The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1895-08-27

line. One of the liveliest of these soli-
tary adventures is thus described by
his biographcr:
Jack started at one o'clock In the
morning, ard blessed with good
moon made capital time, so that he
reached the crest of the range by day
light. The snow was in excellent con-
dition, just soft enough to make his
twelvc-foot Norwegian shoes bite well.
All the lower branches of the pines were
covered, and in the gulches the snow
must have been twenty feet deep.
On the crest the wind had swept the
ridges clear, and Jack hs.1 to carry his
shoes for half mile or 50, till he came
to a long valley. Here he fastened
them on again, and started downward;
slowly at first, then faster and faster
as the grade grew deeper.
Suddenly, at the top of his speed, he
found himself in the air, and came
down with force that nearly stunned
him. He had struck sheet of ice, his
shoes had lost their hold, and down he
had gone on his back.
Both shoes came off. He clutched at
them instinctively, but caught only
one. The other was instantly beyond
reach, sliding down the mountain side.
AS Jack watched 1t disappear he felt
sick. If the shoe was gone, he might
reckon on his fingers the number of
hours he had to live. There were four
or five miles of snow, from ten to thir-
ty feet thick, between him and his
destination. To wade through it was
impossible.
Before him were twenty miles of
mountain and valley to the nearest
camp. To stay where he was meant to
be frozen to death in a few hours. He
must recover that shoe, or he was lost.
1t would of course slide down the
steepest grade, and would pass into the
lower valley by the way of rocky
gorge, which Jack could see from
where he stood. and which twas break
neck place, with mountains of snow in
and around it, whence it would be inn
possible to climb. should the search be
unsuccessful.
Any chance was worth trying in SO
desperate case, and Jack thought
that, as the shoe he still had would
naturally follow it's mate if placed on
the same grade, his best plan was to
lie down upon it, start sliding, and trust
to its being stopped by whatever had
arrested its fellow.
OF course, the odds were that the
first shoe had gone over a precipice, or
| splintered on point of rock, and that
the same fate would overtake the sec
ond, together with its burden; but, if a
man must die, quick death is better
than slow torture, and Jack decided to
risk his fate. He found the spot where
che accident had happened, put the re-
naming shoe on the track, lay down
along it, rounding his chest us much as
possible, and steering with his elbows,
Down they went, sometimes sliding
along smoothly, sometimes blowing
through the soft drift, on and ON, it
seemed to the anxious traveller, inter
minably. He kept a sharp lookout for
any trace of the losx shoe, and also for
any CHASTITY header that might be in
front of him.
At last he came to a turn in the gully,
and could scarcely believe his eyes.
There was the lost shoe sticking out OF
a drift in front! Slowly and anxiously
he extricated it, fearing to and that the
toe had struck o rock and splintercd.
No, IL was all right; and in moment
more he was safe, and sweeping down
into the timber.