep down in well. They group
ed about feeling for each other as they
tried to creep upon their blankets in the
snow. Now and then blanketed Ore
gonian would find his outstretched hand
twisted in the snowy beard of red
shirted Californian. But there was no
swearing at each other now.
Snow above and snow below! The
wolves bowling from the hill. Snow
that buried you, that lay over your
shoulder like blanket, that loaded YOU
down, that fastened upon you as if it
had life and sense, and like ghost of
your injured dead would never 90 away.
With morning there came sense of
change. But it was not light. There
was only Il dim ghostly something in
the air-the ghost of dead day. And
snow, snow, snow-nothing but snow
and snow. The men came down from
the hill and left the wolves to have it
their own way. They came down,
clinging to each other. Oregonians and
Californians together as best they could.
They could not see each others faces.
Their very heads and shoulders were
bowed by loads Of snow. Many of the
men in the canyon did not attempt to
rise all day. They were covered by the
snow many feet deep. In this strange
new land these gold hunters had come
upon strange things, and had come to
dread that most dreadful things might
oyertake them. They whispered among
themselves that the canyon might be
swept full of snow if the wind should
rise again; and then surely all would
perish! Under ledge of rocks that
leaned over the canyon many men
grouped together as the day wore by
hungry, starving. desperate, and dying.
But the force of The falling snow was
spent. As night came on we couid see
each others faces; we could see the
world once more. But what was it? A
,ryo,,I1 - u.
tie whitetailed rabbit came timidv
among the men out of the snow and
hoped helplessly over human legs
They looked at each other in turn at
this. and then out on the world of snow
The two duelists by chance looked in
each others faces. There was long
pause, an awkward one. Neither spoke
They looked at each other steadily. The
men grouped about them held their
breath, and all were silent, AS if the
snow was indeed their shroud, as one
young Californian with a practical turn
of mind and temporary religious tenden-
cies had suggested.
While the two men stood looking
steadily and still at each other, there
was a movement under the blanket of
the Oregonian. He evidently was about
to do something and that soon. With
eyes firmly fixed on the eyes of his
enemy, he threw back his blanket threw
out. and extended his hand. The Cali
fornian grasped it, and shook it. and
shook again, and again, ashamed and
beaten, ashamed that he had not the
to do what his enemy had done
before him. The shout of wild delight
that went up from the group showed
that there was life in the savage canyon
still. 1t seemed to settle the st torm. 1t
certainly wakened many sleepers, and
they crept out of the snow all about
none the worse for their long nights
rest.
The wolves did not stayto dispute the
possession of the horses on the hill as
the prospectors went up among them.
And soon the Chinoob-the strange
warm Chinook winds that made such
storms possible as well as endurable-
swept over the country, and the hills
were soon almost as bare as they had
been but q week before. e.-J0aquia NIL
Ter IN the NeW York Sun.