The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-05-05

could fal me ful1u he would set The.
He said bis name was DaDief Fdr.
ness. and he came from Randolph
county, near the head Of Cheat ri ver;
West Virginia, where bis ~ }s6l|
lived. His father and two hI{ |iers
had been killed while serving liz sl
Confederate Amy andps the sapp6rt
suf his notherhaying fallen unan his
shoulders, ame up isl{o iS|ffb
Dakota v lentio' alldr
ting.a hong or III hotnej ai} {iIis1s
self. There ! few hul ']ol.
lars left q the wife and son wIi6n his
father went down uuder FIRE III lhe
Federal forces, aud this money he
left in a Wheeling bank to Be used
by his mother while he was establish
ling home in the North.
Tais story told by Furness tnlisted
the sympathy of Dan at once, and
their chance acquaintance grew into
sort of brOtherly attachment that
lasted through the three years that
Furness was busily engaged in culti-
waiting his claim. With Dams assist
ance he got alCng famousIy. He had
proved up on his tree claim and a
homestead, and besides had managed
TO purchase $50 acres, so that last!
spring found him in possession of $40
acres of splendid land. Big Dan had
come to look upon Furness as a sort
OF protege of his, and the people who
had settled around the Furness claim
dubbed them Big and Little Dan.
They were almost inseperable COM
panions, and year ago, when Big
Dan was stricken with fever, Furness
nursed him so tenderIy that he pulled
through and come out all right,
HE wus es smart er young duck
es ever got rained on" said Dan.
with moisture in his eve, "I'll
never forget him es long es Pm on
top Ov earth. l thought er darned
sight more ov him than L did Of my
own carcass"
Furness was making preparations
to go East and return with his moth
er next spring to his Dakota posses
sions. He had bargained with Big
Dan to look after the farm while he
was absent, and he was to have start
ed East Feb, 1st. A week ago last
Tuesday FurneSs went to Church.
Ferry to make purchase of provis
ions to carry Big Dan through the
winter. He remained in Church:
Ferry on Tuesday night and started
for home Wednesday noon. That
afternoon terrible blizzard came VI
and Furness must have become be.
wildered, for he did not reach home
but Big Dan, thinking he had con.
GUIDED to remain at the ferry until
the blizzard was ended, gave himself
no uneBSinesS about his young friend
All day Thursday the gale blew, and
still Dan was confident that FurneSs
had remained in town but when
Friday and Saturday passed and he
did not return, Dan began to feal
that there was something wrong, and
buckling on his snOWshOes he started
across the prairie for the ferry. He
! had gone barely more than two miles
from the house when dark object
lying on the pririe caught his eye
and going oyer to it he found the
sleeve of buffalo coat. He dug down
into the snow and found the body ol
man lying on his face, as though he
had fallen while struggling against
the storm. Dan lifted the corpse out
of the drift, and turning it over look.
ed into the rigid features of Fur.
ness.
The strange part Of the story has
not yet been told. His great heart
stricken with grief, Dan lifted the
form of Furness in his arms and car.
red it back to the shack, laying il
on the bed. He was ST. unnerved by
the terrible fate of his friend that f0r
a day he could do nothing. When
he at last pulled himself together he
went about preparing the remains OF
his friend for burial. In attempting
to remove the clothing from the up,
per part of the body, much to his
CONSERVATION, Daa laid bare the
white bosom of a woman. He imme
diately drove to the house of a neigh
Dor and notified the woman of his
suspicious, which were afterward
verified. The remains were given a
careful burial in the little cemetery
at Church's Ferry.
Among the girls effects, in her
trunk, were found letters from her
mother addressed to Cora, which was
probably the right name of the mas
querader. The only theory advanced
for the woman concealing her sex is
that she concluded she could thus
protect herself against insult and in