The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-11-22
CAUGHT IN A SNOw-STORm.
by c. S. MESSENGER.

L ne udN VI Tue great SnO" SlOIlll IDS
! winter, there was TO be childrens per
r formance of The Mikado at Bennington
; Vt, and Harry Wilcox, who lives i
/ Wnt Creek, about six miles from B er
/ nington, had been promised that h,
might drive over in his pony sleigh an
, take Mary Howe with him.
, He was bright, active boy of twelve
and Mary little neighbor of his of ten
They were rather young folks to g,
travelling without their mothers o
fathers, but Mary had an aunt Lucretii
, in Bennington, wEo would take care o
her there and see that she was wei
wrapped up when she should start to <,
home.
Harry had a pony named Duncan
which he drove t. a small wagon in tn,
summer, and now his father had giver
him sleigh, as handsome as any large
one, anu provided with plenty of fur
robes. Harry had worked hard through
haying and harvesting, and had actually
earned the money that vas paid fol tbs
sltigh.
His father. Mr.. Stephen Wilcox has g
large farm aud keeps a great many
sheep. which he dives up on the noun.
tain IN summer and feeds IN the valleys
in winter. Mary HOwe's father also il a
farmer whose house is about half mile
from Mr.. Wilcox's.
The day OF The NJ kldn, Mrs. Howe
brought Mary Ovar to Mr.. WiIcoX's and
saw her well packed in the 81, ign with
Harry; and, although the sky was over
cast neither she nor Mrs. Wilcox thought
much abuu the weather, only charging
Harry To keep the sleigh robes tucked
in, and t. start for home as som as the
performance should b. over,
The young folks drove off merrily on
the snowy read and Harry sang some of
the NJ kado songs which his IN Ither had
taught him. The sleighing was not
very good because the snow was too
deep; but Duncan pulled them along
ituu ly and they M de the s miles u
a Ii tid m ir' than an hour, and IN good
season Tor the performance. IL began
to snow before they reached B nnlng-
ton.
Aunt Lu re;ia was at the hall to meet
MiTy and the performance delighted
them all. Hirry heard. ON the stag,
a | the Mlkidu songs his mother had
taught hlm. He now understood better
what they meant.
When they came out of the hall it
was s.Ill showing. and aunt Lucretia
sald they mad better stay all night
Harry said Oh Mo- Duncan would
take them home in an hour and aunt
Lucretia, " thout thinking very much
about the snow, wrapped Mary up well
and let them set out.
They found the drive less pleasant
going towards home. The snow was
falling fast and they had to bend their
heads to keep 1t out of their eyes.
1t was hard for Duncan to wade
through it.
He broke into a trot now and then /;
yet Harry did not think for a moment
that he would not bring them home in
good time.
Harry ana Mary talked about The Mi
kadO in spite of the wind. They they
talked about snow houses, ana Harry
asked Mary how she would like a snow
house made Of ice-cream, so that she
could SIT in 1t and eat the sides with a
spoon
The snow kept covering up their hats
and capes, but they would brush it off
and laugh about II, and pull the bear
skin robe up higher so that it would
almost cover their heads.
They had got long way past the last
house in the valley and some distance
up the llng hill they had to climb and
on which there no houses, when Duncan
stopped, Harry spoke to him, but the
nnny wnnld not start. Harry TOUCHED
him with the whip and the brave little
horse made few steps forward and
the n hated,
Harry got out of the sleigh and went
to him and found him all of a tremble.
fIe was high spirited pony and had
worked with all his might to draw them
80 far through the snow drifts; and now
was almost dead. He could not 60 any
farther.
Harry did know what to do. At frs
he thought Mary and he would have to
walk back to the last house. but he saw
that the snow was certainly TOO deep for
Mary. She was frightened ana began
to cry. He said, Don't be afraid 1t
W II be all right in few minutes, and
he covered her up snugly with the sleigh
robes and put DunCan's blanket on him
and told Mary to keep warm while he
would go back tJ the last house and get
"A man to help them.
He started back through the drifts
which he found very deep. Some of
them through which Duncan had plung-
ed only little while before, were up to
Harry's shoulders. He found he could
not possibly go to the farmhouse and
turned back to the sleigh wondering
what Mary and he and Duncan were to
do.
He found Duncan had moved little
to get under the shelter of a cump of
birches and was out of the wind, The
snow, however, was ping up fast over
him and over the sleigh.
Just then he thought Of Lieutenant
Greelv in the Arctic regions how his
men had often lain out III their sleeping
bags in the snow storms when on their
long excursions across the ice fields and
he said to himself. IF we had some
sleeping bags Then in moment he
thought, why can't we sleep IN the
sleigh with the robes over us;
Mary" said he, I'VE have got to stay
here till they break the roads, and we
must lie down in the bottom of the
sleigh and cover ourselves all up with
the robes"
"What will mother do if We don't
Gomez said Mary. She'll think we
are fir zen to death"
"Oh. no." replied Harry. Shell
think we staid at your aunt LucretiIs
We can go home as soon as the farmers
break the roads In the morning"
Then he got into the sleigh and hole
ing up the robes toward the wind, told
Mary to put the cushion on the bottom
of the sleigh, under the seat and lie
down with her head on it, Then he
quickly tucked the robes in on her side
and lay down himself on the other side
with the robes reaching entirely over
them and over the seat of the sleigh,
If they had been nervous, old people,
they would have thought, perhaps, that
they could not breathe but there was
Ii tie space between their faces and the
seat above. and they were too young
to think much about ventilation.
Now" said Harry, "go to sleep,
Mary, and in a minute il will be morn
ing, and you will hear the farmers com
ing along, breaking the roads"
II don't know as | can go to sleep,
replied Mary.
But she said her prayers to herself and
kept very quiet and soon was truly fast
asleep.
Harry lay awake somewhat longer.
listening to the wind and wishing that
poor Duncan was as comfortable as
Mary and he were. Theu he went to
sleep too.
Meanwhile. at Mr. Wilcox the snow
had begun to frighten Hsrry's mother
She could see it piling mp in the road
and she said to herself, "lf Lucretia lets
the children start in this storm, they
will never get here" She kept hoping
that Marys aunt had kept them in
Bennington, but she was very anxious.
Ah,,nt siy o'cIork Mr. WiIcoV can,a il,