St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1901-08-31

Inc desire TO conquer and suBdue the
handsome. terrible creature.
Reluctantly, and only after the
young fellow haddemonstratedsom
thing Of his skill and power, did his
father consent and give the horseinto
his care,
No one knew Dicks methods,
no one understood, not even the IA
ther, his mystic power, for most Of
the boys work was done alone, but
certain it IS that a few weeks later the
lulnbermen were astonished to see
that Ugly Mack acknowledged a
master-just one in all thetworld.
The winter Of 1884-5 was one long
to be remembered by the men Of the
tsFolumber camps In thelatter part
of the winter one of the great. biz
yards peculiar to the northwest had
swept suddenly down over the woods,
depositing over the whole region a
tremendous burden of snow This
had been quickly followed BY thaWing
weather and heavy and persistent
rains.
Unparalleled floods followed. To-
ward the end Of the third day the
river had. risen to a point never
reached before within the memory
Of amy of the men, and was still rising.
Traditions of the region, perhaps
hardly half believed hitherto, were
more than verified. Work wasimpos-
sible, and one after another all the
men Of Camp Seven strolled down un-
easily to Pinerift camp to see if the
two great bridges that spanned the
river a short distance below it would
be able to withstand the unprece-
dented flood. The bridges, one q
wagon bridge, and the other, few
rods below, the railroad bridge, had
been well built, and as yet stood firm.
But the water was now perilonsly
high. Soon all the men were down by
the river bank to watch thafood--ah
except Dick Turner. Thatqueer hor-
ror of the water had caught him like
an IRON hand at his chest and threat,
and from the door Of themaln shanty
of the camp he silently watched the
bridges.
Suddenly a great shout went up
from the men. A monster pine, IN.
dermined and uprooted at last from
the place that had nourished It for
nearly a century, was rushing swiftly
down toward the bridges. It missed
the abutment, but a portion of the.
great clump Of roots tossed up BY the
heaving water caught the woodwork.
There was single sharp crack, and
the tree shot on, leaving a gap in the
bridge fully 90 feet wide
And then the rushing giant Of de-
struction struck one of the abutments
of the railroad bridge below The
shock was too much for the overtaxed
structure, which had stood SO well.
Even as the pier gave way the central
SPAN came down, to be swept OFF like
broken eggshells on the flood.
The men stood in silent amazement
at the sight. Only few seconds had
been required to complete the double
wreck. Suddenly some one shouted:
ssThe traini No. II is due IN five.
minutesw
It was true, and on the farther side
was no living soul to give warning
The excited men rushed out upon
the broken wagon bridge, only to
start back from the yawning rent, be-
low which the muddy waters roared.
There they stood, helplessly watching
the sharp curve in the railroad track,
round which in so short a time the.
train would come sweeping to destruc-
ton.
a shout arose behind them, aha
there camelike the wind horse, black
as night, bearing on his back rider
with white face but steady, unfalter-
ing eyes. All knew Turner Dick and
the terrible stallion.
The men shrank back; and then,
with mighty thunder Of hoofs, the
ugly, half wild creature dashed upon
the bridge. Angry at sight Of the.
men, with ears laid back and with
wicked-looking eyes, be yet obeyed
the voice and hand Of his dauntless
rider, who now gave quick, peculiar
call and leaned forward in his seat.
There was a breathless rush as the
fiery creature made instant response.
Straight at the fearful gap they
dashed. There was a quick uplifting
on the bits, another sharp call, and
then the astounded lumbermen saw
the great black bulk risein theair and
shoot out over the flood. Ana the
horse had landed fairly upoa the
broken planks Of the farther sidel