Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-12-25

| lie was Wrapplng So-le clothes over
his shoes. Butcher Simon" he said
| CURLY.
Her face became white spot in the
gloom.
! "Critter IL be tough, likes not" went
on her father, but y en- poun' tn
meat"
After a long wait she spoke. You
can't reach him." she declared, half
triumphantly.
"Yas, All en-" he answered. cab en-
chop through with tn Ratchet" He
was between the fireplace and cor
ner, feeling over the logs with his
| hands.
! She ran to him "Oh, how can you
think Of it?' she demanded huskily.
! "Simon's so friendly and-came to us
for a home. How can you kill him!
Maybe you could eat him, but
couldn't 1t d just choke mev'
"Oh, amt we sof'v' sneered her IA
| Their. He was fumbling about near the
bunk, as If hunting something. ''Mebbe
| y d like All should kill a mule! Ha,
| ha! No mule meat fer me. Ah'll give
tibet bull funk tween tn eyes, an
We'll hev steak"
She stood in the dim light, one arm
crooked up to cover her face. Present
/ Iy Marylyn moaned Then Dallas low
| cred her arm and looked down at her
sister. Zone of the mules would be
easier" she said bitterly. But, remem-
bering the brown eyes of the team and
! the long, gray whiskered noses, she
| covered her face again.
/ "Ah don keer wat v say" declared
her father. wen hev steak" He Sc
lected log and began to hack at it.
| Shuddering she sank to her knees,
/ one hand reached out to touch Mary
Ign. Maybe Charley II come, honey"
! she whispered hopefully. Maybe,
mayber'
And now it seemed as If she heard
! something outside. She crept to the
/ door, Around the latch was a little
t space She put her ear to 1t, and the
/ Icy air blew against her cheek. There
1t was again! The shrek of the gale.
! She went back to the bed.
| Hack, hack, hack! Then muttered
curses. And again the sound of chop
| ping.
When she could bear it no longer she
got up and stumbled over to her ia
Their. Dad" she said, IF l break up
the mantel and fix something will you
stop?"
/ He sat back on his feet putting cross
| ly. Light a fire." he said. use these
chips. Ah'll res" He threw down the
Ratchet and crawled under the blan-
kets. He was glad of the interruption,
for the duty ahead was assuming an
ugly guise.
Dallas had filed the coffee pail with
| snow. Now she gathered up the chips,
/ lit them and pried up. the wide board
Of the mantel. This she split with the
Ratchet.
what are you going to make"
asked Marylyn from the bed.
Pepper tea, honey. TIN warm you
! up"
"oh, I'm so glad. Ma made some
once"
Pepper tea 1t was. When the snow
had melted and the water was boiling
hot Dallas added pepper and salt
Then she spread cloth and turned
the wheat and corn sacks out upon 1t.
She got a handful of -four. With this
she thickened the water. Three cups
were sitting upon the floor. She took
the coffee pail over, poured into two
and handed them to her father and
Marylyn.
"Don't spill drop" she cautioned.
"You got some?" queried Marylyn.
sitting up.
| Dallas went back to the other cup.
"Well, what do you think I'm doingP',
she asked and lifted 1t to her lips.
! Soon the three We're lying shoulder
to shoulder again, the section boss
drawing a little added comfort from
his pipe. Before long he was asleep;
Marylyn too. Then Dallas got up
cautiously and brewed cup of pep
pered water for herself. The hot
draft relieved the pangs of her hunger
She lay down again.
Hours later she was awakened by
hearing faint squeals directly over
head. Hastily she lit the lantern and
took down the Sharps, then stepped
directly under the sounds and poked
| TIC luuLAlS IuIO luc nay VI TIE
roof. Above, storm driven and crowd
ing one another against the stones of
the chimney, were some pigs
In her eagerness she trembled so
violently that she became unsteady on
her feet. 1t lost her the opportunity of
firing, for as she waited, trying to get
a blind aim, the squeals suddenly died
out. The pigs had gone over toward
the edge of the lean-to.
When next she awoke-awoke from
a dream of we'll spread tables-she
could not guess how much time had
passed or whether it was day or night
The shack was pitch dark. OF one
thing she could be sure-the storm
| had not abated, SO there was no hope
| of aid.