Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-08-09
MY ADVENTURE.
A limo When I Was Afraid of
Being Frightened.

This is only a story of girls adventure
but am sure most of the girls who read i
viii not wish for any thing more tragic il
their own experience.
lived with my parents Oh the slopinl
side of Skitchawaug, a long, low mountain
on the west side of the Connecticut river
The mountain was nearly covered will
wood, but the trees of the two sides diff
fered in kind. Sugar-maple, white PINE
and white beech grow more plentifu!ly OF
the western slope; blue beech and pitch
pine on the eastern-and the pitch-pine tree
was the indirect cause of my adventure.
The events / am about to relate tool
place long ago, at a time when cone worl
was, among the young ladies of our section
The leading passion in fancy work. My sis
ter and l had made work-baskets, frames
and brackets, using the scales of the white
pine cones to make a scalloped edge, and
spruce and hemlock and the pretty little
tamarack cones to cover the rest of the
woodwork.
But we were dissatisfied because we had
no pitch-pine cones in our collection. They
We're stiff, intractable things, hard to work
and of little beauty, but we wanted them
there We're pitch-pine trees on the south
eastern slope of the mountains. 1t was far
we had no idea how far-from our usual
haunts for play or for picnicking, but we
were convinced that we should never know
happiness till we had some cones from those
trees. 1t was long, rough climb, we in
ferred, and we could easily have made a
pleasant excursion of it by taking lunch
hn dow in q Y iucy
but this did not occur to us.
Ellen Story was to accompany us after
school-after tea, in fact. The school-house
was half mile on our way, but as it was a
hastily-formed plan, we were obliged to go
home for our tea.
We had some difficulty in persuading
mother to consent to our excursion. She
was born on the side of Skitchawaug, but,
as she had never been of an adventurous
disposition-and it was a standing puzzle
that both of her daughters were so different
from herself in this reSpect-she had almost
no knowledge of the wilder parts of the
mountain.
do you know where the trees GROVE" she
asked.
20, yes, they're right over the east corner;
we go in by Mr.. Towards gate"
This was true as far as it went, and we
had no intention of deceiving her, though
the truth was none of us had ever seen a
pitch-pine tree to know it
"Are they near the rattlesnake densw
20, no, guess not Don't care if they are.
You know we always wanted to kill rattle
snake"
Mother had seen US start on too MANY
such excursions to hold out long with her
objections: sometimes we went for chest
nuts, and got them by climbing the trees:
sometimes we went after moss, or flowers.
or acorns, and very often we took full sup
ply Of weapons for killing mathematics: but
as we never killed nor even saw one, mother
by and by ceased to fear that we would en-
counter any. So, bidding us take some out
side garments and be sure to leave the woods
before dark, she turned to the dairy, and we
toward Skitchawaug.
Although it was late. We strolled along.
talking and planning We stopped to peep
in at the school-house window, for old sake's
sake, probably, though it was but little more
than an hour since we had left il. Turning
in through the Howard gate, we stopped to
tell our errand. Mrs. Howard discouraged
rs more decidedly tn an mother had done
ut is too late; it win be dark before you
here"
ut won't take us long to go two miles, :"
we answered, stoutly, Though somewhat
dismayed. We had not estimated the dis
lance in rods and miles, but | think about
half mile was the distance had in mind
when looking beyond Mrs. Towards.
But you don't know any thing about it
where you are going. You'd be lust as
likely to so into the dogwood swamp or the
rattlesnakes' dens as anywhere
'1'm not afraid said l.
mo, Jane Plumley, don't s'pose there
is any thing that you are afraid of. Those
that know nothing fear nothing: but | do
wonder your mother let you co.
80, she don't care where we gor' said,
without considering what said.
swell, Jane, do have a care TO keep away
from the snakes densr' These .'dens'' were
squantity of loose, shelly rocks on the out
side Of the mountain, where the rattlesnakes
were supposed to breed
Hoping that Mrs. Howard was mistaken
IN the distance, but fearing she was not. we
made little more haste when we started
away from her door; but we soon forgot
about it, and stopped to gather flowers and
ferns and curious lichens on the way. Soon
after entering the woods, we found a oman
tity Of white pine-cones so smooth in texture
and so rich in coloring that we made large
pile by the foot of a tree, proposing to gath
er them in our aprons when we came back
with our baskets filed with the Others
We all lived in the valley, where we en-
ioyed some hours of daylight after we were
shaded by the western hill, so We were in
no alarm when the sunshine disappeared
erOO1 hirhnee FRA
darkness was fairly upon US. we thought we
had come into denser part of the forest.
Lets get out of this dark holer' said my
sister. We hurried along, but finding it
grew no lighter, we looked up, and through
the leafy canopy we saw the stars
Pitch dark Girls, let's go homen This
seemed the only course for US to pursue, and
we reluctantly turned back.
Lets go home by the saw mill" pro-
posed.
20 no, not that way There's all sorts of
'ooogers' round the sawmiIl."