The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1888-02-29
TWAS BITTER COLD.
A Nights Experience In tho Lumber
NogiOns of NInEne.

zee HOW llllSS were SettinS along. 1t
was Il long journey, but the sleighing
was like glass, and l had onc of the best
horses that even stood inside the tliills.
On my second day out the thcrmCmcter
stool at 20 dogs. below, and was inclined
to go lower. l knew | woulG reach one
OF those queer littlc villages common to
the Maine backw0ods early in the even
ing. There l intended to stay ali night,
and drive on ncXt morning TO the house
of the agent of the lumber property,
twelve miles further along. | reached
the village and found that there was no
tavern there.
This, OF course. upset my plans. So
l ate supper in tie village and started on,
intending to proceed to the agents the
same night. 1t was a starlight night,
but the air was filed with that peculiar
frozen mist frequently noticeable on very
cold nights. AS we ncarCd the river this
haze became d"nsor, until finally it was
with difficulty coull see anything ahead
of nc. 1t was like passing through a
storm of scaly ice. Suddenly, as | was
thinking that we must Ice almost OH the
margin Of the river, there eano q crack
ling sound, Il loud splash Of water, and
tho next second my horse was founder
ing about in water, which also covered
the sleigh, the rotes and myself up to
my waist.
''Thc water splashed about 0
drcnchcd the rest Of mo, and in less
time than | can tell it / was coated with
u rapidly thiclicning armor of ice. 1
guess my noble beast must have noun-
dcrcd ut least II minute in that hole before
lie knew exactly what had happened.
When the situation did conn to him no
became quiet, threw his fore feet up, and
lodged them both ip the ice with II con
certcd blow like a trip hammer. The ice
was thick, but beneath that blow an inn
nlcnsc cake wa broken off and was car
ricd down iii under tho edge Of the ice
below. The horse swan onward. drag
ging tho sleigh with it through the rap
idly freezing slush. Once more ho
pounded the ice ahead of him with his
powerful foro feet, and again the ico
yielded.
During I'll this time l was shouting
for help. | might, at the first break,
have turned and learcd back to shore, but
had not collected myself in time. It was
now too late, and even if it had not been
/ was so sti!Icucd by the casing of ice that
l couldn't have moved to save myself
from death. The horse kept on, and,
strange as the story seems, broke u chan
mel for fifty feet aCroSS that river, and
drew the sleigh out safely on the other
side. And he didn't tarry when he got
there, bat started off ut the top of his
speed toward our destination. lie soon
struck the o and away we went. l
knew that although II danger was cs-
capped. n greater was before us, and |
urged the horse on with NY voice. Ny
robes and clothing had frozen so solid
that if | had been encascd in iron / could
not have been moro motiOnlcSS. My
horse was Il jet black, but lis icy coating
made him stand out, oven in that frozen
mist, Ike n apcStcr horse. | could not
move even my hands. We were not yet
half way 10 the agents house when l
found myself growing drowsy. / could
no longer use my voice. The clattcr Of
the horses hOof5 and the ~creaking Of tho
runners on the ice sounded to me like
thunder claps and weird, hidcous cries.
| knew that | was freezing, but | laborci
hard to rouse my will and fight with it
against my fate. Fac stars looked like
great Goals of fire, although before they
could be seen hut diinly through the
peculiar haze. The trees, with their
branches covered with snow, took on the
shapes of gigantic ghosts. Still l pre-
served all my powers of reasoning.
Finally felt myself growing deliciously
warm. a lausaor, such as De Quincy
might have described, with attending
visions of lovcILncss, took possession of
me. heard She mos delightful music.
Still | made one mental effort to shake
off this fatal spell, and that was all.
81 don't know how far / was from the
agents house when / froze to death, but
the next thing l remembered | was suf-
fering such fortunes as n victim of the
rack might feel. He never felt worse.
Suddenly, at my feet, the pricking of n
million needles assaulted nay flesh. Tor
turing me at hat spot a moment, until I
writhcd in agony, it dashed quickly up
my leg, stopped an instant, rs if gloating
in my misery, and then crawled with
that awful pain slowly upward, until it
seemed that tiny jets of the ~fiercest flame
were being blown into my body, heart
and brain. Ehc intensity of this agony
was not constant. If it had been / would
nav died again in n short time. 1t came
in waves, SO to speak. Each wave was
q little less furious han its predecessor,
until at last the storm was passed, and !
found myself n weak, speechless, limp
and helpless mortal, lying on a robe be-
fore the fireplace of my friend. the agent.
He had brought me back to life.
'Nhen | was strong enough to hear it,
he told me that he was awakened in the
night by the peculiar and loud ncighing
of q horse. He looked out of the window
and saw q sight that startled nina
ghostly horse and sleigh and driver in the
road before his door. He recovered him
self and went down. Then he discovered
that the driver was dead. He quickly
carried the driver into the house, laid
him on the floor before the fireplace, and
recognized me. Knowing that even if /
was not beyond all aid, nothing could be
one for me until the robe and clothing
were thawcd, he made the fire blaze and
hurried to the rescue of the faithful and
intelligent horse that had reasoned with
itself that it must stop at the first house
it came to on that terrible night, and that
life and death depended on it. BY the
time the horse was cared for I was in
shape to be resuscitatcd in case any such
thing could he done. I was stripped and
rubbed briskly with snow and snow water
for moro than an hon: before / gave any
evidence that l might be called back.
Then another hour was spent in the same
treatment whom n c~pponful of hrnnIy