New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-18

and the man got up and led her about half.wa,
in, saying that we'd keep part Of her dry any,
how. A stream from the roof trckled into her
ear and she shook her head and stamped her feet
on the floor The candle was blown out, but the
woman took burning wsp of hay from the fire
and lit it. The man began 10 whistle Dixie,
and to keep time" with his bare foot in pool
of water on the floor. The storm reioubled its
fury and there seemed to he 1fr prospect that
the roof would blow off. The man stopDed
whistling and told funny story about a coon
hunt in Missouri Then / happened to mention
nv errand, and he got up and seized his hat lie
was delighted at the chance to do me a favor
and he would 90 right out and milk. Come TO
think of it, he didn't believe that he had MIXED
the old cow for two three days anyhow. | of
course told him that he must not think of doing
it till the rain stopped. lie would hear Of
nothing of the kind but took a gourd in one
hand and started for the door l demonstrated,
but to no purpose. He went out into the pour
ing rain and began to feel around in the darkness
for the cow Since he was doing it for me, /
th0ught il my place to 20 out too, so together
we grabbed about in tire night for the desired
animal The flashes of lightning helped, and we
found her at last, and he got down on his knees
in the wet grass, held the g0urd IN one hand and
MIXED with the other. / stood by and listened
TO another humorous coon hunt narrative. lie
leaned his head against the cow and the water
poured off her back in torrents and on down the
back of his neck When the gourd was full We
went back to the house. He whstled the I" Ar
kansaw Traveller" on the way. | was as wet as
could be by this time so / took the milk in my
canteen and thanked him for it, knowing that he
would be insultcd if / offered to pay, and rode
back to the wagon, which | found dryer than the
house, notwithstanding it had only canvas top
The next morning he was down TO see us at sum
rise with another gourd of milk. The sheets were
a little damp during the night he sald especially
on the outdoor bed, but otherwise they had al
passed q very comfortable night.
II was three or four days after this that we
had our most marked experience with one of those
night winds peculiar 10 tine great western pans
which come up and hurry past and are gone; No
wind bloweth where il llSteth so truly rs thee
The day had been warm and calm, ana the even
ing partOOk of the nature OF the day. iheTe
was no cloud in the sky and the stars shone brill
ianty We were camped two or three nj eS from
any house on the level prairie our campfire
died down and we went to bed IN the wagon al
Q o'clock. There not a breath OF air stirring
The horses cropped the dry grass about the wagon
for a while and then lay down for the nlght We
were soon asleep. our open-ar lie giving us an
| appetite for sleep which. 1t seemed TO US, MAJ
never before been equslcd by man. Al hal-paSt
in the morning we were awakened by, violent
rocking of the wagon and happing OF the canvas
cover The wind was blowing gale. We 1919
hastily and pulled aside the flap IN the 'front.' Of
the wagon, expecting to see rain or at least pros
poets of il. The sky was as clear ana the stars
and the wagon gave a lurch As If 1t would 70
over We got out, and with some difficulty turned
il around parallel to the direction of the wind lie
wind caught it and blew IT along dozen ieet
but the pole ran into the ground and IL stopped
THE wind was from the southwest, but there
was no sign Of cloud in any direction, IL M
| creased in violence, and climbed into tho
wagon. Our camp utensils, which had been
scattered about on the ground. went scurryng
away in the darkness one by one. The wlnd
was somewhat cooler than was the air early IN
the evening, but it was not cold. Ii seemed as
if every minute it blew harder The horses be-
came frightened and snorted and tugged at thelr
| picket ropes as if they wished to run away witl
| the wind. Only the pony remained calm, nus
| with her feet braced and head high in the air I;
she was born on the plains and was acquainted
with these winds. The long praire-graS5 preSSel
clos TO the ground and the wind cut through 10
| with a kissing sound. Several small animals.
probably Jack rabbits. rushed past, in vain eiiors
to run away from the WIND: our wagGn-'22p
trcmbled. and it seemed that 1t must surely ne
| blown away. Big. dark tumbe-wecdS went
! bounding past taking great leaps and apparent
delighting in it all dozen head OF cattle
| rushed madly along. hurrying 10 they knew not
| where But through it all the stars shOne down
calm and undisturbed When the wind was az
its height it stopped-that tells the whole story.
1t was not ten minutes from the time it began
10 abate till all was again calm; IL blew perhaps
half an hour altogether The grass partially
Strengthened up: the horses ceased to tug At their
nastics 4 great calm, which. like Egyptian
darkness. could I've felt, settled down on the
prairie II seemed if wind hid forever dis.
appeared from the earth and that we should
know il no more Still no cloud appeared, and
| the stars shone unmoved. 1t had been n
| varrant, rowing wind which had come mp ont
of the south and had frightened us and had had
| snort with MS and gone on nobody knew where
| In the morning the sun rose clear and warm and
the day was like the one before. only little
cooler In it's peaceful serenity, with lazy gosSa.
| mcr floating idly all about. there was no sign
| that the wind had ever blown or that it would
ever blow.