Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-23

miserably in the corner of the cab.
AS L repeatedly lost consciousness, my
feet would slip off the boiler butt, the
heel of the left coming down with a pain
full bang upon the instep of the right. This
| occurred at stated intervals, like pile driv-
ing. firing of the monotony, | sought to
change my position and became aware of
an animated SNOWFALL Valnly striving to
enter the gangway. l pulled him aboard,
and when sufficiently thaWed he reported
the caboose deserted, and not a trace of
| anything edible in it. He had seen nothing
OF train -, and he said that all the en-
glnes on the road coupled together would
not be able to collide with our hind end
This merry Christmas to which | had SO
/ long looked forward was about over. 1t soon
became dark. We shoveled coal against the
| curtain to keep the cold air out caulked
| our window sash with waste. | pumped
| her fui. again, and We shivered and dozed
| ever knew.
The temperance of the cab windows
notllled me of the approaching dawn What
a DISMAL sight! Our usually neat cab was
tnlckly begrimed with coal dust. Every bolt
! mead and bit of iron in the cab itself. as
| well as the windows, was disguised by the
deHcate tracery of that master silversmith
Jack Frost. To the artistic sense of tbs
| wel-fed and comfortably clad II wonIJ
| nave been beautiful. To my dulled mind
| II was emblematic only of the biting cold
mat mat RACED without. Harry, tied in a hard
Knot, was snoring soundly in his corner
| mad him spread the fire and pumped her fuI1
again. " t"ii
We must have food at any cost. l knew
VI put one mousse in that locality-an ordi-
nary story-and-a-half farm house on a
cross road. about half a mile from
| where We lay. 1t was invisible through the
storm but we knew its approximate d.
lectloh we left everything in the best or
| DER possible and started; the wind al our
| backs, Harry in the lead
Shall never forget that trip ;dounderinp
amnesty n9 through the drifts like pair Of
/ Iit-1
| utes after leaving the engine we could nor
| nave found our way back to it, no matter
whai me necessity. Harry being younger
| Keep him in sight, We fell into an a alb ~
! uoneH well, fortunately it was already
h heany tnll OF snow, so, barring a few
/ bruises, We received no injuries We wouId
| surely have died here for the well was
/ smoothly lined with brick, and we We're
| TOO deep in it to get out had not the
oNerhanglng crest of the drift fallen from
| .1pheaNlhess, burying us, at the same time
| that 1t raised our level sufficiently IN ena
| Bile US to crawl out.
shortly after this that providence which
/ so often lntervenes on behalf of the help
less led us stumbling and half frozen 70
the back door of the house
FARMER Beiknap had essayed trip to the
Darn 10 look after his stock and his coed
| lady had lain down for her regular dinner
! nap, leaving the clearing up to her buxom
| 9auehter' Susie The old lady had lust
| dozed off on the sitting room lounge wRsn
| IKE lncarnate spirits of the storm We two
| derelicts fell into the entry The ias+ W
| our strength left us there and II was
| merely Two heaps Of rags, ice and snnyx
| mat confronted the frightened women whom
| they opened the inner door. Susie was the
| lrst 70 identity us as human beings, and
together they dragged us inside.
| Inc next thing l saw was broWn-eved
| susie pustling about the table whara
| harry Was manfully attacking a stool nf
puckwheat cakes, which Mrs. Belknap was
| stralning every nerve to Keep repenishaG
| was soon seated opposite Harry Susta
double-banked her mother at the pr;di1a
| ana We sent the level of the buck u,baat
| lour bdrrel down though the hot+ou,
mad fallen out of it, The famine raIiavo5
we cleaned up a bit and the old eantIa
man came in and Endorsed the hearty vel
come we had already received from, III,
women folks. He told us the well we faII
INTO was forty feet deep and had baen
abandoned when he was a bow hecausa ~
water got spilled. somehow As nus me b,ie
his own folks ever went there and nn, out
| nad ever fallen into 1t before he b.dn;yt
pothered TO cover ii uD. We kneu, ,'n
that the avalanche that enabled ne - o ",
out was not the first that had fallen IN
ana We thanked our lucky stars tbat IT. -,
| didn start the day before Mrs Ra,t,ne
| ana Susie soaked out my wounded finaap
and dressed it with some of the sonthtel
| salve, homemade for father whan 70 oiilns
| his foot with the ak. NC cut
| The warmth, light and copror+ 80 A..
| cozy parlor, not to mention the conra,. me
| company, contrasted so strongly with The
| bitter gale, and the dirty, cheerless cab
| that we found it impossible to combat tha
| urgent invitation of our kind friends 70 ~
main with them. ~
That night We slept on feathers, between