Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-03-01

was not sufficient flashed on . sec
ond, and now had at least twenty-five
clear feet Of pole to probe with. and
believed the upper end found daylight.
In front of the cabin. and about two
hundred feet away. was great mass
of bare rock forty rods long by fifty
feet high. This would stop the ava
lanche, and it was more than likely
that q solid mass of snow forty rods
long and twenty-four feet deep lay
| above me.
What had become of the hermit?
There was not one chance in a thou
sand that he had escaped. The ava
lanche would block the trail for weeks.
and at the very best it would be some
days before any one at our camp would
know that 1 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 q prisoner until
spring. Twas in bad box, and for
the first half hour l quite lost my
courage. Then, having every reason
to believe that must be prisoner
for many long days. began to take
an inventory of stock. as it were.
There was a good bed of skins and
blankets. several cooking utensils. a
table and several rough stools. clock.
dozen or more books. about thirty
candles, with tea, coffee. sugar. pork
and flour in quantities to last me sew
eral weeks. I could not have been
better provided for had planned for
the avalanche to come. There was a
lean-to at the back end of the hut and
looked into this to find it full of fuel.
l felt much more hopeful after ! had
taken the inventory. for I 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 a way to keep me on
thorns If the weight on the roof
proved too great should be crushed
or smothered 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.
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. I
felt all the gravity of the situation as l
threw on some light-wood and made
blaze. 1t was hard fight for half an
hour. Some of the smoke certainly
found way to escape, but some was
driven back. However. after time
the heat of the fire brought down IA
great deal of water-so much that ]
could scarcely keep flame going
and about half-past four o'clock the
cabin was cleared of smoke. While l
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. may explain
here that 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 II hundred channels.
l got myself some supper, wound
up the clock. and sat down for a
smoke and think. The hermit had
two pipes and large stock oftobacco.
and lonely as was my situation feel
ing of gratitude to God for the COM
forts at 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 placed where it would be
preserved and found in case of my
death. Then / began daily journal,
and mapped out 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 rs the blow of
a hammer. 1t was so warm that I
needed only the smallest fire. and
when went to bed at nine o'clock
there was no need of even a single
blanket for cover.
was up at an early hour next MORN
ing. having slept like log all night,
and while eating breakfast was startled
by sounds which believed to be the
voice of human being. l thought !
could he.r groans and cries for help.
and when l opened the door the sounds
came to me more distinctly. It might
Il A. Al L.