The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1888-11-01

her leap from the bed Aad fssl bar Va,
ou, ia The deep darkness. though The doc
had sssacd strangely and sen'd be iorces
bat partially open. 70 ths corner vhsr'
her father lay.
Something dreadful bad happened sure
ly. Her hsnds CROPPED Over only rougt
logs and suov. She fsls Der way bach
vi,h great dresd Il hsr heast and nov
ui,h dim candle above ~ white face
the truth wss quickly revsolsd.
One sud Of the cabin hsd bsen crushed
in by the slide. and the heAvy logs had
fallen 10 upon Milton Bruce ltvAs ssms
time before sally could nad her father IN
the macs Of timbcrs
Franiically. and with almost . mans
strength. she wrenched and pried ss the
logs, and her courage revived = some ol
them fell away.
But soon she had reached the limit Of
her desperate efforts. Try = she might
the logs that held her father down were
immovable; and Sally wruns hss hands Ia
despair, A. recovering consciousness, hei
fa.ber begged TO be released.
With torn hands. she again and Agsin
strove with the stubborn timbers. till she
fell down beside them.
II was all useless. She lay on the hard
floor and thought II al over er-this awful
thing which had come to them 10 the dark
ness without pressge, and left them In
deeper darkness than even that Of night :
the suffering and despair they must I'M
dergo through sll the long. slow hours,
before kind death should release them.
II was too terrible for hnmsn endurance;
and for long time Sally was happily un
conscious OF misery.
On first recovering, il seemed like hor
rible dream; yet there wss the grim truth
staring her in the face, and her father talk
ing wildly beside her
Could nothing be done9 The snow
might be ten or fifty feet above them.
She did not know. But Il would do no
harm to Hhd out. Sally thought it must
now be day, and with feverish haste she
peered into the solid snow wall at the
ruined end OF the cabin.
II was deep. for no light penetrated
down through its white crystals. The
windows, too, we're dark as night. She
ran to the kitchen. Was il merely fancy?
The enow certainly had brighter look, As
though the light were struggling to pierce
it.
Sally's courage rose. She must make
her wsy out, il at all, from the highest
point in the cabin, and that was through
the chimney. She gszed ansiously mp it's
big sooty throat. II really did look bright
or than at the windows even.
To think was to act with the brave girl;
and, in less time than it takes to write IT.
Sally. wrapped for journey, was creep
lug and working her way up the rough
stones, the fire shovel in hand aud her
snow shoes strapped to her back. When
. little way up. the shovel iipped from
her grasp aud fell with loud clatter to
the hearth. Nothing could 30 done with :
out it, and she went down ator it,this time
lying il firmly to her arm.
Once ct the top Of the chimney. place
was soon scooped out in the snow large
enough for foothold. and she began
working her way upward. at an angle, as
best she could in the darkness like mule,
digging and beating tunnel for her body
in the packed drift, the dslodged snow
falling down the great chimney,
1t wss slow. weary work; and Sally
would fain have given up in despair had
not the muffled cries Of the suifarer below
nerved her tagging energies.
But at length it began to grow precep-
tibly lighter, then the pale toiler could see
to work. She was nearing the surface;
and with kind Of frenzy, she digged up
up, each stroke bringing her nearer 70 light
and life.
Now she could hear the wind sweeping
across the trackless snow. The sun rays
penetrated the thin crust sbove her head.
A moment, and its dazzling brightness ieil
upon her face
The belt Of timber. 10 the lee OF which
the cabin had been built, had saved II
from being carried away or crushed entire
" aud buried to a great depth. for, on
coming TO this resistance, the slide mao
divided, the greater portion skirting the
edge and passing down the valley, sweep
Ing path clean to the stream,
II was long past noon and there was nc
time to lose; so resolutely pulling her hs'l
scattered senses together, Sally quickly
adjusted her snow shoes. aud lightly and
swiftly set of 10 the waning afternoon ~
the white slope aud along the zigzae
trail.
II had already grown colder. aud squalls
Of sleet and snow hung thick about th'
summit ofthe mountain. hiding the periiou'
pass she must cross; and, before arriving
to where the trail led into the road, th'
sun had set nnd the shadows began Z
creep over the slope. Then the strap V
one Of her snow shoes broke. and mor'
than quarter Of az hour was spent il
making it seryiceable sgsio, She remem
bered now that II was nearly oil the las
time she had been out With them. and bit
terly regretted the neglect Of repairs
Dusk was fast settling over the mouH
,sin; and. what wS worse. the squsll
which had lifted little, began 10 whir
.h- snow. and bitter Wind bufiesed be-
about.
Slowly and cautiously she plodded on
Lssp;au close 10 the ahastly crsRa whicl