The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1894-01-08

strong TO endure; he stopped and
kissed the white face.
Don't wo1wy, darlin',p he said,
gently. s.'thar's plenty TO eat In this
old bouse. Thar's cans O. condensed
milk in the storeroon. You know
this place is used for a hotel In sum-
mer, and so you need fear nothing
no harm will come to baby and me
while we wait for spring to come
but-but="
Ris voice died away into a trembling
whisper. s
Loud and shrill, borne on the bitter
wintry b.ast, a sound reached their
ears. 1t was the howl of wild beasts
outside their shelter.
ice Ches; er and mis- wife had lost
their way while travelling back to civ
ilizatlon, and the stinging wintry cold
had found them and settled down
upon them, and they were ice and
snow bound. But providence had not
forsaken them, for they had found the
deserted summer hotel, where pro-
visions and some fuel were discovered;
and here. having made their way in
side and taken possession, they had
been sheltered and fed until now,
when death had come to release one
prisoner.
She passed away in the night, quite
painlessly. Poor Mary Chester. White
and still, and dead she lay upon her
bed, the cold hands forever folded
upon the icy heart, Iae dark eyes
closed in their last long, dreamless
sleep.
! Burial was imp possible for the pres
ent Snow-bound, with the great soft
winter drifts piled up all about the
doors and windows, the heart broken
husband could do nothing but sit be-
side the cold dead form, with his liv-
ing child in his arms. while outside
the h. use the wild beasts howled
hoarsely.
EDays passed, and grew into weeks.
The child lived and grew strong, but
| the father faded and dropped. The
scanty store of provisions was near.y
/ exhausted; only the millz-he boarded
/ it as miser boards his gold, to pre-
serve the frail life which was his only
! Lore on earth
with a trembling hand Joe Chester
| wrote full account of the tragic
events, and left the paper where it
| he knew that his own time was
short The pangs Of hunger were
already racking his frame; but the
child lived and grew rosy and strong
shut up in that dismal prison; veri-
able Edelweiss growing upon the
rock bound soil amid the cleaning
SHOWS of the Yellowstone
Three weeks after Mary Chester's
! death, Joe lifted the decaying tody in
his arms one day, and bore it to the
| door of the house. 1t must be given
sight. With trembling hands he
scooped deep, dark pit in the snow
| drifts at the door-close to the door.
for he could go no farther; tenderly
i and reverently he laid the body down
and covered it with snowy blanket,
there to lie until spring and human
! relief should come.
Then he went back to his lonely
hearth and desolate shelter. How
horrible it was to lie awake III the
long, long. seemingly endless nights,
and fancy that he could hear the
sound of her TO tsteps. the beating of
her cold hands against the barred
door, the sad, swe voice calling
softly:
s'Joe-Joei my husband-let me in!
1t is cold in the ground, and dreary.
Let me in!''
And often he would start from
his bed in the dreary night watches
and creep to the door, unbar it, and
peer out into the snow-clad night.
Nothing-no one; only the dismal
now oA DeASt o1 prey, coming AeLi
er-nearer. Closing the door he
would go back to bed and the warm
companionship of his little child.
But the end came at last, and Joe
Chester, literally sta>ving, lay down
L to die. Beside him he placed the
e written paper which told all, and in
: dicated the spot where his wife's body
could be found.
e One morning the gray light of day
q struggled in at the frost-covered win
)! dow and rested upon the face of a
p? dead man and living child. WhC
S would find the little one? Must it
: too, perish?
What spirit ever possessed Dave Nc
9 Cutcheon. the driver of the famous
:, Yellowstone park stage, to make
visit to the deserted hotel no one caI
tell He declared that it was spiri
n that led his footsteps thither. But
e after long and dangerous journe.
upon snow shoes, the dashing adven
t turous stage driver made his appear
d ance at the deserted building and wa
k almost paralyzed to hear the sound O
l. a child's voice. screaming Justify.
e 1t as the work of a few nome Mt
r to effect aA entrance in:o the hous
o and there the horrible truth was 500
e learned.
5, The child was fed and rescued. Joe
d body buried TEN porarily, to be re
moved in the spring time, togethe
with Mary's to a green and sum.
2 slope, where they now lie side by sid
n awaiting the resurrection.
's And the child? Dawes big lovir
2 heart expanded and took in the litti
er orphan-the child of the only woma1
y he had ever loved. Henceforth sh
is was his, to have and to hold. II
3. christened her Edelweiss, but as ofte
:, as not, he called her with tender klsse
l. and caresses, dawes Little Snoy
Drop"
10