Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-21

evening his 20 acres Of corn was absolutely.
wiped from off the face of the earth, his cat
tie range was bare ground, and not straw
was left OF his tall stacks. He showed me
Where the ravenous insects had even gnawed
half through the sheathing at the bottom, of
the outer walls of the housed -.
Cutting or Surplus Baggage.
My writing kept me busy till within two
hours OF sunset next day, and then there
was rough II miles between me and the,
necessary poytofice. Over hills and valleys.
gull1es, irrigating bitches and cactus I
stumbled on through the dark, steering by
the starsi and at last reached Sedalia, lust
In time for the mail, but wet, lame and
ravenous. A pair of scales showed me that
my load-the heavy rifle and six-shooter.
cartridge belt, knapsack, blanket, change Of
shirt and stockings, etc, weighed 81 pounds;
and that at once struck me as ''ridlng free
horse to death" Thenceforth all that could
possibly be spared went ahead from station
to station on the broader shoulders of the
express company, and many might I nearly
froze for want of the blanket, which was.
lAsure to be ahead of or behind me.
Lightened by II grateful pounds I re-
sumed the march next day, Mgzaging, for
week from road to mountains and back
egain, as the whim seized me, finding
enough game to be interesting, and enioy-
ing every moment as keenly as only trained
muscles and careless mind can enjoy. One
cottontail that I shot near Castle Rock
rolled down his burrow dead and would
have escaped me but for boyhood lesson
from old Hugh, back in the White Mount
aims. With the end of my staff I could
just feel the limp fur at the bottom of the
hole. Wetting the end of the stick with
my mouth put 1t down until 1t touched
bunny and twisted it around gently few
times. Then, when drew it carefully out,
there was the rabbit at the end bound bya
delicate cable of his own silky hair.
Cry That Curdles the Blood.
The full moon was high overhead as I
wound through the lonely canon of Plum
Creek, and midway Of that bare defile nv
ears pricked up at an old, familiar sound,
for years unheard and almost forgotten-the
long, weird howl of the gray wolf 1t is
cry to make the blood curdle; but there was
no answering yell, and after the first
startled grap at-the butt ofmy forty -four 7
plodded on.
At Larkspur that night there awaited me.
cold welcome It was bitter weather,
Underthe water tank the ice was three
inches thick; and the savage wind roared
down the canon in icy gusts. There was no
place to sleep save in the "bunkhouse.
That had one occupant, and he had one;
blanket Ny own was in Colorado Springs,
and not even gunny sack was to be found
TO mitigate the night. The old track walker
shivered under his one tattered cover and
would have no fire in the battered stove-r
he said it "would make the boogs too
wa-ketul:" I froze on the bare planks till
midnight and then in desperation took the
law and stove into my own hands and built
q ro rrh Inh do ,.,.1,4
able, though I had to sally forth several
times before morning to "rustle" fuel
Boring Wind With an Auger.
From Larkspur to the top Of the divide, |
5000 feet above sea level, was steady up |
hill pull, growing cooler at every step, and |
In the teeth OF the very worst wind ever |
gale, against which 1 could make scant two |
miles an hour by the most violent exertion.
At the door OF one lonely house 1 knocked,
and politely asked if they could lend me an
auger. What dye want of q auger?"
snapped the hard-faced woman why an
swered my rap. "Why, thought, madam,
that it might help me bore through this
wind"-but she slammed the door in ths
face of this ill-timed witticism, and 1 went
without my dinner for being "funny."
The temperature kept falling and the
Sue rising as tne day wore on. 1t was
already generously below zero Near the
aptly. named side track of Greenland, j was
crossing trestle which spans Carpenters
creek when a sudden gust, resistless as a
wall swept me off bodily and flung me upon
the ice and frozen sand score of feet below
The ice-thanks to the wind-had but lately
formed, and through went into shallow
pool 1t was better than falling on the Stag
rip-rsp at the ends of the bridge; but the
eight miles to shelter, walking witlnclothing
frozen stiff as a plank and nearly every
bone in my body aching, was anything but
Some Wonders of Nature.
From the top of the divide there were no
temptations from straight road to Colo
rado Springs, the lovely little city In the
edge OF the plain under the vezy shadeH e