The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-03-14

| up my daily Journal, and when | went
to bed / left the door wide open. 1t
seemed to me that the air was getting
foul down there, and by opening the
door the room was greatly purified. 1t
was midnight, as ] afterward came to
know, and the fire was all out, when
some noise in the room startled me. /
sat up in bed and was soon convinced
that some one OF some living thing be-
side myself was present. l could hear
a labored breathing, together with
sounds, as of some one pulling himself
along the floor, and / climbed over the
! foot of the bed and lighted the candle.
What was my amazement to find third
savage in the cabinl He had quite
reached the side Of the bed, and had
! got out that way, as usual,
he would have at least wounded
me, for he had his naked knife in his
hand and was bent on murder. The
hatchet was at hand, but did not need
a weapon. The warrior had been dread
fully hurt, and, as an investigation
proved, had been buried Just beyond the
other two. When / left the bodies he
had dug his way to my tunnel and then
pulled himself along 10 the door, intend
ing to have my life as | slept When
baltled in this, he glared at me with all
the hate a human heart can betray. He
was crushed at the hips, and none but a
sa age could have accomplished what he
did. | could have killed him at single
blow, but the horrible work was spared
me. Death was already leside him, and
as | stood and looked down upon him,
candle in hand, he uttered faint war
whoop and fell over dead When l was
sure that life had departed l dragged
him into the tunnel and shut and bar ed
the door, and so upset had my nerves be-
come by the adventure that l did not
sleep again that night.
In the morning excavated hole near
where the two bodies lay, and pushed the
three into it, and packed the snow ovet
them. Then began running a tunnel
for the ledge in front of the cabin, and
had gone about twenty feet when the
second night came. Early in the third
day / had to abandon this tunnel on "a
count of a cave-in which arly smothered
me. Then | turned to the right to come
ont down the valley, and | was still at
this work when the first week closed.
Early in the second week was stopped
by bank of rocks and earth, aud wnen
the second week closed | was drifting n
tunnel to the left. 1t was slower work
than you would think for. The snow
was packed very solid, and all ] dug out
had TO be thrown behind me, and eventu-
ally carried off and scattered in some hole
under the tree tops. Every few feet
met with a big rock or the trunk Of a
tree, and it was hard work to get around
such Instructions. Again a cave-in
would take place to hinder further pro-
gress for day or two, and finally came
to the conclusion that | could never get
out by tunneling.
Istarted in on the third week more
to be at work than from any hope of es-
cape. All that week | tunneled to the
right again, and at three o'clock on Sat
urday afternoon | broke into my own
tunnel. In other words, l had done as
a man ooes when lost in the woods. l
made a half circle and came back on my
self, while all the time felt sure l was
going straight ahead. The fourth week
was spent mostly in the house. l was
now becoming much weaker, and was
ready to give up. 1t was on the thirty
fifth night that the cabin began groan-
ing and racking again, and knew that
the snow was settling down around it.
The noises continued all night, giving
me many a fright, and at seven o'clock
next morning, when | opened the door.
| found my tunnel filed up. ! was
lamenting this when l noticed that the
fire was drawing better than usual. Co
ing over to the fireplace, | took a look up
the chimney and saw the dark sky of
heaven. At the same moment three or
four drops of rain fell upon my face, and
then understood that great thaw had
set in and was reducing the snow around
me. 1t was three days more, however,
before | got daylight through the win
dow and could force my way out of the
door.
1t had been raining for three days and
nights, and the creek below me was
mad torrent. The snow on the trail was
yet very deep, and l was compelled to
wait two days before l could get away.
Then the weather changed to colder, and
| got down to Virginia City. 1t was
nearly a month later before we could get
at the bodies l knew were under the
snow. The hermit had been caught in
the edge of the rush, and killed by being
dashed against the rocks. His body was
carried across the frozen creek to the
edge of a thicket, and such clothing as
still cluug to it were in shreds and tat
ters. They had known of the avalanche
both above and be,ow, and had given
me up for lost. As near as the men
could Judge the snow above me was forty
feet deep and no one had any idea that
the cabin had been spared. That came
out of it alive was simply the luck which
strangely enough saves Il man now and
then from the open jaws of death. -Nei0