Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1890-08-07
1own upon the unwary sleepers be-

the rush OF water over far rapids-a
crunchlng, grinding sound growing
louder and lOuder-then a mighty
roar filled the air. making the very
mountain shuGder, and the ava
!anche, born, perhaps, in the loosen
ing OF a simple lump of ice from the
rocks or u TUT of snow dropping
rom some overhanging ledge, plung-
Ell down, tossing and heaving and
hearing great boulders lightly on its
white pillows, swapping off isolated
trees like reeds, and sweepinga broad
path to the earth
Then indeed did the little cabin
quake and reel, and the sleepers wake
in terror from the sudden shock.
What was it? Sally sprang up in
her bed. her heart loudly throbbipg
in the silence which followed.
Then cry IRON the next room
made her leap from her bed and feel
her way out in the deep darkness,
through the door that sagged
strangely and could be forced but
partially open, to the corner where
her father lay.
Something drendful had happened
surely! Her hands CROPPED over only
rough logs and snow. She 1elt her
way back with II great dread ut her
heart, and now with n dim candle
above her white face the truth was
quickly revealed.
One end of the cabin, had been
crushed in by the slide, and the heavy
logs had fallen in upon Milton Bruce.
1t was some time before Sally could
even find her father in the mass of
timber.
Frantically, and with almost n
mans strength, she wrenched and
pried at the logs, and her courage re-
vived as some o. them fell away.
But soon she had reached the lin
it of her desperate efforts. Try as
she might, the .ogs that held her ia
Their down were immovable, and Sal
ly wrung her hands in despair as, re-
covering consciousness, her father
begged to be released.
With torn hands she again and
again strove with the stubborn tim
bers till she tell down beside them.
1t was all useless. She lay on the
hard floor and thought it all over
this awful thing which had come to
them in the darkness without pre-.
sage, and left them in n deeper dark
ness than even that OF night-the sui
tering and despair they must under
go through all the long, slow hours,
before kind death should release
them.
1t was too terrible for human en-.
durance, and for a long time Sally
was happily unconscious of misery
On first recovering, it seemed like
horrible dream, yet there was the
grim truth staring her in the face
and her father talking wildly beside
her.
Could nothing be done: The snow
I might be ten CIR fifty feet above them
She did not know. But it W. uld dc
no harm to find out. Sally thought
it must now be day, and with fever
ish haste she peere,l iato the solid
snow wall at the ruined end OF the
cabin.
1t was deep, for no light penetrated
down through it's white crystals
The windows, too, were dark al
night. She ran to the kitchen. Was
it merely fancy? The snow certainly
had q bright look, us though TIN
light were struggling to pierce it.
Sally's courage rose. She must
make her way ont, il at all, from thu
highest point in the cabin, and thai
was through the chimney, Shegazet
anxiously up it's big. sooty throat
1t really did look lighter than at tn
window even.
To think was to act with the brave
girl, and in less time than it axes tc
write it, Sally, wrapped for jour
ney, was creeping. and working hel
way up the rough stones, the fire
shovel in hand and her snow-shoel
strapped to her back. When LITTLE
way up, the shovel slipped from he1
grasp and fell with loud CHATTER tt
the hearth. Nothing could be dom
without it, and she went down afte
it this time tying it firmly to he
arm.
Once at the top of the chimney ,
. place was soon scooped out in TIN
snow large enough for toothold
and she began working her way up
ward, at an angle. as best she coult
in the darkness, like mole, digging
, and bearing a tunnel for her bod.
, in the packed drift, the dislcdge'
! snow falling down the great chimney
! 1t was slow, weary, work, and Sal
ly would fain have given up in dc
/ SPAR, had not the muffled cries c
, the sufferer below nerved her flaggin,
energies.
But at length it began to gro,
perceptibly lighter; then the pal
toiler could see to work. She wa
nearing the surface, and with kin
of frenzy she dug up, up, each strok
, bringing her nearer to light and liit
Now she could hear the wind SWEEP
ing acros the trackiess snow; the sur
rays penetrated the thin crust abov
her head. A moment and the da,
cling brightness fell upon her face.