The Opelousas courier., 1893-06-03

Dilzzard mao swept over his State and
had done all sorts of dreadful things.
But it had eve come his way, and he
firmly believed that these stories were
the malicious inventions of dishonest
newspaper correspondents in the pay of
railroads and TOWNSHIP companies
anxious to divert immigration from Da.
kota. Stills used to inveigh against
these cruel stories bitterly. To mention
the word 'bIizzard" in his presence was
the signal for such a storm of protest as
suggested that if he had never actually
encountered one he kept the possibility
of it always with him.
Stills was ''proving up" on a claim
not far from the city of Watertown. He
kept a grocery store in the city, but left
1t early every afternoon in charge of his
brother SO as to be able to sleep on his
claim. He had to walk four miles across
the prairie, but he argued that the
walking did him good, and it became at
last a very simple matter. He left town
one afternoon in February, a little later
than usual, but still IN ample time to
reach his shack before dark. It had
been a warm, beautiful day. The u
had blazed out of q perfectly clear sky,
and, although the air wa sharp, every
body had gone around with his top-coat
on his arm, If, indeed, he had bothered
with it at all, Stills knew that the
weather changed quickly sometimes,
and ne never ventured on his long walk
without plenty of protection. So he
took his coat with him-a heavy, old
time buffalo-with his arm looped over
it and his hands in his trousers pockets.
Nothing momentous is apt to occur
nowadays in a walk across a Dakota
prairie, The Indians, wolves, buffalo
and everything else of former interest
have gone forever. Gophers shoot around
through the grass, but gophers are as
small of account as sparrows in New
York or turkey buzzards in Trinidad.
Now and then a jack-rabbit would rear
himself on his hind legs, point his long
ears toward you and bound feetly away.
Sometimes a coyote would bark Bhrilly
far beyond in the distance, and it might
be possible to catch a glimpse of him,
and once in a great while you might
stumble on a colony of dogs. But when
all these incidents had occurred the DOS
sibilities of the prairies were exhausted,
and you were left to your own RESOURCES
for entertainment. In this aspect of his
case Stills was fortunate. He had little
to think of, but he possessed the rare
at will of not thinking at all. and
would move on, mile after mile, without
being conscious of anything.
On the February afternoon I men
toned Stills was thus occupied, that is,
ne was Flooding along mechanically
with his mind in a condition of simple
repose. Suddenly, and as if awakened
from dreamless sleep, the thought ap-
peared in his mind that he was cold. It
had probably been there quite a while
before he perceived it, for aow that he
did perceive it, he seemed to recollect
N a dim sort of way that he had been
or some time uneasy. He reassumed
control of his mental operations and
'ooked afonnd him. Something quee
was in the air. When he last noticed
'hings the weather was clear, sunny and
warm. Now it was very cold, and the
'hils seemed to deepen profoundly every
instant. The northern and eastern skies |
we're q dead gray in color, and the south.
I'm and western wore a sickly red hue.
The atmosphere was strangely still
md thick. There was no sun
and get it could not
ave gone down. Stills was op- |
He seemed to feel that soma. I
hing dreadful was about to happen. |
lie began to take his bearings. Less tnan
third of a mile in front of him he saw
lis shack. For an instant he could
make it out plainly, and yet, even as he
0oked, it seemed to become indistinct.
dalf way between him and the house
here ran a deep c%ou.ee, and he fixed the
pot with his eyes where he wanted to
trike it. These observations, from the
'articular second of time when he first
bought he felt cold, had certainly con-
umed no more than three minutes, but
low the entire dome above him wal
eaden, the shack was lost to view, and
y the time he had got his big coat on
buttoned up he was sensible of Q
.uick motion of the air and a distant
'ut rapidly approaching noise. The
ky, or rather the atmospheric cone
within which his sight was limited,
eemec to darken and close ia on him.
n point just v his right shoulder
nd apparently a stones throw distant
q the air, there was a black knot about
ne size of q cannon-ball. It looked as
! it were spinning around and whirling
larkness and confusion far in all direc-
ions.
"God save mel" gasped Stills. 81 do
a blizzard nowI'
Stills was not his real name. donI
hink ] ever heard his real name, but il
.oesn't signify, anyhow. Everybody
allied him Stills on account of his alb.
ormally long and thin legs. He was
all, but his body was not well propor-
loned. The most of it was legs. and
,ng as they were they lacked weight
muscle. e came like a flash into
tilts's mind that if he ever let thas
black knot strike him il would
ar-y him so far and turn him over SC
ften that even II he got away from il
I've ne would have lost his bearings
ompletely and would have no notion
,harever az to the direction in which to
AL the stories he had heard 81
sad about people getting lost in the
aow came surging upon him, He 70.