Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05

rose hundreds Of feet high. and so perpen-
into that basin The. light it' Of He day could could
hardly dispel the darkness OF night. .
opposite me was a lodge or tent made
OF gray blankets. and standing beside it was
a human form, while another bent overa
low fire near by. 1 climbed over the dirt
mt the basin. and as l rose up two women
screamed, and both figures advanced to
meet me. In the dim light l saw that they
were women Of middle age.
what are you doing here?" l demanded as
we met.
For reply. both fell at nv feet and he
sought me to take them home, each one
gasping and sobbing and on the point Of
1t was ten minutes before lcoald get a
word OF explanation from either, and it
might have been much longer had l not
dragged them through the tunnel and out
INTO the broad day and sunlight of the
valley 3yn
l want to know"
It was only after had prepared for them
a hearty breakfast that 1 got the story in
full. The one, Annie G. Hardy, was thirty
nve years old and had left Georgia two
charge Of a Mormon elder. The other was
named Eloise French and had left South
Carolina at about the same time and under
like circumstances She was only thirty
yye ss q 81 81 aSs. 1.t Both tho, were widows; on
ried to a Mormon named SlVne, WI" who mad had
one wife already; Disgust and despair
were soon succeeded by a desire to be re-
,venged on those who had %entrapped them
oy false pretenses. Together they ran
away away put were speedily 9%verhauled. Then
and all, and they plotted to poison a mum
Der of church dignitaries. For this offense
they we're tried and condemned to death.
Slyne had no pity for them, and his influ-
ence with the church consigned them to
THIS living tomb. They were n day
guard it, and Slyne drove them to this
spot, which he had in all likelihood heard
OF through some hunter.
The women were furnished with blankets,
a Ratchet, matches, a kettle and provisions
not to provide for their comfort, but to pro-
long their torture of mind and body. From
the hour they left Salt Lake until they were
abandoned in this basin not one of the men
addressed them by word or sign. They
were looked upon as dead. To imprison
them beyond all hope Of chance rescue, the
roof OF the passage was mined and tons Of
rock and earth thrown down. This occurred
on about the Dist of the previous Septem-
Der. From the very first the women had
put themselves on a starvation allowance.
A week before l found them they had cut
off the tops of their shoes and boiled and
eaten the leather, and for the last two days
they had eaten nothing whatsoever. They
had water as it dripped from the rocks.
1t was nearly night before 1 had the
particulars as l have given them to the
reader, but it wasn't an hour before I saw
that l was in a serious situation. Here
we're two women to be taken beyond the
reach of Mormonism, and Fort Bridger. in
Wyoming, the nearest striking point, was
seventy-five miles north of tho other side of
the range. 1t would be a long and perilous
journey for me alone.
lowed me out of Salt Lake? OF the others
who would follow! The DANTE was a grim,
silent, determined foe. He was ~implacable.
relentless.
III.
The women whom l had so strangely res
cued from such a strange prison were in no
condition to travel. They were hardly more
than skeletons, and the reaction was such a
shock that they were mentally es we'll a.
physically Frustrated.
Il was three days before they seemed to
fully realize the great M sudden change
in their prospects, and when they had used
the contents of my 'housewife" to repair
their wardrobes, and had a chance to wash
up and satisfy their hunger, l could hardly
recognize them as the same women. They
were a thousand times grateful, and seemed
had been small children.
While giving them all possible attention
l did not entirely neglect the object for
which l had placed my life in peril. The
little valley was thoroughly explored, and
l rode for several miles up and down the
aminations. On these trips l kept a sharp
eye out for Indians, Danites, OF strangers
of any sort; but it seemed as if we three
were entirely out of the world.
On the morning Of the fifth day after the
rescue l decided to move. The women
both had plenty of pluck. They were to
ride the horses of the two Mormons.
There was another thing to encourage
me. Both had used firearms, and, after a
brief inspection of the carbines Of the Nor
mOns,t the women were confident that they
neither was a marksman, or had ever made
use OF anything larger than a pistol, it was
a comfort to know that they would not be
entirely a burden on my hands in case we
had to turn at bay.
We did not leave the valley until I had
assembled the mountains to a spot from
which l could view the plain for miles
around. 1t appeared perfectly destitute Of
all human or animal life. We then rode
out and headed to the east, and after a
journey OF about twenty miles we came to
another valley or canyon breaking into the
mountain like the one we had left. There
was a difference, however, in the fact that
the entrance was not over five yards wide,
and at the end of a hundred feet the gorge
opened into a circular basin of about two
acres. 1t was a capital hiding spot, but I
gave it a careful inspection.
After dinner had been prepared and eaten
I stake out the horses at the further side
and got up the two tents. The women were
pretty we'll done up with the ride, it being
their first for several years, and at two
o'clock, as l picked up my rifle and started
for the plain to have a look around, both
were asleep on the blankets. I was a bit
alarmed as I walked away, though l said
nothing to them. Happening to look
coward the horses, I noticed that all had
ceased grazing and had their heads up and
their ears working. The sagacity of a dog
in detecting dangerh has often been extolled,
out he is far behind the horse in that par
ticular sense. These animals could not see
danger, but instinct was stronger chan eyes
or ears. That some one was within a nile
of us I could not doubt. 1t could not be
wild animals, because the horses showed no
signs of trepidation. If human beings
they must be enemies.
AS I hurried down the gorge I remem-
bered that our trail for the last ten miles
had led over hard and broken ground,
which would leave only here and there a
footprint. An Indian or dog might follow
such q trail, but white men could make
nothing of it. AS ! came within a few feet