The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1893-05-13

The Juggling at the reinS and the pouno'
inc of the sled, for the rising blast
drowned out every sound and the
singing ice-needles that filed the air
limited my range of vision to the
length of the sled. Respiration, at hrst
difficult, soon became well nigh impos-
sib,e. so to avoid being suffocated out
right l brought the bronchos around.
tail to the storm, and narrowly escaped
the sled in doing so. knew |
that down in the Missouri bottom,
a bout five miles away, lay Bob Fiavin's |
beef ranch, and while the prospect Of |
finding it under present circumstances |
was slim enough, determined to make
the attempt 1t was SIMPLY impossible
to travel in the opposite direction, and
even the toughest cayuse must soon
freeze to death, unless it were kept on
the move, for the air had grown in
tenscly cold AS if divining my inten-
tions, the bronchos galloped of mile
or so toward Flavin's while l was
debating in my mind what was
the best thing to do. l let the
brutes have their heads while the
daylight lasted and the ground was
level, for knew that near the river
the country broke into coulees that
wound in all directions except the one
in which wished TO travel. struck
a narrow one Just as darkness was set
ting in. 1t was half full of drifted
snow, and the bronchos sank into it
till their ears were scarcely visible.
The little brutes fought out of II, but
the struggle tanned them down and in.
clined them for walking. After about
an hour of cropping around in the dark
ness, during which time had not the
slightest idea as to my whereabouts,
the sled bumped into a narrow wash
out, in pulling out of which the fasten-
ing of the sled tongue gave way, hold
ing together just long enough to drag
the sled to the summis of slight rise,
when it parted and the team, plunging
violently forward. jerked me over the
front of the sled. struck the ground
with stunning force and was dragged
some distance before / could loosen
the grasp of my benumbcd hands on
the reins. When was able to get ON
my feet there was nothing to be seen
of the bronchos. Feeling my way back
in the face of the storm, stumbled,
purely by accident, against the sled.
could not restrain shout of joy as
clutched the top of the sled box. l
could have Rugged the ugly vehicle in a
transport OF rapture.
Turning the sled on its side and
propping it up with the seat, Idrew my
arctic sleeping bag from the box. and
spread it out on the lee side of the sled,
placed my Winches ter and cartridge
belt inside and crawled in. My sleep
ing bag consisted of bags within
bags" the inner one of goat skin, and
the hairy side turned in; the second Of
imitation seal, and the third or outer
one of heavy tent ducking, absolutely
waterproof, and provided with hood
that could be pulled down, closing the
mouth of the bag, when the occupant
had made himself snug for the night.
| / pulled down the hood and resigned
myself to the stu alton. l shivered a
little at first, but soon be came as snug
and warm as kitten on hearth rug
and actually dropped off to sleep. j
was awakened in little while, how
ever, by the sled blowing over and
pinning me to the ground. After a
good deal of squirming around, man
aged to crawl out and lift the sled OF
the bag. The wind was bowling like
a thousand demons and the air was q
full of fine snow that could not dis
tinguish objects at a greater distance
than fifteen feet-not very far, but far
enough to reveal TO me the gaunt shiv
ering frames of about dozen large
prairie wolves squatting in circle
around me waiting patiently for nature
TO take It's course.
/ was cold no longer. excepting, per
haps, a narrow streak. that extended
the full length of my spinal col
umn. Drawing the Winchester from
the bag. turned loose on the larges'
Of the starving brutes and succeeded
in soothing effectually the pangs of hi
hunger. l laid out three more of them
and winged still another before the,
seemed to realize that / meant jus
what / said. was fast getting warmcs
up to the work in hand, when the un
l CunuI OC0StS oluhA oukAChAy On AAASO VIA
stormy darkness. Then i reloaded tn
magazine of the rifle, lifted the bal
into the sled and crawled into 1t. l wa
just on the point of doing of again
when the howl of wolf came dow
on the wind, followed in the mex
breath by a score of answering bowls
coming from all points. Raising tn
hood OF the sleeping bag with the mua
gle of the rife lay and awaited de
velopm cnts. First came chorus O
snarls and yelps, apparently from I'M
: der the sled, followed by . genuin
pandemonium. Fully fifty Of the fam
ished brutes were fighting over tn
bony carcasses of those that had falle
to my rife. While the storm had nc
abated in the least, the full moon ha
found clear place In the heavens an
the brightness of MONDAY was n
around me.
l raised myself slightly, cooked tn
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