The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-10-25

He was very deliberate drinker
: and IL was probably fve minutes be
} fore i said Get up" He walked OF
! across the pool, and when he reached
J the other side I said "Wboa." He
nearly stopped, then seemed to re-
} member something. He turned
around and looked at me, showing the
whites of his eyes and laughed wicked.
ly. People say q horse can't laugh,
but he certainly laughed then. Then
he started on a gentle trot, and / said
whoa" again. more forcibly, and
gave him some other instructions,
and Chesapeake laughed again and
quickened his pace little. He knew
that had no control over him what
ever, and was aware that my posi-
tion was becoming decidedly precari-
GUS. Then brilliant idea struck
me. He wasn't going very fast. l
would jump out, run around quickly
to the front and head him off.
Acting on the impulse, jumped
but didn't manage to get any
where near his head, for Just as soon
as he perceived me running beside him
he broke into a gallop, disappeared
down ravine, and came up the other
side with the blackboard humping and
banging behind him, first on one hub,
then on another; and at intervals I
could see my belongings flying out in
every direction. NY impulse was TO
follow on q run, but gave that up as
bad job and walked rapidly in tho
direction he had taken. Fortunately,
the first half mile of his course lay
over what had once been a plowed
field, and everything loose was shaken
out Of the blackboard by the time he
had made that distance; so 1 walked
along, here picking up my cushion,
there my overcoat, some where else my
package OF maps, until / was too
heavily loaded TO be much good in q
chase; so l carefully laid them away
in a corner OF a deserted shanty that
had happened along just then, and
pursued my weary way.
For some minutes Chesapeake was
visible, farther and farther away, at
last mere speck on the horizon then
he seemed suddenly TO drop from
view; and there / was, alone, ten
miles from camp, and not living be-
ing that i was aware of nearer than
that point. 1t was discouraging, to
say the least.
Well, the only thing to do was to go
ahead; to walk TO that distant point
where my property had faded from
view, aud then an indefinite distance
farther. The prairie seemed to stretch
away eternally. took IA map from my
pocket, sat down on tuft OF bunch |
grass and thoughtfully contemplated
It,. Then, with a pocket compass, got
my exact bearings Chesapeake's van.
ishiDg point was almost due northeast
from where / stood. Less than eight
miles distant in that direction was
Guzzler's Gulch, "draw," having, as
is the rule in that locality, a deep
channel with almost perpendicular
banks twenty or thirty feet high, and
forming, even when perfectly dry, as
was its usual condition, an impossible
harr' s !
Following the hoof prints, I soon
reached dim trail, invisible except
at distance in front, and which Ches.
apeake had evidently decided was the
proper course for him to pursue.
followed rapidly, but the distance
seemed interminable. Precipitation
poured out from under my hat and
trickled in streams into my eyes and !
down my neck. My throat was parched |
almost to choking, but not even but. |
falo wallow, not the smallest sugges.
tion of anything wet was there, ex.
cept what issued from my own pores. |
| was hungry, too; but there was no |
mamma In this wilderness, and my |
lunch box was securely locked under |
the seat of my blackboard.
l kept this up over an hour. The
sod was still cut deeply with the toes
of Chesapeake's heavy shoes, showing |
that his pace had not slackened. / !
was becoming discouraged; but !
knew that GuZzler's Gulch was some
where ahead of me, so plodded YEARLY
on.
Suddenly something dark appeared
before me, less than a quarter of IA
mile away. 1t seemed slowly to ele-
vate itself foot or two from the
ground, then il sank back out Of sight.
1t looked like a horses head. Tired,
played out as 1 was, quickened my
steps into the nearest approach to a
run l could assume. There it was
again; it WAS horse. Chesapeake
had tallen down and WAS dying. But |
where was his body and where was the |
blackboard? Those mysteries / could |
not solve.
Suddenly, as hurried on, beheld |
female figure emerge, apparently |
from the ground, close beside the |
mysterious head. tOn seeing me she |
waved her arms violently, as if sug-
costing that / might make little |
more haste. reached the place and |
strange sight met my astonished |
eyes.
A hundred yards before me was
Guzzler's Gulch, narrow canon |