The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-04-09

men,.
They all laughed.
"Yes. 1 suppose So" said ..Skep"
Thompson. 'But Tim here counts
most too much on everybody's ability to
swalfer. You can talk, Thrill own
you're glib as if you'd been to college,
and hang ME if 1 don't rather enjoy
hearth you on the whole. But you
mustn't expect us to believe you, that's
ALL"
"AIl right" said FISHERMAN Tim,
with imperturbable good nature. 81
don't know as I can expect an igno-
ramps like you, Skep. to understand
these yarns. It's like tellin' a blind
man about colors, or those fellows
down; there where l used to be about
ice. They never would believe that
there could be such a thing. But, good.
ness knows, I don't want to talk any
more. My tongues downright tired"
30, no." said Titus Perrin, encourage
ingly; 'syou were going to say some
thing about Dakota. That's a change.
Maybe Skep could understand that.
He's been to Dakota himself. Let's
have it."
The men, after cracking a few more
jokes at Tins expense, gradually as
sumed a listening attitude, and that
oracle proceeded.
you see, Lem Schroeder-he was a
Minnesota man I used to know-and I
were up north, p%rospectin'. 1t was
Just after I came back from the tropics.
I knew I was CROWN old, and 1 didn't
| want to die down there, so Twas comm
north. to settle. Lem was a peddler,
and he had a good team, so, as we ped
died along the way, we hadn't been at
much expense, and we'd had a pretty
good time. It was late in September
when we set out, and when it got into
| November, and pretty squally, we both
thought we'd better be gettin' back to
| his place. Just her Lem took sick
hard sick, too.
".Never mind says he. You take
| the cart and 60 off for a few days
there was quite a lot of goods left
and by the time you get back I'll be
all right
"Well, there was a good farmers
wife up there promised to see to him,
and / went off; but when I came back
he wasn't any better, and the weeks
went on, and still he didn't get well.
The snow got deep, and l rather thought
we'd better winter up there, but nothin'
would do for Lem but he must go home;
so, as soon as he got pretty strong
again, we started. We'd planned it so
that we could get from one place to an
other pretty comfortable every day, and
if there was a storm we'd put up till it
blew over.
sit was Christmas mornin' when we
started, before light, and clear and
cold as a piece of ice. The sun came
out, though, after awhile, bright enough.
The n was deep, but it was packed
hard, and we drove over the smooth
prairie like mad. At noon we stopped
for dinner at a farmers named Perkins,
but we didn' want to lose much time
such a good day, s 70 we were on the
road again shortly after one.
sit was along about half-past two
when, all of a sudden, Lem looked off
ut the sky behind us, and, says he,
What in thunder is that black cloud?'
and, sure enough, right back of US
was q big cloud; and yet not a cloud
neither, q sort of a darkness, more like
you know how it looked if you've
ever been in a regular blizzard-and it
wasn't creepin', it was comm along
faster than any express train you eve
saw. W. whipped up as lively as we
could, and Lem headed for a little house
that we could just see way off on the
skyline. But the cloud was goin' about
a hundred times as fast as we were, and
it wasn't fifteen minutes before we
knew it wasn't any use, our tearin'
along so. So far as we saw, we had got
to stand and take it the best way we
could.
at grew darker and darker around
us, till it was all a kind of a twilight,
but once in awhile this twilight would
sorter lift like, and her we could see
two or three clumps of trees there were
in sight, and the little house off on the
sky line, full six miles away, and they
looked white, as if they were made OF
snow. I've heard since that that sort
of thing is common in billiards., but
didn't know it then, and we both
thought it was mighty queer.
There seemed to be a sort of gather.
in up of the air all the while. I couldn't
think of anything only that there was q
great giant close by us, putin all the
air there was into a big bag so as to
fling it out on us afterward in awful
winds. What made it seem more like
this was that it grew close, sorter suf.
focatin' like, made it hard for us tc
breathe, and the whole thing made us
feel afraid; just as I used to when I was
a little shaver and they shut me up in
the dark.
81 guess my face was as white a.
Lem's-and it couldn't have been much
whittier, poor fellow!-when he turned
round to me, and, says he, Tim say
he, it's on us. We can't reach the
house. I'm afraid we're gone.
"Just then there was a gust came
a whirlin', blindin' sort of gust, full o
snow, and Lem just caught hold of m,
hand and shook it. %, my Godn say.
he, we can't stand this! Goodbye
Tim; give 'em my love if you ever &c
home 1 didn't say anything like that
l was dazed-like, and, besides, 1 hadn'
been sick, and l supposed l felt a littl'
!. stronger"
seGust number two struck us befor,
J we were fairly over the first one. TIL
cart swayed and toppled, and we boil
| jumped down and cut the horses loose
: smash, and everything in it blew out o
} sight quicker'n a wink. The horse
galloped off before the wind, snortin
4 duu hlCkiu , duu l. ucNcE saw Gil again
1--WE sorter lay down on the snow an
: caught hold of each other. but the mex
i whirl that came separated us, and poo
Lem was gone, the first l knew. l sup
: pose he was killed, for he has neve
been seen or heard of from that day.
don't know why 1 wasn't carried o!
f the same way. l tell you that win
:, was neutrality-suspicious.. Their
g isn't any word | know, though, tina
begins to express it."
. NO" put in Mrs. Hardaway, at thi
t point, as though she had spoken with
out meaning it, in her absorption i
D Tins narrative. mo, it's worse tina
|, awful. Tbe been there; I know how
is"