The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-06-13
Of the wind:

| of the wind:
Cit under that sled the last one of
you. Sxeet under it fast as you can!
| Huddle up close together, and bundle
,;p we'll in the shawls and robes. and
j 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 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:
sT'm goin' on for another sled! 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 us had frost-bitten toes.
| We crept up close to each other, pull
| ing the straw and robes and blankets all
over u.s. 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 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 see, and, after a 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 p; home,
and was distracted when told that we
b I'D 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 one 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 a warm bed, and
her first words were:
''I-think-they' safe. The-chil-
dren-yours-a nd-some others-under
ed-by-the-lone tree-at the
bend -in-the road
Then she tainted away, ana 10 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 oked
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 our big sled and came to 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
HpnUQ nrn1nH tn 4bn ,irph ID,
| Greenwood and Long homes, in all of
which we found anxious nd 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 be taken home, severe attack of
rheumatism following her fearful ride
that 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
and Carter families assembled in her
little home, each of US carrying some
| gift to prove our gratitude.
But we boys and girls gave greater
proof of our own gratitude by our treat
ment Of Miss Dodge in the future, and
from that time forth she was one of our
warmest friends, and was sometimes
heard to say:
Il don't mind havin' the school-house
80 close to mine. The children are a
sight OF comp'ny round on the play
ground-they RELY arl"-Zenas Dane,
in Goidop INV,