The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-05-03
huge pair OF bcarskin mittens she had

| nuBe phir VI uedrshlu InlbJeuS Sle lao
herself made.
"You warmp" she asked, once or twice
looking back over her shoulders.
"Yes ma am, some of us would reply,
respectfully enough now.
1t was surprising how fast 1t grew
ark and how rapidly the temperature
lowered. Struggled up" as we were in
the straw and covered with robes and
blankets, we soon began to grow chilled
The Barnes farmhouse was mile
and a quarter from the school.house,
while the homes of the rest of us were
farther away, my brother James and
coming from distance of nearly two
miles.
The wind steadily increased in fury,
and the snow fell faster Miss Dodge
urged her horses on, but one of them
was lame and limped painfully.
We finally lay down fiat in the starw,
and covered up in the blankets and be-
gan pinching and teasing each other,
not realizing that our situation was at
all dangerous and not appreciating all
Miss Dodge was doing for us.
Suddenly we all gave Shrek as we
went sprawling out in the snow, or on to
the frozen ground in places where the
wind had blown the snow away.
1.-The good land!' l heard Miss Dodge
say, despairingly. 1.-THE tongue of the
sled is broke This is pretty kittle of
fshl'
To our surprise, it was now so dark
we could hardly see each other. The
wind had risen to perfect gale and was
roaring around our ears, while the snow
swept into our faces. Some Of us clung
to the sled to keep from being blown
away.
In turning corner little too alb
ruptly, the sled had tilted to one side
and the wind had helped to tip it over.
1t now lay bottom-side up in little
ravine by the roadside. One side Of the
wagon-bed rested on a rock and was
raised eight or ten inches from the
ground.
Suddenly Miss Dodge called out
sharply and authoritatively, her voice
rising shrill and distinct above the roar
of the wind:
"Git under that sled tho last one of
you! Skeet under it fast as you can!
Huddle up close together, and bundle
up we'll in the shawls and robes, and
mind that you stay there until me or
somebody else comes after you! Don't
one of you dast to even peek OUT Git
under-quick"
We obeyed rs fast as we could, laugh
ing and giggling as we did so. When
we were all under, Miss Dodge put her
head down to the opening and shrieked:
I'm goin' on for another sled! Mind,
now, that not one of you budges until
git backl Stay where you are and ]
guess you'll be all right"
We were all dressed warmly, and the
wagonbed sheltered us from the wind,
and before many minutes the snow
drifted entirely over, it making our re.
treat warmer than ever.
/ do not remember that any of us
suffered very much from the cold, al
though we discovered afterward that
some of us had frost-bitten toes.
We crept up close to each other, pull.
ing the straw and robes and blankets all
over us, laughing and joking as we did
so.
But poor Miss Dodge! Years Of hard
ship and exposure had 50 toughened her
that her powers of endurance were very
great. And yet that ride to my fathers
house, less than mile from the sled,
came near being her last.
Hastily loosening the horses from the
broken sled-tongue, she turned tho
lame one loose, and, mounting the
other, set off in the direction in which
she supposed the Barnes farmhouse te
be.
But she could not see, and, after mo.
ment or two, was forced to simply cling
to her horse and trust to his strength
and sagacity to carry her to the farm.
house.
have often heard my father tell how
he had reached home from the town,
four miles distant, just as the storm
broke in greatest fury. He thought he
would find James and me safe at home,
and was distracted when told that we
had not come.
1t was useless to start out then, and he
and my mother were walking the floor,
hoping and praying for our safety and
for the storm to cease, when they heard
the whinny of a horse at ono OF the
lighted windows.
Rushing out, father found Miss Dodge
clinging to the horse, but too chilled and
too near unconscious to speak for some
time.
They got her into warm bed, and
her first words were:
"I-think-they're safe. The-chil-
dren-yours- and-some others-under
-sled-by-the-lone tree-at the
bend -in-the road"
Then she tainted away, and the sun
was shining in at the windows and all
signs of the storm, excepting the great
drifts of snow, were gone when Miss
Dodge next opened her eyes and looked
about her.
The storm abated its fury at about
three o'clock in the morning, when
my father and his hired man hitched the
horses to eur big sled and came 20 look
us up.
1t was easy to find the place, for the
tree spoken of by Miss Dodge was the
only one for miles around.
Armed with shovels, they soon re-
moved enough of the snow to let us
come crawling out, stiff and sleepy,
but not much the worse for our expe-
rience.
Hurrying us into another sled, full of
straw and robes and blankets, father
drove around to the Dwight, Barnes,
Greenwood and Long homes, in all Of
which we found anxious and fearful
of the fathers and older brothers were
-