Evening star., 1900-02-10
LIKE A FAIRY TALE,
A Dinner That Happened When Ii Was
Least Expected.

You mightn't believe it," said an army
lieutenant, but once upon a time when
three of us officers were out on the plains
starving in the snow, fifty miles from any
town bigger than a watertank, we were
suddenly dropped into a feast of cham
payne, oysters, turkey and roast beef and
all the good things You can imagine a
starving man would like to encompass OF
course, you don't believe 1t, but let me tell
you.
"A force of fifty men with five officers
were doing detail work in Montana one
winter, and amusements of all kinds
were scarce, we were ready for almost ANY,
thing. One day three of US started out on
a hunt and when night came We were
caught by a snow storm in an old cabin out
on the plains. There was nothing to do
but stop where We were, and making a fire
with such parts Of the cabin as we could
spare We made ourselves comfortable as
possible for the night. We had nothing to
eat, and as soon as morning came We
faced the storm which was still bad and
started to find headquarters We Were in
fairly good spirits at first, but as we found
cred around through the snow, able to
make very little progress, and that in
direction We were not certain of, matters
began to look serious, and when the shades
of evening came and We Were complete
ly lost and without shelter of any kind
We began to droop and to wonder how long
IL
bodies in the snow.
"Of course, We didn't mention anything
of this kind to each other, but | will admit
that We were not very cheerful, and when
il had become so dark that we held hands
that should not be lost from each
other. l, for one, felt that it was our last
hand-clasp on earth. We had become very
silent now, and were struggling along aim
lessiy, growing little weaker all the time
and colder and sleepier. AS a sudden blast
stronger than the others swept by, / turned
half round to shield myself, and as did SO
saw off to the left the glimmer of a light
1t seemed to be rising from the snow, and
We thought 1t might be some cabin half
covered by the drift with a roaring fire in
side streaming up through the chimney.
In any event. We let loose the strongest
shout We had left and made for il, still
c-ing1ng TO each other. 1t was not more
than quarter of a mile away-if 1t had
been farther We never would have seen it
through the storm-and when We got to fl
We found 1t was Northern Pacific rail-
road train showed in- II was digging it's
way slowly through the drift, and when we
came down over the snowbank onto IL tbs.
train men thought ii was a .hold-up.' but
We told them pretty soon what the matter
was, and they hustled aboard. IL was
just after the second cal TO dinner the
dining room car was in fun operation, and
there in the midst of the cold the desola-
ton, the distance from civilized homes aud
the bowling storm. We sat down to a dinner
which fifteen minutes before seemed to be-
farther away from us than heaven. II was
Ike fairy tale, ! tell you. We spent the
evening telling our story to all the passen-
and the next morning the train had worked
through and We got off at the first station
to take the next train back to headauar~
ters."