Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-06-13

Of the wind:
.a;it under that sled tha Ast one OF
YOU Skeet under 1t fast AS you cani
Hudde 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 youl Don't
one OF you dast to even peek out! Git
nnder--quick!'
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 shriekcd:
''I'm goin' on for another sledl Mind,
now, that not one OF you budges until
git back Stay where you are and |
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 MS 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 Dodgel 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 a mile from the sled,
came near being her last.
Hastily loo 'ening the horses from the
broken sled-tongue, she turned the
lame one loose, and, mounting the
other, set off in the direction in which
she supposed the Barnes farmhouse to
be.
But she could not soc, 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 : home
and was distracted when told that VIC
h I'D not come.
! 1t was useless to start out then, and hi
and my mother were walking the floor
hoping and praying for our safety and
for the storm to cease, when they hearc
the whinny Of horse at one OF thu
lighted windows
| Rushing out, father found Miss Dodgt
clinging to the horse, but too chilled ant
too near unconscious to speak for SOM
time.
They got her into warm bed, an
her first words were:
T-think they're safe. The-chil
dren-yours-a nd-some others-unde
my-sled- by-the--lon tree-at tn
bend -in-the road, "
Then she tainted away, ana le su
was shining in at the windows and al
signs of the storm, excepting the grea
drifts of snow, were gone when Mis-
Dodge next opened her eyes and oke
about her
The storm abated it's fury at abou
three o'clock in the morning, whe
my father and his hired man hitched tn
horses to our big sled and came to loo
us up
1t was easy to find the place, for tn
tree spoken of by Miss Dodge was tn
only one for miles around.
Armed with shovels, they soon re
moved enough of the snow to let u
come crawling out, stiff and sleepy
but not much the worse for our exp,
rience
Hurrying us into another sled, full [
straw and robes and blankets, fathe
drove around to the Dwight. Barnes
Greenwood and Long homes, in all {
which we found anxious nd tearfl
mothers, too distraught to sleep. Som
of the fathers and older brothers wer
already out with lanterns and torche
and teams, securing the white prairie
In search of us.
1t was ten days before Miss Dodg
could be taken home, severe attack c
, rheumatism following her fearful rid
| that night
Her stock and house were CAREFUL
looked after in the meantime by til
, fathers and older brothers of those VII
, were in her sled that night and whe
} she was finally taken home, she fouu
the Long, Greenwood, Barnes, Dwigl
I and Carter families assembled in hi
little home, each of us carrying SON
I gift to prove our gratitude.
But we boys and girls gave create
proof of our own gratitude by our trea
, ment of Miss Dodge in the future, an
? from that time forth she was one of OF
q warmest friends, and was sometime
heard to say;
. Il don't mind havin' the school-hous
40 close to mine The children are
sight of comp'ny round on the pla,
ground they reely arw-zenas Dan