The Press., 1901-04-18
IHEhAN FROM LARAMIE
And the Lies
He Told.


We had been talking. about the gen.
orally humdrum lives led by nine men
out of ten, and the sad eyed man who
had hitherto kept silent said as he set
tied back into his chair and put his
feet on the rail of the hotel piazza:
"From my birth to the present time
have had hut one thing happen to me
that was in the smallest degree unu-
sual, and that related to my marriage,
| which was little out of the ordinary"
He spoke with sleepy dra WI that
piqued curiosity. and | asked him to
tell us what happened if it wouldn't in
terfere with his nap.
He smiled and yawned and said:
81 was born and brought up in Lara
mic, Wy, and SO was Arabella. Ara
| bella is my wife. had known her all
her life and had always loved her. and
she had done the same by me, and the
course of our affections ran as smooth
as molten metal. In 1889 decided to
| marry her. and the day was set for
April %, and we invited all our friends
| and looked forward to a happy but
commonplace wedding.
"Just one week before the ceremony
was called up to North Dakota ON a
business matter which did not think
would detain me more than three or
four days.
"Arabella did a little weeping on my
shoulder, womanlike. and said, What
if you never come back? But l said:
Now. you know perfectly we'll that l
always have been as regular as clock
work It's only few hundred miles
away. and I'll be back and We'll be
married exactly at 4 o'clock on April
%. and it will be the least exciting and
yet happiest wedding that ever took
place
Il went up to North Dakota. and the
last ten miles of my journey | had to
make on foot. While | was walking
along it began to snow, and inside of
an hour a blizzard was raging and |
had to put in for shelter at the house Of
lone stranger named Smithson. who
kindly gave me supper and told me
that it would be suicidal for me to go
any farther; that Dakota blizzard.
the last one of the season. but perhaps
the worst, was upon us.
"'When can | return?' said |. He
told me that if the blizzard was a real
energetic one it would be two weeks
before I saw home and mamma. You
may imagine my feelings. Hundreds OF
miles from Arabella with less than a
| week intervening before our marriage
| and no way of getting word to her! OF
.l,1 EoS%
II told the stranger my troubles. and
| he sympathized with me. but said that
no human being could live out in that
storm, and when | looked out Of the
| window l believed him. 1t was terrific.
| had been in the New York blizzard OF
1888. and it was a sultry summers day
to this one.
"There was nothing to do but to grin
and bear it. Maybe it would stop soon
er than my friend thought. He might
| be an alarlnist, but it grew worse. and
| by next morning it seemed to be only
| just beginning to get in it's fine work
| The mercury went so low that I'd hest
tate to say just what the thermometer
recorded for fear of being considered
an exaggerator. The snow fell at the
rate Of a foot an hour on the level. The
house was soon covered up, and we
would have smothered In time IL my
friend had not happened to have a tir
| ventilator that ran so feet up in the all
| for just such occasions.
mot to make a long story, 1t was five
days before the snow stopped, and ther
| we were showed in to the depth Of 81
feet. And we were down to our las
loaf of bread. But the thing that wor
ried me most was the fact that it was
my wedding day. sat in the pitcf
darkness, for our oil had given out
wondering what Arabella would d.