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


sition in which IL still lay.
How to get him out was the yer,
first thing TO consider, but while TAX
ing in the situation I had time to not
the person whom had first seen, an,
who hadn't yet said a word, but stoot
near me, looking very pale and fright
ened, and holding by the hand tw,
little weeping boys.
she was young--certainly not ovel
twenty-and while not beautiful, hat
an intelligent, attractive face. What
struck me as remarkable was that she
was neatly dressed, and in garment,
somewhere near the correct style.
noticed that her hands were soft and
white-a rare quality in that part OF
the world.
But l had no time to cogitate upon
why girl who would have made a
good appearance on Broadway should
be living here in dugout. 1 went
below and looked in tie door. The
room was full of debris splinters of
boards, Jumps of sod, horses legs and
harness, dishes and furniture, all
mixed up in one chaotic mass. Ex.
cept to raise his head, Chesapeake
couldn't move, and he didn't try. Per.
haps he had already struggled until
he saw IL was no use.
The idea of crawling around among
those legs and things didn't strike me
as altogether pleasing, but il had to
be done, and in l sailed. First, the
traces must be cut, so as TO get the
shafts loose. While doing that / kept
talking to Chesapeake and patting
him. If he had kicked or struggled
might have finished this story by tell.
ing how the young lady was compelled
to order coffin for me. But he seemed
to understand the situation. and never
made move while hacked my har-
ness to pieces. He didn't like the
idea OF putting his head clear down
into the house, but by perseverance,
induced him to do it. Then / took
him by the forelock and pulled him
over fiat on his side. Next, asked the
young lady, who was standing at the
door, looking ruefully at the ruined
furniture, II she would kindly sit on
his head for a few moments so as to
hold him still while fixed the room
so that he could get up. This she
readily consented to do, and while /
was hauling plank and clearing up
broken crockery she told me her YER
sion of the episode, and explained how
1T happened that she was there alone.
L will not attempt to give it in her
own language, but will merely state
the facts, some of which learned then
and some afterward.
John Blackfield had stood for ten
years behind the receiving window of
n bank in Kansas City. He had mar
ried delicate girl and lavished upon
her every loving care in the hope that
she would become q strong woman,
but always she grew weaker. They
had been some years married when
their physician announced that the
only possible way to save Mrs. Black
fields life was for her to go to some
locality of moderately high altitude,
where the air was pure and strength
e.,i2S sGa i've : s,;ses cg.dosr .i.s. .iss
SO John bought farm on Guzzler's
Gulch, stocked il, and brought his
wife and babies to the desolate spot.
There he worked from daylight till
dark, and became brown and muscu-
lar, and his children played in the
sunshine and grew fat and sturdy, but
the wife for whose sake he had come
to that lonely place continued to pine
and pine, and one day passed calmly
away with no one at her bedside but
John and his sister Mamie, who had
come out from the city t. care for her
in her last illness. That was about
three months before the time of which
write. Mamie had stayed to assist
and comfort her broken-hearted
brother until he could dispose of his
stock and farm and to care for his
children.
On the l4th of November he had
started early in the morning for Jet
more, the county seat, to attend to
some matters of business. He would
not he back until night. She and the
children were sitting at lunch when
they heard horse approach at gal
lop, Taking the children with her,
she ran to the door to see what was the
matter, and just as they stood in the
doorway, four feet came smashing
through the roof all at once, and
blackboard bounded of the house in
front of them. Had they been in the
house, or had they been fairly out of
it, they must inevitably have been
struck by either horse or vehicle. OF
course, all she could do was wait for
the owner to come, or for her brother
To return, and she was having hard
time to comfort the children for the
loss of their lunch when / arrived.
When she spoke of lurch, be-
thought myself of my tin box and af-
ter | had cleared up the room, gotten
Chesapeake on his feet, led him out
perfectly uniniured, and tied him to a
post, looked up. The little cup
board under the seat was intact, and
the book 1 sometimes read at noon,
and my square lunch box with tin