Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-02-29
The Snow People.
[Original.l

All day that terrible whirl of snow. II
it had ceased occasionally to give the
brain a rest, it would not have been
We saw only ourselves; there was
nothing else to see but the boundless
plain, and that was shut from our
vision by the snow. We were prepared
for the storm. having wagons. tents
and the wherewithM to make not cof-
fee, and should have considered our
selves we'll off, We would have been
had, it not been for that terrible, never
ceasing whirl.
The next morning the storm abated,
and we moved on. About noon we
came upon a sight to freeze the mar
row in our bones-six heaps Of snow,
a body underneath each, the remains
Of a campfire in the center. We
brushed the snow from the heaps and
uncovered five men and a woman.
The woman was wrapped in all the
blankets that the party had possessed.
put a pocket mirror to the mouth of
each person, and the woman alone re-
sponded, showing a faint film on the
glass. We poured whisky down her
throat and chafed her. She opened
her eyes and in a short time could
speak to us. but we waited till the
next day for her story:
1--WE had horses and a wagon. /
don't know where the horses are now.
When we saw the storm coming we
thought the first thing to do was to
get firewood, but since there was none
we broke up the wagon.
81 don't remember much of what hapt
pened. All l know is that now and
again my husband came to me with
blanket. I closed my eyes to shut out
the whirling snow that was making
my brain sick, but they wouldn't let
me keep them closed. They kept shak-
Ing me to keep me awake. 1 saw
them putting on the fire the pieces OF
the wagon, but they used them spar
ingly.
presently l saw a flock Of white
wolves circling around us, and it seem
ed that the men were keeping up the
fire to prevent their closing in and de-
vouring u.s. Occasionally one of the
men would seize a frebrand and hurl
it at a wolf. They were circling, al
ways circling, to tire our brains. l
closed my eyes again, and when /
opened them the wolves were gone,
but something far more terrible had
taken their places. Snow people were
whirling where the wolves had whirl-
ed. Oh, how cold they looked out of
their dreadful eyes! They instead of
the wolves were now trying to tire us.
every now and again one Of the
snow people would try to seize one
Of our men, but he would take up
firebrand, and that was enough. The
snow man would withdraw. I saw
one Of our men stagger away from the
fire. A snow woman took him and
pressed her lips tight to his. Then
she opened her arms, and he fell frozen
stiff.
"After that the snow people circled
nearer. / saw our men come and stand
around me. You may think it was to
protect me from the wind and the
drift No; it was to keep off the snow
people. 1 was sitting by the fire, so
that the men inclosed both me and the
fire. / fancied the snow people want
ed me, for they were all looking at
me out of their icy eyes and reckoning
to me. There were four Of our men
around me- and each seized a frebrand
and advanced a few PAGES back to
back. The snow people could not
stand the heat of the brands and fed
with a shrek.
$50 wild, so weird so terrible, was
the shrek that / closed my eyes and
put my hands to my ears, When /
looked again the men had lowered the
brands, and the snow people were
whirling more frantic than ever.
ga horrible old snow bag beckoned
to one Of the men, leering at him. He
went toward her. She seized him, and
1 saw him whirled off up into the sky.
Another woman sang a beautiful song
no such heavenly melody have l ever
heard-fixing her eyes on one Of the
men WHO were 1Sll. ne, 100, SUI
cumbed and went toward her. She
folded him in an embrace, and I saw
that he had been frozen. Another of
our men went a short distance from
the fire to bring some spokes to burn.
A snow man seized him, touched his
heart with his icy finger, and he fell,
like the rest without bending joint.
"From this time the snow people seem
ed changed. They were no longer hor-
rible. They were beautiful The mems
apparel seemed to glisten like icicles in
the sun; the women's dresses trailed
far behind them, each a myriad Of
snowfakes. I saw now only one of our
men. He came to me and threw
blanket over me. He was my husband.
Then he stopped and kissed me. 1 saw
him soon after, standing by the fire,
which was now nearly out. The snow
people were watching it, and knew
that when the last ember died the end