The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-01-17

"a
struck me. the like Of which had new
er dreamed of before. IL was tor
rent of icy air. tugging and shrie:Sing
Mt the very ground beneath my feet;
hurricane OF piercing sleet that
went bowling past and set me gasping
for breath. and still yelled on IT the
came frightful speed.
Before | could prevent il. my hig
mules were turning toward home, but
] urged them back with shouts and
iine, and bowed my head over the
dashboard TO escape the singing ice
PARTICLES They went slowly on with
eyes closed and shoulders Lraced
against the wind for few hundred
feet. and then they doggedly insisted
on turning round. in spite of the
whip. l went TO their heads. hut the
strong brutes backed and circled.
blowing the slect from their nostiils.
utterly rebelling- ! ran back t. the
wagon and from the seat fairly pulled
their jaws around to their TANKS as
they shecred of from the storm.
Then one of them deliberately lay
down with his tail 10 the blizzard,
and both became entangled in the
harness, and when succeeded in I'M
hitehing the standing mule. he jerked
away and lumberingly gallo2ed OF in
the binding snow.
As the remaining mule was kicking
unmanageably in the deepening drift.
and as / was very Geld and becoming
exhausted. ! gave up the attempt to
free the brute. and started back to
the village for aid. But when l had
made 20 steps from the wagon. the
full meaning of the storm broke on
NE. I stood in the midst of a white
wall. seeing nothing. hearing nothing
but the roar of the ice hurricane.
which was so complete and steady
that il gave me a sense OF ABSOLUTE
Loneliness, as vast silence does
So hard did the fine hail beat and
bruise me that / turned my back TO
its force and tried to reason out the
way to the house. which .ould not
have been 40 rods from where the
wagon stood. turned due cast, judg-
ing from the tracks of the storm, and
plunged swiftly along with the gale
until / stopped in panic at being
wholly lost on the trackless prairie.
Now the wind. rising every minute.
dashed me furiously from all direc-
tons; nv sense of distance and place
was hopeIessly confused in the whirl-
ing chaos Of snow.
| To stand still would be soon to
freeze, and after a scared calculation
of my bearings. went on in what
thought the direction of the village.
although the inclination TO go with
the storm was almost irresistible. 1t
was not until after what seemed an
hour of futile struggle that l halted
again. turned once more to peer into
the coming blizzard. and was amazed
to see the dim. low outline of some
vast thing strangely moving toward
me. as il q wide. slow, gray blanket
were creeping over the ground olt
of the storm n was not until the
front was almost on me that ! made
out n flock of sheep
The grizzled leader walked almost
to my feet and there stopped for ssy'
eral seconds, fixing his snow-crested
black eyes upon me in mild surprise
Then he forged ahead with the storm
Eehind him in solid mass moved an
immense flock, nothing visible to me
except their snow-covered backs and
the moving legs and downcast heads
OF the ones ON the edges of the gap
that opened as they neared me and
closed as they passed me by. often
touching my clothes.
There seemed TO be thousands OF
the sheep as they fled past in tho
driving gale. / could not imagine
where they were going. but every one
of the solemn-faced creatures seemed
to have a fixed purpose. Just as the
. end of the flock seemed nigh. biz
black dog doomed up in the rear ant
came straight at me. with trifie O
suspicion in his eyes He took m,
. joyful greeting in friendly manner
: however, but looked in vain for an.
rancher accompanying the flock.
tried to detain the dog. thinking tina
surely he had some human companion
, not far away. but after regarding m
doubtfully for a minute. he trotte'
: after the sheep and disappeared in tn
: storm.
II struck me that the faithful guar
! dian must be taking the flock home
! and SO I ran hastily after him wit
. the blizzard at my back. As kne'
: nothing then about western stock
. did not understand that the shee
; were only drifting aim!essly wit
> their tails to the storm. These sill
4 creatures will wander before a storI
: as long as they can stand, unless tn
!. leader finds a bush or gully wher
. he can take refuge. Then he stop
; and the whole flock pack around hi
A e. leeward and lie down to die
The sheep travelled rapidly throug
= the rising drifts, and the black sheI
/ herd and followed. l supposed the
4 III at he was heading them toward IN
lu< h. VxU