The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-01-20
Floating with a Wolf
Grim Experience OF a Westerner on
the Missouri River.
EYLTELL, sir, this thing Of sailing

MEL, sir, this thing Of sailing
Wv on an ice raft does not con-
form to the requirements of the Sun
day-school picnic. Dismal as the lat
ter may be and generally is, it is orien-
tai luxuriance compared to The former,
especially if the highway being trav-
ersed happens to be the Missouri river |
when it feels pert" The speaker was
western man.
at was in the early SOS. You re-
member the winter I had that thing |
on in Kansas City?" he resumed.
''Whew, what a winter that was! Their
mometer down below zero for six
weeks, wind bowling blizzard all day
and resting up at night for the next
day, snow three feet deep and frozen
solid so that wagon wheels played
harmonics all the time, mans breath
adding to the accumulations of snow
and ice and"
"Oh, come, Charlie" broke in the
sufferer, "draw it mild, like Sairey
Camp liked it."
'Well, you know it was fearful win
ter as well as l. What's the matter?
You visited me and nearly froze to
death. Couldn't keep warm, although
burned up ton of coal week. Well,
you know, I'm something of hunter.
1 had plenty of idle time and used to
wrap up well and take my Parker out
across into Kansas, where chicken and
duck were plenty. 1 had some fine sport
sniping, too, along the big river and
the slough.e There are too many hills
thereabouts for good sloughing,
though.
1T was along in March. You know
the idea that the weather out there is
better than here won't hold water, for
the water would freeze in winter. The
season outlasts ours sometimes, too.
1t did this particular winter, for they
had snow in the middle of April. Fact.
l got out my gun one day when it was
bit mild and went over the road to
few miles up river from Quindaro. You
know this once famous town is now
the reservoir for the waterworks. Well,
| sniped along the bank in the reeds
and was knocking over quite few,
when l saw 1 had better start back
down river if 1 wanted to get home
before dark. I had had good sport,
but ached for more. 1t was grand day
cold, to be sure, but bracing.
cat last spied some duck sitting on
the water-the river rarely freezes all
the way over-just beyond the rim of
ice which fringed the shore. At this
point the river sweeps wide to the
north and then cuts into the hills on
the south side, forming a narrow gorge
near the waterworks. There is a bend
which the current strikes and it had
piled up lot of ice in hummocks as it
ground against the shore ledge. These
hummocks. helped me heap, for
could sneak out on the shore ice and
get a chance at the duck. 1 forgot
all about the time, for l was shy good
fat redhead and wanted him.
''Well, sir, went out on that shore
ledge-it was shoal water there-and
| heaved chunks of ice at those ducks t.
get 'em up, you know, for no hunter
shoots at water fowl when swimming
They baked like Sam Hill and l crept
out farther and farther, still heavinl
things at 'em. At last they rose anC
I was busy shooting right and left a.
fast as l could load. Then when we
got out of range found had nary {
duck, was out of cartridges and no dos
to bring in the dead. / killed a lot
but they fell in the water or, what wa.
worse, on the bank.
''Yes, sir, flats a fact. turned
back to go to the shore and discovered
that 1 was on an ice raft well out il
the current. 1t was whirlng around il
the eddying stream like a top, and b,
the time l had seen the waterwork
half dozen times and lost 'em as Otter
declare didn't know if l was a
Quindaro or in the Alps. Say, mayb
you think l liked it. 1 didn't. Tha
river is hard proposition anywhere
1t is harder in what they call throa
gorge-one of these narrowings of tn
banks-than anywhere else. / was il
one of these gorges andworking down
stream as fast as the field ice woul
| let me.
'As / said, the crushing of the flo
against that angle in the bank ha
piled up lot of bergs higher than m
head. What made me swear at mysel
for a fool was that l had forgotten t
calculate the rottenness of ice at tina
season. l went out on the edge. anC
! as the dumned stream was rising any
way, had slipped the mornings of m
raft. So while was busy shootin
the COMPOUNDED thing was travelin
\ due north. which there meant out int
the current. There l was out in th
middle of the busiest river on the gloh
with nothing but some rotten ice b.
tween me and an undertow warrante
to pull under a warship. oh, il. wa
lovely. But l was up against it, S
D there was no use eussing.
n "Just at this point the river make
crossing That is. the current hit
z one bank good wallop and then butt
81 aaroSc IN tho NJ her sifiN in Spite of III