West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-01-12


Ben right and left We had two or
three rows before bedtime, and all
turned in sulky and indignant
Whew But what night that was
The cold increased until the rocks were
split, and the wind roared until our cabin
threatened TO topple over at every blast
At midnight Big BeROrept carefully out
Of his bed and opened the door, and then
/ almost forgave him for his brutality
Conscience had been at work, and his
heart was touched. He hoped TO find
the boy crouched on the threshold, and
heard him sigh and mutter to himself as
he shut the door and returned to his
blankets. The strongest man in our
party, clad as VIC were for the winter,
could not have stood against the blizzard
half an hour, and fell asleep to dream
OF finding poor Charley's frozen corps on
the trail leading down to the Forks, and
of his big blue eyes being wide open and
staring at me in a reproachful way.
For breakfast next morning we had
some canned meat-opened a new can
from our slim store. We thawed il out,
and all ate our full shares, and were on
the point of starting out to search for
the boy when one Of the men was taken
I'LL. Inside Of half an hour all OF us were
down with rains and cramps, and it was
evident that we had been poisoned by
the meat. We had no antidote OF any
sort, and one after another went TO bed
to suffer the most agoniziag pains and
to lose consciousness. Big Fen was the
hardest hit Of all, while l, perhaps, suf-
fered the least. That is, while all the
Others raved and shouted and lost their
senses, | was all the time dimly con-
scious Of everything going on. The
blizzard was still raging, and the ther-
mometer was marking a still lower de-
gree when the door opened and Charley
walked in. saw him, but was flighty,
and it seemed TO me that he was dead. /
remember his looking down upon each OF
us in strange, scared way, aud starting
10 retreat when one of the men shouted
louder curse.
was the first 10 come back to life, as
IL were, and that was twenty-four hours
after being first taken. The pains were
gone as / opened my eyes, but was
weak and wretehed, like one just over a
terrible fever. The boy Charley was
standing before me as opened my eyes,
and he bent down and whispered:
"Iou have all been terribly sick, and /
think one man is dead. Can you eat
somethingl"
did feel bit hungry, and had no
sooner signifed it than he came 10 me
with n bowl of btoth. As | afterward
learned, the storm had driven couple
of hares TO seek shelter at the door, and
he had secured both of thom. He did
not know the cause of our sickness, but
suspe ted some calamity, and was pre-
pared to feed us as soon as we could eat.
1t seemed that when Big Ben drove him
out he tumbled into the ravine n quarter
Of a mile away, and he found shelter
under ledge. How he kept from freez-
ing TO death that night heaven only
knows. Indeed, heaven, preserved him.
1t froZe our water pail solid when stand
ing within six feet of the fire, and there
he was, out in the cold in thrcadbare
suit. When morning came he returned
to the cabin TO make one more appeal.
He found us suffering and out of our
minds, and the fire about gone out. Had
it not been for him we should have frozen
as stiff as pokers, for on that day it was
thirty one degrees below zero all day
long, aud it went down to almost forty
degrees.
The boy kept up rousing fire, dressed
his rabbits for the soup, and al day and
all night long he kept forc Y strong
coffee down our throats. That do btlcss
helped us to pull through, or at least
four Of us. The other man, whose name
was Hale, had his teeth firmly clenchcd,
and from the way his features were dis.
torted and his limbs drawn up il was
evident that he died in grcaS agony. In
a couple Of hours / was able 10 be up
and assist Charley in caring for the
others, but il was far into the night before
the last man could use his tongue in
sensible manner. 1t was Big Ben, and
when consciousness returned aud he saw
the white faced boy bending over him
the great tyrant whispered.
'Aye! The corpse of the lad has
risen up to confront and accuse mel It
was a cruel thing aid to drive him out,
and the Lord will never forgive me for
itp'
While out Of danger we we're yet weak
and almost helpless, and none OF us could
attend the fire or do a bit OF cooking FOR
nearly week. The whole thing de-
volvcd upon the boy, and no one could
have done better. lie was cook, nurse.
doctor and protector all in one. lie got
three more hares and a couple Of birds,
and don't believe a spoonful OF the
broth went down his own throat.
We'll, / for one had been watching
Big Ben to see what he would do. The
first moment he was able 20 sit Up he
ca led Charley and pulled the frail little
fellow down on his breast, saying:
III you'll only forgive me III pray 70
the Lord to do the same. Pm rough and
wicked, but Co turn a lad like you out o.
doors on snth n night az that wasn't me
at al. Old sa'an must have had pos
session Of me"
That great big fellow cried like child,
and Charley cried with him, and / might
as well own mp TINT we All cried What
made IL the more solemn was the fact
that we had corpse at the door When
it was known that Hale was dead, none
Of tho othor four Of ms could lift hand.
How the boy got the body out Of doors
never could understand, but get u out he
did, and IL was three long months before
we could give IL Christian burial.
On the morning when We all got out Of
bed feeling pretty strong again, Charley
went 20 bed with a fever and before noon
was riying crazy. ] tel you 10 was awful
% hear him cry out every few minutes in
his delirium.
90 oh Ben. don't drive me off T1I