The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-11-24

no eo,u0AB aH0ne.
But ID vas hasd. stcep, slick as glass
in pfsces, Tor an this was passable, so
many feet polished these icy steps by
dap; no one daring 30 try the pass by
night for fear Of sudden storms, in
which at least a dozen men had already
died right along here. It was only the
dreaded Csu1as prairie, now far behind
me, that cut them off entirely from the
world. For no one, not even an Indian,
would cross the sea of snow by night.
And no one could possibly cross it by
day, as haYe explained.
The snow'on either side of the mar
row, steep and dark trail reached my
armpats, often my hat rim.
The bottom Of this trail and all the
little benches and breaks on either
side were black from millions and bill
lions of snow-heas. What these little
creatures are. or for what, who shall
sayP But they, by their myriad pres
ence, have helped many poor fellow
from suffering from that one most in
describable agony-snow blindness.
For as long as the eye can rest on some
dark object the glittering lances from
the snow do not pierce the eyes and
drive men mad from intense pain. And
this may be natures use for this snow
flea But how shall we explain any
use for the red snow-flea on Mount
Shasta2 They are infnitesimally
smaller than the black snow-fieas of
the far north and comparatively inert.
You can hardly see thegred flea move,
while the black feas cover and make
as black as q hat the bottom of the
footprint in the snow from the man
who precedes you. And they remain
there almost until your descending foot
touches them, when they jump out in a
cloud and blaclsen the snow all around
the footprint. But come along.
got to the top exhausted, dazed-fn
fact, dizzy-from walking, climbing.
corlsserewing that black and slippery
serpent. My hands were both bleeding
from contact with the sharp edges Of
tho walls Of SNOW, and had hong since
stack my pistol in my belt to surely
keep the powder dry. But only three
miles more and would hail and shout
above the pine tops down Dead Horse
hin, and knew would have answer.
felt there was something behind
me; had turned nobmy head. I was too
nearly dizzy already, and all my sense
and strength were now in demand for
the next few last miles. So knew I
had not looked back.
Now, have met plenty Of people
who have felt the nearness or the com
ing Of some person. This is not new.
Speak Of the devil and he viii appear"
is an adage born of this and is old. but
7 hauQ no ho hoo fo1k
the presence of q beast I will not
dwell further on this than to say briefly
that not only knew that was being
closely followed by beasts, but I knew
they were black; and l knew there
were three Of them; and knew they
were not down in the trail did not
know what they were. But the ono
| thing that most startled me was the
| ghosslY fnct that they made no noise.
a dog makes o scratching sort of noise
ON tho snow crust as he moves over it.
A BEARS claws will rattle like bones on
the snow as he walks; all beasts, in
fnct, except those Of the cat family,
can be heard on occasions like this.
| But these black and ghostly beasts
were as noiseless as the dead.
I found myself almost flying, six
SHOOTER in hand, for the summit was in
sight; and the top was almost bare of
snow. swept by cyclone tempests. I
sprang on, ou, up OF. Of my chasm Of
snow, and wheeled about. There they
came-thDe-just rs had seen them.
They did not stop, and fred instantly.
do not miss my aim with pistol.
There is more than one man besides
myself, however, to tell that. The
gaunt, ugly beast threw his head
aronnd, snapped yiciously at compan-
ion, md then sprang twice or thrice
around, rolled down and was dead.
Then all the picture and story books
which had read about wolves cnnae
back. had expected to see the others
tear and cat him as in the books. They
did not so much as snap at him us hc
spun about In his death struggles. /
had always seen wolves with red
mbuths wide open. The mouths Of
these were all as tightly shut as steel
traps Were they oil males?
Five hundred yards more and would
be on tho top Of Dead Horse hiil and
could Be heart- ran. few tried
to shout as ran, but feeling my voice
gone, wheeled about, q derrfngcr in
my right hand. and blnscd svey. Tbs
shaggy bruAe fen, bnt was up and on
me instsotay ahead Of the ether eas.
Yep sec my righS hondis not strs<xsr
stcsdy. Ustng fhs other Estrs6k lam
inpsse<A w&aAs Hsy .s1s4hoesss no
Hns,S shsoS nsss. Thsse,sM ,rin1aAa
NA.assSs sada ssm AndssfA lstssr tlnn,
| ~ xsR s1srs hnS yun hsd !. tsass,
Aene tD$eoch thsm, and b Seok tes
haz,ds 9ta do n; and fheu tho long hsn
made I'm pistol useless n NauiHts-
hand Aght
BAT now tho horrible Part sf tho
wAsas 4kHy happAHal The ve1sp
whachhdaas 4bb pistol soSeshsr by nd
mazSnrsuns stsuek the testh d Rss
Gsses ssA neU onA leaEhrg sdly shs.
ussisss; butt ofrtle pistol In my hand