The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1883-01-18

when suddenly the sun was obscnred, and
the air grew cold and chill 10 moment.
A darkness as OF smoke swept over every
thing. Then | remembered why We were
going home. and gave the horses the
whip in earnest. lsshing them into a run.
Away 10 the ives, there appeared TO be a
leaden wall sweeping toward rs, There
was a hum 10 the air A light breeze
sprang up, grew stronger, and IN q min'
ute became gale The wall came down
with railroad speed, the roar OF Its ap
proach growing louder every instant
From the top Of roll in the prairie we
could see our house, and II came pretty
near being onr last glimpse OF il.
No words will ever convey an intelligent
idea OF the blizzard; OF the frightful roar
with which it rolls down upon you, the
bowling aud kissing oftbe wind. lfyou
try to speak, the wind dashes the syllables
from your lips so quickly that yon do not
hear your own woris. In thirty seconds
from tie time the first snowflake fell !
could not see my horses. The atmosphere
appeared to be all snow, and every iiake
seemed anxious to get somewhere before
the rest should get there. use the word
flake" but that is wrong. No fiakes
could be distinguished, The whole atmo-
sphere was filled with one huge flake that
hemmed us in on all sides. Although
Mabels head wasn't over a foot from mine
could not see her features, and could on
ly dimly see her form. tlied to peer
downward beside the sleigh and see the
track, but might as well have tried to see
the earth beneath a snow bank. ! could
feel a motion to the sleigh, SO | knew the
horses we're still moving. Tho cold was
intense. | tried to ask my wife il she was
suffering, but could not hear my own
words.
During the two or three minutes that IN
teryened between the time saw the storm
appo aching and the moment it struck us
the horses had run at the top OF their
speed, so I knew that We could not be
much over o mile from home IL did not
seem possible for the horses to keep the
track. No one could live an hour in that
storm. Our only hope 10y in the horses
being able to keep track that was beng
buried deeper and deeper every instant
II isn't pleasant to sit still and freeze TO
death. In ten minutes | was chilled
through and felt that was freezing. The
Lorses we're still moving. and although l
cosid not see them, kept lashing them
with tls whip. 1t seemed hours since
the storm lad shut us in, and | was Just
becoming convinced that the horses had
got out of the path, and that we were lost
on the prairie. when there came sudden
lull in the fierce wind The air was still
full of whirling snow. but ] could see OBJ
iects about me, and it didn't take long 10
ascertain that we were in th' barn and
~, ve safs. had left tho barn doors open
W
IN In, morning, and the horses had iouno
their way back; l think by instinct, 'u'
nv neighbo~s think 1t was sheer accident,
and declared I'll at it would'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 concerned, the house
might as we'll have been IN the moon.
The little woman helped me unharness the
horses and put them in their stalls. Then
| told her to remain where she was, and
made break for the house. 1t is difficult
for any one to believe that in binding
storm he cannot go twenty yards in line
sufficiently straight to find house, but
try it sometImel
Do you see that pump? stumbled over
it. 1t is twenty feet to the right
OF the path from the barn to the
house II it had not been for that pump
| would never again have found either the
house or barn, | knew that the handle OF
the pump pointed directly toward the
house, and that it was not over ten yards
away. / raised the handle aud felt for my
bearings. let go Of the pump handle and
plunged for the house. When | tell you
that ran ''smack" against it you will un-
derstand that seeing was out OF tue ques-
ton After got into the house | took a
ball OF twine, tied one end to the door
knob and succeeded in getting back TO the
barn, and by following the string, we
reached the house again. For three days
and nights thereafter neither Of us even
opened the outer door. When the storm
ceased we could not see the barn for the
snow had piled in between the house and
tarn so deep that it covered the windows
on that side OF the house. On the east
side OF the house. however, there was very
little snow. The shovel happened to be in
the house, and the little woman and l sue
ceeded In tunneling through to the barn,
but we had to carry every shovelfull Of the
snow taken out OF the tunnel through the
house and throw it on the east side
Secrets Of Success.