The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-09-23

Il was born and brought up In Lara
ME. Wyoming. and 80 was Arahella. Ara
bella Is my wife I had known heg an
my life and had always loNod her. ana
she had done the same by me, and the
course 81 our affections ran az smooth
as molten metal In iSsg, decided 20 mar
~ her aud the day was set Tor April
Is. ana we invited an our friends ana
looked forward 10 a happy but common
place wedding.
'Just one week before the ceremony
was called va 70 North Dakota on a bus
mess matter which I did not think would
detaln M more than three or four days.
Arahclla did little weeping on my shout
der woman.llkc and said what n you
never comc hack3' hut I said; Now. YOU
know perfectly well that ! always have
Gene back, and that our two lives have
been as regular as clockwork IFS only
= few hundred miles away. and III bH
hack ana wen be- married exactly at
o'clock on April p. and 70 will be the
least exciting and yet the hoppicst we'd
ding that ever took place
Il went up 20 North Dakota and the
last ten miles o. my journey I had 60
make on foot. while ! was walking along
Il began 90 snow. and inside Of an hour
n blizzard was raging AMI ! had TO pat
IN for shelter nt the house OF lone
me supper and told me- that @ would be
suicidal for me 20 go any further. that a
Dakota blizzard the last one Of the sea-
son but perhaps the worst. was upon us,
When can / returnr said /. lie told
me that IL the hlizzafd was real ener-
getlc ore q would be two weeks before
I saw home and mamma. You may imag.
the my feelings. Hundreds % miles from
Arahella with less than week intervcn-
q
getting word 10 her or course, she swouid
think me faithless told the stranger
my troubles and he sympathized with
me. but said that no human being could
live OUT Ia that storm. AMI when 1 looked
out OF the window / believed him. II was
terrific / had been IN the New York
blizzard of IS and h was a sultry summer
day 20 this one.
There was nothing 40 DO but 20 grin
aud bear a. Maybo II would stop sooner
than my friend thought. He might DO
an alarmist. But II grew worse. and by
next morning u seemed 20 be- only Just
beginning 10 get in Rs hne work. The
snow fell at the rate of a foot an hour
on the level. The house was soon covered
up, and we would have rmothcred ia time
II my friend had not happened 90 have
tin ventllaior that ran nfty feet up in
the afr FOR just such occasions.
mot 20 make a long story q was hve
days before the snow stopped ana then
we were showed in 20 the depth Of hfty
feet And we were down to our last loaf
OF bread. But the thing that worried M
most was the fact that Il was my we'd
ding day I sat in the pitch darkness
for our oil had given out-wondcring what
Arahalla would do when didn't turn up.
Suddenly We heard a voice coming down
the ventilator pipe. Smithson CROPPED hts
way 60 H.
who's there7" said he.
"'Its the parson. Have you food
enough?'
No. indeed. said smIihson. We're
down to our last loaf. How are you able
10 be about. parsonF
why. this Is the queereat storm that
ever happened. All Dakota north OF us
Is covered. but yours Is tho last house
in the track Of the storm. South OF here
the ground g. perfectly bare. 30 ! hitehed
up end brought some provisions along
and drove 10 the edge of this mighty
snowhauk. and then I put on my snow
shoes and climbed up. It's lucky you had
such a long ventiiating pipe. How are
you going 90 get out7 Shall drop some
food down the plpeT
"smithson told him that We had not
eaten ANYTHING for ten hours and we were
|
next minute a bundle OF pork and beans
was dropped down TO US.
"'ff you can tunnel south OF your
house for twenty feet you'll come out on
clear country. I'll go home ana get my
shovel and dig toward you. and you ought
10 get out soon
'smithson thanked the dominic. and we
tackled the baked beans. and they tasted
like Napoleon ice cream. Then we felt
like working. But ! was Feeling pretty
serious. because knew that Arabella
was beginning 20 worry. However. tell
20 with a good will. and after two hours
OF hard work We met IN the snow tunnel,
the minister and we. and minute after
ward we walked out 10 open air ana saw
the sirangest sight that could be mag
ined North as far as the eve could reach
the country lay covered hfty feet deep
with an Arctic snowfall. South OF ne the
grass was just beginning 20 show green
and skunk cabbages were already push
ing Up through the earth And IN 'front.'
OF us stood the parsons lonely house with
box ~ n church next door 20 H. ana
not another building In sight
we graspsd the parsons hand ana
,old him he was a white man n over there
was one and then I asked him what
chances there were OF my being able 20
get back 20 Laramie.
He told me that the road 10 che sta
ton was completely blocked, and Il would
bo two days before ! could get through.
Two DAYS! I instinctively pulled out my
watch. II was ten minutes 20 four. In
ten minutes, parscn.' said I, my wedding
will be due In Laramie. and Arabella ~
even now waiting for me.
He was expressing his sympathy when
he heard a roaring noise, and Smithson
said: Run for your lives. cycAonef
The three Of us instinctively dove into
the snow Then We heard a muffied roar.
and the earth shook. and Il was ali over
Just 60 make sure. we lay in the snow
for a few minutes. and tfen we crept out.
Such a sconc as met our gaze! The church
and che parsons house were the only
! movable things that hadn't moved. Trees
were levelcd on all sides, and the plains
in front OF ms we're aill 81 debris from
various states. Just IN front Of me were
half a hundred crates OF eggs whipped
10 an omelet BY the wind. a bunch Of
hananse. a white horse and n library OF
books labeled Cheyenne Free Library.
Aud stuck IN a snowbank was a woman Va
a grey travelling dress. The parson pulled
her QUE. wondering II Il was a nsighbor.
hut ], catching sight Of her face. recos-
nized her as Arabeliai Arabelia IN her
wedding dress. my friends.
"Of course. the next days papers all
over the country had fun accounts OF the
awful cyclone that had struck laramie
and had run northeast into the Dakotas.
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