The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-04-22
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRING OF HELLER.s CABIN

THE FIRING OF HELLER'S CABIN
On the night of the ninth of April
there swirled over the Seven Mountains
a wild whisk Of snow that plastered
the landscape as with whitewash. Five
inches deep 1t lay and hung and stuck.
Every flake chung where 1t fell, inc in
the morning the world was a study in
white-a fun Of cloud above, like q.
fleece over the hills held up by the
ridges. and a smudge Of SNOW beneath.
h a concealed every colour and out
line. 1t was like a world in a dream.
Every twig was a main branch. every
thread a cable, every fence rail a saw
log. Saplings and branches bowed to
the earth beneath festoons more gor-
geous thar those of Christmas. For a
day and a night the Seven Mountains
were a realm beyond the dreams Of
fairyland. Then the sur came out.
Tom Farthing saw the beauty of the
morning and thought of bears, for Tom
was a hunter. and the morning was one
OF a thousand. If he clouds did not
break. letting out the sun, he felt sure
of a bear, provided one had moved dur
in the Gap before five. making for the
Wild Meadows. At six he vas on tho
summit of Raccoon Ridge, looking to-
ward the north, where the meadows
lay smooth and white among the weller
Of the hills like an oil spot at sea.
AoeoA oo ~ was, Io QduSCU ana
swept his eyes about the horizon. For
a moment the poet in the man domi-
mated the hunter. 1t was like a frost
picture on a mighty window. At his
feet, In the direction from which he had
come. lay the V-like trough of Plum
den gap, then the dead level of He'll
Bottom with every trace of man
smoothed out, Their the fog. On every
side a wild, chaotic world without COL
our or sharp angle. Enthusiastically be-
ruffled with the snow. .
He paused but a moment. then he
plunged over the ridge-crest down to-
wards the meadows, stumbling into pit
falls, tripping over stones and brush,
and drenching himself through and
through with the snow from the low
%shrubbery. AT eve he entered the
rhododendron slough known as the
The detail Of Toms day do not CON
Germ this tale. He killed no bears.
though he tramped far; but late in the
afternoon he found himself
ly hungry, wet to the skin, tired as q
young fellow of 20 eve gets, down on
Roaring Run just where it is Joined
by the Plum Run stream From this
point there are two ways of reaching
Heller's Gap: n up through the rough
bottom between Raccoon and Roaring
Ridges-a rocky hole with a brush snarl
like a barbed wire tangle, and the other
through the jaws of Roaring Run and
out to the He'll Bottom pike.
With the smear Of greasy snow over
brush and rocks, Plum Run was out Of
tho question, and. the longer quite
through the gap was well nigh SO.
Even In summer, when the green slime
is dry on the rocks and when the wa
tiers that go snarling down the gut.
are low and harmless, it is a hard climb
to follow the blind trail along the face.
of the precipice. For the space of sew
eral rods n must cling and balance
and choose his footing with care and
a misstep when the run in spring is
a wild torrent is not pleasant to think
Of.
But Tom did not hesitate. He buckled
his rifle tightly to his back, pulled his
cap low over his ears. and five minutes
later stood. hot and painting, among the
rocks of Poppy Miller's farm. He kicked.
the snow from a projection and sat
down.
Suddenly. behind the rock masse,
along the brook, he heard a splash.
then another. With the spirit Of the
days hunt strong upon him. he sprang
to his feet and. with gun at full cock.
crept noiselessly through the snow. Al
most double he inched along, then
raised himself silently over the crest
of the rock. An instant, and he drew
back as II he had come full upon r.
RATHER.
CONTINUED Naxs weak