Evening journal., 1892-08-05

%|gg@ III
aim 1rcll, men, bat fire liuclU."
Before quitting the ambulance and its
precious freight Ellis had made such ex-
animation of the neighborhood as was
possible in the thick darkness, and dis
covered that they were close to the edge
Of a narrow, winding ravine with abb
ruptly sloping banks, and it was in here
that those sagacious mules had sought
shelter from the force Of the blast. The
ambulance was standing on veritable
ridge, exposed to the full fury of the
gale. the slope TO the rapid running
Wolf just in front, the ravine to the
right rear. Shouting to the ladies 10
fear nothing, he had no difficulty, when
aided by the driver, in starting the
wheels, and the instant the vehicle was
partially turned into the track of the
storm it was blown backward down into
the SOFT bed Of snow, already thick and
deep. Here, under the lee of the banks,
the stout wagon was comparatively shell
tered, for the top of the canvas cover
was Just trife below the general level
of the prairie. Tho mules, startled from
their fancied security by the rattle Of
/ wheels and canvas as the ambulance
was run down the slope into theirmidst,
I seized with one Of their upaccountable
panics tore blindly away up the farther
/ bank and out upon the storm swept
/ level beyond.
Then in the whirling cloud Of snow
! Ellis had remounted shouted again q
/ few encouraging words TO the ladies
within, assuring them he and his sturdy
troop horse would have no difficulty in
/ reaching camp and bringing aid, urging
them meantime to keep snugly bundled
/ in their robes, and with Mrs. Berrien's
brave voice and CHEEKY Good speed you,
rergeantr ringing in his ears, he rode
! CALAMITY away, forded the shallow
stream at the mouth of the coulee and
then, facing the gale, spurred forth upon
! his perilous mission. The driver and
the already somnolent Pete, with what
was left of the contents Of the depleted
flask. crawled into the snowbed beneath
the wagon body, rolled themselves into
their Joint stock of robes and blankets
and prepared TO spend a comfortable
night. 1t was an old story to both.
But. despite all the drivers efforts on
the way, the gale had forced them far
to the right of the main road and those
which paralleled it, the only ones at all
familiar to the Twelfth, and when
Brewster and his little squad reached
d. the ford, along toward two o'clock in the
] in in
ravine and break-shouted, fired their
carbines and sounded their trumpet, all
to no purpose. Not an answering cry
rewarded their efforts From Ellis de-
scription Brewster knew that the ladies
were SO muflled in furs that within their
canvas shelter they could hardly suffer
greatly from the cold. He was assured
that the driver and Pete We're with them,
also well provided with robes and blank
its, and that they were in no immediate
danger of freezing; but he could not
bear the thought Of the long, weary
waiting, the dread anxiety, the dark
ness, the isolation in all shat bowling
wilderness. He could picture Winifred
nestled in her mothers arms, wonder
ing, wondering, as the hours dragged
by, when, if ever, human aid would
come to their relief. At four o'clock
he and his party had searched and
secuted for half a dozen miles up and
down the valley. Some Of his bast and
stanchest men were giving ont, and
these, with Sergeant Brooks, he ordered
to push along with the gale and seek
news and shelter at the station.
Three others he posted near the main
crossing of the Wolf, under the lee of a
little bluff, where they and their horses
speedily stamped a hole in the snow
drifts around the hospital ambulance
and huddled for warmth-fires they
could not light, even had there been a
vestige Of fuel-and then, with three un
daunted campaigners at his back, he
had once again turned down stream, fol
lowing its wanderings in the darkness.
and feeling for ravines he could not SEE
along the southern bank Time and
again they dismounted and ran beside
their horses to restore circulation to the
numbed and stiffened feet ard fingers
Time and again they plunged waist
deep into drifts and the horses founder
ed to their girths in the powdery snow
At last Brewster noted that here anc
there far in the northwestern skies the
stars were beginning 10 peep; the clouds
were driving away, the dawn was nigh
the hurricane abating. Broader ant
, brighter the daylight stole over thu
storm swept prairie. streaked here ans