The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1888-02-16

days before any one at our Gail "ouAt
know that l was in the hut If the
hermit escaped, he would carry the
news. If he was buried under the
snow, might as well make up my
mind to remain prisoner until
spring. was in bad box, and for
the first half hour l quite lost my
courage. Then, having every reason
to believe that l must be prisoner
for many long days, l began to take
an inventory of stock. as it were.
There was good bed of skins and
blankets, several cooking utensils. a
table and several rough stools. clock,
a dozen or more books, about thirty
candles, with tea, coffee, sugar, pork
and flour in quantities to last me sew
eral weeks. l could not have been
better provided for had planned for
the avalanche to come. There was 4
lean-to at the back end of the hut, and
l looked into this to find it full of fuel.
1 felt much more hopeful afterjI had
taken the inventory, for / could not
help but feel that it would be long be-
fore saw daylight again.
For several hours after the accident
the cabin sent forth suspicious sounds.
The snow was settling and packing
above it, and rafters and logs cracked
and snapped in way to keep me on
thorns. If the weight on the roof
proved too great l should be crushed
or smothercd the moment it fell in. 1t
was after three o'clock in the after
noon before l felt safe. But very lit
tie snow had come down the chimney.
l reasoned from this that it had been
covered by rocks or limbs. If such
was the case and the fire refused to
burn, l should be hard pressed with
plenty of raw provisions at hand. l
felt all the gravity of the situation rs l
threw on some light-wood and made a
blaze. 1t was hard fight for half an
hour. Some of the smoke certainly
found a way to escape, but some was
driven back. However, after time
the heat of the fire brought down Il
great deal of water-so much that l
could scarcely keep a flame going
and about half-past four o'clock the
cabin was cleared of smoke. While |
could not for an instant believe that
the mouth of the chimney showed
above the snow, | was satisfied that
some way had been opened for the
smoke to drive away. l may explain
here that Il great mass of tree tops
lodged on the roof before the bulk of
that snow came, and these held the
snow up so that the smoke went sail
ing about in hundred channels.
got myself some supper, wound
up the clock, and sat down for
smoke and Il think. The hermit had
two pipes and a large stock oftobacco,
and lonely as was my situation feel
ing of gratitude to God for the COM
forts ut hand was uppermost in my
mind. l was now perfectly satisfied
that / was buried deep under the snow.
and that my rescue would be mat
ter of weeks. The first move was to
write out statement of the accident,
and this l placed where it would be
preserved and found in case of NY
death. Then began daily journal,
and mapped out a programme to be
followed. A weeks Imprisonment
would be nothing, but after that it
would not do to let the mind dwell on
the situation. You see. the horror of
it was the stiffness. The idea kept
coming up that was buried alive, and
it was an awful thing to think of. The
hermit's clock WAS an old-fashioned
one, with loud tick-tack, and after
the cabin got through settling under
the weight of the snow every tick
sounded almost as loud us the blow of
a hammer. 1t was so warm that |
needed only the smallest fire, and
when l went to bed at nine o'clock
there was no need of even q single
blanket for cover.
was up at an early hour next morn
ing, having slept like 4 log all night,
and while eating breakfast was startled
by sounds which l believed to be the
voice of a human being. thought l
could hear groans and cries for help.
and when l opened the door the sounds
came to me more distinctly. 1t might
be that the hermit, caught under the
snow, had succeeded in tunneling his
way to a point from which could
rescue him by digging, and l had no
sooner dispatched my breakfast than l
set about making me shovel to dig
with. found hatchet, and with
this sharpened board, and the snow
l dug from the doorway heaped up in
the fuel room. had not been digging
over half an hour when l made the
discovery that the first rush of the
avalanche had brought down a great
lot of small trees, bushes and rocks,
with here and there 4 large tree. They
had been piled up helter-skelter, but
they held up the mass of snow so that
with little digging l could run a tun-
mel in almost any direction. Great
care was necessary, however, as the
burden above was very heavy, and the
displacement of Il support might bring
down a great weight of snow.
After l had run the tunnel straight
out from the door about twenty feet,
turned to the right made my way
under lot of rubbish, and after going
about thirty feet came upon the body
of an Indian. Here the limbs and
sticks made n sort of bower under
which he lay, and knew that it WAS his
voice ] had heard calling There were
No Indians ahnnt nS ercant hnstilnS