The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-03-04

SoUtGHt WSlN-bQt TWO MSu
Within Fifty Miles and
Where Were They
Five Months With.
out a Doctor.
Continued from Third Page.)
all day, SO l proceeded to build
fires, cut wood, etc. l put my leg
in splints. | thought by this time
the bone was broken. and made 0
a sling out of my pack straps ano
hitchsd myself round in sitting
position holding my injured leg up
with one hand and moving with
my other and other foot. put a
letter in the dogs collar and tried
to send him home, but he just laid
down under a tree out of my
reach and refused to bulge.
This went on for five days. ]
had quit trying to drive the dog
away, and was going to kill him
for food; but with my many duties
I was always so full of business
that I couldn't get around to it
On the fifth day, I thoroughly
made up my mind to kill him -
mind you, I was eating under a
pound Of food per day, rice aad
hard tack. / was so busy cutting
wood aud building fires, and do
ing everything from sitting po-
:,ition, that [ even left off dressing
my wound on he fourth day.
Cold wrather was coming on, too.
and I had to keep up fire during
the night.
On the fifth cay in the afternoon,
my leg began to get worse. [
washed out the wound, and the ap-
pearaace and smell of it was, hog.
Tib!e. The flesh had started to
fall away from the stitches at the
bottom of the cut, and God knows,
I felt blue. I hada'1 so far. given
lip hope at all, but the looks of
that wound, makes me shudder as
I write this. For the time being
] put all thought, of killing the
dog cut of my head.
HEARD A SHOT.
( Now comes the marvellous part
of my story. [ had fire under a
spruce tree by my side. The fire
caught in cones, dead leaves, moss
and other rubbish, and ran up the
tree and caught the branches A
huge column of fire and smoke
rose high above. 1t so happened
that Jim Wood, one of the two
prospectors still left in the country
was on little knoll on the stream
eight miles below, when this, COLI
umn of smoke attracted his. atten-
ton. He had been out bunting.
and afterqkilling two moose was
about to- start down stream to. his
cabin seven miles below He
thought the smoke had, been made,
by old Mike, the other prospector.,
and! as there was letter for Mike
at Wood S cabin. he started for the
smoke, expecting to find Mike.
It got dark. and he was just max
ing up his mind to camp. for the
night. Thinking he was close to
Mikes cabin, he fired shot to at
tract the latter's attention I heard
it, and yon may be sure I was not
long in answering it. He came up
and was never more surprised
than when he struck me.
THOUGHT HIS TIME HAD CONE.
We sat up all night and talked.
as he wanted to make an !. early
start next morning over to Rogue
river after Mike, eight or ten miles
from my camp. He was gone two
days on that trip, and tiled to
find Mike. I never in my life suf-
fered as / did those two days aud
two nights. By the sixth day my
leg had swelled so around the knee
above the bandages that ]. thought
it would burst. 1t had turned in
color to a dark purple. Jim had
provided plenty OF wood before
starting, and all I had do was
to lie there, raking wood into the
fire with long pole. The pain in
my leg was terrible. | could feel
the fire on the wound through the
bandages, just asif it were grilling.
I thought my leg was morsifying,
and believed my time had come.
But for the awful pain, I should
not have cared so much. I spilled
a pot of water, and SO help me. L
could not crawl the necessary ten
feat to reach it. During the, day a