The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-05-03

not realizing that our situation was at
all dangerous, and not approaching all
Miss Dodge was doing for US.
Suddenly we all gave q 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!' heard Miss Dodge
say, despairingly. 1.-THE tongue of the
sled is broke! This is a pretty kittle of
fish,
To our surprise, it was now so dark
we could hardly sec 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 chung
to the sled to keep from being blown
away.
In turning corner little too alb
ruptly, the sled had tilted to one side
and tho 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 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 the 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 outi Git
rrGler--quickl"
| We obeyed as 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 L
git back! Stay where you are and 1
guess you'll be all right"
We were all dressed warmly, and the
wagon-bed 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 pO up SlOoC W CetSu OGItIs pun
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 so tOughened her
that her powers of endurance were very
great And yet that ride to my fathers
house, less than milo from the sled,
came near being her last.
Hastily looscning the horses from tho
broken sled-tongue, she turned the
lame one loose, and, mounting tho
other, set off in the direction in which
she supposed the Barnes farmhouse to
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 tho storm
broke in greatest fury. Ho thought he
would find James and me safe at home,
and was distracted when told that We
I had not come.
1t was useless to start out then, and he
| and my mother were walking tho floor,
hoping and praying for our safety and
for the storm to cease, when they heard
the whinny of horse at one of tho
| 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 a warm bed, and
her first words were:
"I-think-they'r safe. The-chil-
dren-yours-an d-some others-under
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 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 tho 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 hitchcd the
horses to our big sled and came to look
us up.
1t was easy to find tho place, for tho
treo spoken of by Miss Dodge was the
only one for miles around.
Armed with shovcls, they soon re-
moved enough of the snow to let d
como crawling out, stiff and sleepy,
but not much the worse for our expo
rience.
Hurrying US into another sled, full of
straw and robes and blankets, father
drove around to tho Dwight, Barnes,
Greenwood and Long homes, in all OF
which VIC found anxious and fearful
mothers, too distraught to sleep Some
of the fathers and older brothers were
already out with lanterns and torches
and teams, securing the white prairies
in search of us.
1t was ten days before Miss Dodge
could DO taken home, severe attack of
rheumatism following her fearful ride
! TIat night.
Her stock and house were carefully
looked after in the meantime by the
fathers and older brothers of those who
were in her sled that night, and when
she was finally taken home, she found
the Long, Greenwood, Barnes, Dwight