, 1896-03-11
SIEGE OF THE NORTH WIND.

ll'IN was HdlloNlN dNtIltu.
SIEGE OF THE NORTH WIND.
Far and wide upon the prairie there
was none other human habitation. The
settlers cabin stood alone, housing
with its comfortable warmth his little
family. And the settler was a brave
man, and blue were the eyes of his
wife as the violets that skirt the snow
bank. The laugh of tiny children was
in their home. and night and day, the
smoke curling blithely from the chin
ney, made mock at the inhospitable
winter.
Now the prairie was the domain of
the north wind. All the wild things
owned. the sway Of the White Ogre, and
neither the wolf nor the fox dared ap-
proach toe near his cloudy tabernacles,
when sometimes, on the painless foray,
they beheld them loom at night, awful
beyond the dead glimmer of the hori-
zOn. There, from his vast chambers of
ice, he ruled his wide dominion. Po-
tent and cruel was he. At the sound of
his coming the beasts skulked to their
lairs and the rivers became as stone.
and when he shouted IN his might the
steady stars were blurred in the
heavens, and the affrighted legions OF
the air hurtled to do his bidding.
AS was his wont. the north wind had
ranged forth from his dim fastness
over the waste of prairie which owned
him for lord. From afar he saw the lit,
tie homestead with it's barn and byre
and the garnered stores of filth ant
garth. He heard the settlers ak ring
ing from the grove of cottonwoods or
! the river bank. Hateful was the sigh
to him as the glazed window panes
shone in the %slanting sun of the after.
noon and the peace of the hearth as
cended in its smoke. But still it was
day, and he bided his time and waited
The night came. and with 1t again
the north wind. Darkness wrapped the
farmhouse and the barn and the byre,
where the cattle and the fowl were
folded. A light cleaned in the cabin
window. Within, a fair-haired woman
was preparing supper. A little girl,
with her fathers deep eyes, was roast
ing apples at the hearth, while a zoo.
ing baby boy watched the shine of the
fireplace. With softened face the set
tier now glanced at his wife, now lean
ed gently I've his children.
Then the north wind CRASHED his
teeth Of ice and shook his sleeted locks.
From his nostrils the hoar frost came
like smoke as his yell rang across the
prairies. The rabbit heard hat cry
and crowded in his burrow in the heart
of the earth. The wolf heard it as he
Hoped yer the snow, and he fled to his
den.
In the byre the cattle clashed their
white horns and huddled closer togeth-
er. 1T is the north wind!' lowed the
great brutes. stamping the yellow
straw.
In their shed, heaped over with the
sod, the fowls shivered through their
coats of down. ut is the north wind.'
shrieked the %feathered harem, for they
knew the dread voice.
In the cabin the fire log glowed and
the windows ratified. 1T is the north
wind" said the farmer, and his face be-
came grave as he looked into the eyes
of his wife. He heaped on another log,
and the baby cooed the louder as the
sparks shot up the chimney. But the
little girl with the wide eyes grew
silent and seemed to listen. And when
in her childish way she asked the bless
ing on the evening meal, her parents
exchanged glances again. for she add
ed, And please God, save us from the
cruel winter"
That night many wild things died
on the great prairie, and a lonely tray-
eler's light of life went out beneath the
blinking stars. But when the morning
came the blue smoke curled from the
cottage chimney and the cattle stamp
ed in their stalls and over the cleaning
tracts Of the snow rose the shrill voice
Of c%hanticleer. Bafied, the north wind
retired to his tabernacle.
The second night the north wind
came again, and wilder was his age as
he saw the undisturbed peace Of the
farmstead. He gathered the SHOWS in
his hands and flung them forth under
the white stars. Tighter froze the
rivers. and over all the prairie resound-
I'd the dreadful litany Of the storm. On
his own minious fell the north winds
horrible pleasure. and they stiffened
and died where they couchsd.