The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-02-20
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: MIHE WORLDS
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But Il was hard. Esecp slick a. glass
IL places. Tor All this was paesable, 20
many feet polished these ICY steps b.
day: 40 one dariny 10 ~ theipaSs -
night for fear 81 sudden storms, Ii
which al least d dozen nep lad already
died right along here Il was only the
dreaded CamAs prairie. now far behind
me, that cut them ofs entirely from the
world For no one, not even an Indian,
would cross the sea If snow BY night
And no one could possibly cross II BY
day. as have explained
The snow On either side Of the mar
ROW, steep and dark trail reached my
arrnpits, often my hat rim.
Tho bottom IL this trail and all the
little benches and breaks on either
side were black from millions and bill
Hons Of snow-fleaS What these little
creatures are, or FOR what. who shall
say2 But they, 81 their myriad pres
encc, have helped many poor fellow
from suffering from that one most In
describable agony--snow blindness
For as long as theeyc can rest on some
dark objcct the glittcring lanccs 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 rcd snow-iiea on Mount
Shasta? They are enthusiastically
lie far north and comparatively inert.
Yon can hardly see the red flea move,
while the black aeas cover and make
as blacls d. d hat the bottom Oh the
footprint in the snow from the man
who preccdcs you. And they remain
there almost until your descending foot
tonclles them, when they jump out in a
cloud and biaclSen the snow all around
the footprint But come along.
] got to the top exhausted. dazed--in
fact dizzy-from walking, climbing,
corkscrewing that black and slippery
serpent. My hands were both bleeding
FROM contact with the sharp edges Of
the walls Of snow. and had long since
stuck my pistol In my belt to surely
keep the powder dry But only three
miles more and would hail and shout
ADORE the pine tops down Dead Horse
hill. aud knew would have answer.
| felt there was something behind
me; ! had turned notmy head. was too
nearly dizzy already, and MI my sense
and strength were now In demand for
the next few last miles. So knew !
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
Il m adage born of this and is old. but
= have never met any who has felt
the presence of q. beast will not
dwell further on this than to say briefly
that not only knew that was being
closely followed by beasts, but knew
they we're black; and ! 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
ghostlY fact that they made no noise
A dog makes scratching sort Of noise
on the snow crust as he moves over 1t.
A bears claws viii rattle like bones on
tho snow as he walks; all beasts, in
fact, except those Of the cat family,
can bc heard on occasions like this.
But these black and ghostly beasts
were as noiseless as the dead.
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.
sprang on, on, up on. Of my chasm of
snow, and wheeled about There they
came three just as had seen them.
They did not stop, and | fired instantly.
Il 4 Asxt Sal.
There IS more than one man besides
myself, however, to tell that The
gaunt, ugly beast threw his head
around, snapped viciously at compan-
ion, and, then sprang twice or thrice
around, rolled down and was dead.
Then all the picture and story books
which | had read about wolves came
back. had expected to see the others
tear and eat him as in the books. They
did not SO much as snap at him as he
spun about in his death struggles. l
had always seen wolves with red
mouths wide open. The mouths Of
these were all as tightly shut as steel
traps Were they allmalas2
Five hundred yards more and would
be ON the top Of Dead Horse hill and
could be heard. ran, lew. tried
to shout as ran, but feeling my voice
gone. Y wheeled about derrinrer IN
my right hand, and blazed away. The
shaggy brute fell, but was up and on
me instantly ahead of the other one
! You see my right hand is not stronvI or
steady, Esipg the other struck him
in the teeth with INV six-shooter: no
time to shoot now These old pistols
were a good arm indeed; better than
the new ones But you had Is take
time to cock them, and it took two
hands to do il; and then the long barrel
made the pistol useless in a hand-to-
hagd fight
But nov the hogriblesyparte 81 the
whole story happened The wedge
which holds the pistol together by sad
misfortune struck the teeth 81 the
brute and few omt, leaving only the
nse less butt Of the pistol in my hand.
| The wounded wolf seized this left hand
and piece If pistol In his long ana
bloody mouth and held ont like death
I ! got the other derringer oat, but the
other wolf smeIt blood, ana thrusting
i his nose in. gave this brute the bullet,
and he fell like q stone Victory. for
the other let 60, AS We couldn't sw allow
/ the pistol and tore the air with my
1 yella as ] sPrang forwardand down the
/ steep hillstilI literally fell into the
\ arms Of Hy brother and his friends.
les, they had heard tie first shot,
aRd had been shooting and yelling all
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