The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1901-06-13
Out from the Blizzard
BY Edgar s. Bradley.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Copyright, 1900, by the Authors sy ndicats.)

dining-room. and her husband, George
Ruthven, and turned to our coffee and
cigars.
George, how did you gain that mag
nificent woman for wife?"
Not at all discomposed at the broad
ness of my compliment to his wife,
George smilingly responded:
"You remember the great blizzard
which swept over the western prairie
+ states, particularly Nebraska, during
+ January of 1887? Yes? Well, it was
{ from that blizzard that | was rescued
. by the most beautiful woman it has
/ ever been the happy lot of man to pos
sess.
Il was at that time, as you know,
embarking in the practice of law, and
had, to use an old-time phrase, 'arti-
cled' myself to one of the most prom
inent legal firms in this city. | grew
steadily in favor of my superiors, who
are now my partners, so it happened
that when an occasion arose in an i'm
portant land suit, requiring that man
be sent to Ainsworth, Neb., to obtain
necessary information from the rec
ords, | was selected for the duty.
II reached Ainsworth without Incl
dent and spent a couple of days there
examining the court records, until !
discovered that one link of evidence
was missing. | shortly learned that il
could be replaced by certain atsdayits
which a banker at Atkinson, 50 miles
h., ,rir y bYJ =
be so disposed. Unfortunately only
one passenger a day was theI
running and | found that had just left
and that no other train would start un.
till late in the night. That would be a
slow freight, which would not get me
in Atkinson much before the passenger
the next morning. SO | concluded to
drive the 55 miles.
"Hurrying to the livery stable | in
duced the proprietor TO take me as far
as Long Pine. the next station, where
could and did obtain relay of bron-
ehos and another driver to Bassett.
There | obtained another relay and
started for Newport, the next stop,
and by the time We reached there, the
snow was falling quite fast, but still
there was no indication of the horrible
storm in which so many lives were
lost and in which the cattle ranches
suffered almost TO bankruptcy by thou
sands of head of cattle being destroyed,
AS we proceeded, the storm increased
in virulence and | was glad, indeed.
when | could toast my chilled feet at
the blazing hearth in the small hote,
the place afforded, while my driver was
seeing about an exchange of horses.
1.-THE liveryman returned and in
formed me that he had not been able
to induce the local stable keeper to
undertake a journey, even to the next
town, Stuart, though he said, If the
case was very urgent, he would let
me have a team to drive through my
self, provided | would assure him
against loss. Unaccustomed as | was
to western billiards. | jumped at this
chance, and quickly closed a deal with
him.
He produced the scrawniest-look-
ing team of bronchos one ever saw,
and hitched them to a ramshackle
sort of slat-bottomed blackboard
buggy and bid me Godspeed with an
expression on his face clearly show
ing he never again expected to see
either his team or myself alive. AS
to the team. he never did see it, as
both the animals gave up the ghost
but | am anticipating.
ic cd
sumed terrific proportions. The snow,
which had been falling softly and laz-
lily, now pelted down in solid masses,
mixed with fakes of ice, cutting with
biting force against my face, while
the soughing of the wind had risen to
shrieks and howls and came with a
force that at times seemed powerful
enough to lift bronchos, buggy and
driver into the next county. My
course lay along the railroad track.
There was no road worthy of the
name to follow, as the level character
of the country and entire absence of
fences permitted one taking straight
with only the possibility of meeting
with some small slough that would re-
quire little careful driving to cross.
Driving along with my head down
wards to shelter my face from the
pelting sleet and ice, quite forgot to
look for my landmarks, the telegraph
poles, but more ugly blast than any
! had experienced caused me to take
a quick glance about over my muffier.
Instantly I awoke so my danger. The
telegraph poles had disappeared! l
had turned from my road and was
driving across the wild. desolate, unin-
habited prairies, on which a house
was not TO be met for miles.
'The storm now swirled and pound
ed and roared with ferocious power
about me. Already l was passing
through drifts so deep as to compel
my small bronchos to tug and snort in
the effort required to pull the buggy
through them. Heavy darkness was
rapidly taking the place of the gray
ish light, the dull, whirling snowbanks
OF clouds lowering and plunging about