Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-07-26
~ The.. ~
BY REX BEACH,
Copyright, 1909, BY Harper & Brothers



they were forced to notch footholds,
unpack their load and relay it to the
top, then free the dogs, and haul the
sled up with a rope, hand by hand.
These labors, besides being intensely
fatiguing, delayed them considerably,
added to which the higher attitudes
were covered with soft elder down
that reached nearly to their knees and
showed ahead of the sled in great
masses. Thus they dragged their
burden through instead of over it.
BY midday they had gained the
summit, and found themselves in the
heart of huge desolation, hedged in
by chaos Of peaks and pinnacles, the
SHOWS unbroken by twig or bush, I'M
tracked by living sign. Here and
there the dark face of some white
cowled rock or cliff scowled at them,
and although they were drenched with
sweat and parched from thirst, no.
where was there the faintest tinkle of
running water, while the dry powder
under foot scratched their thrOats like
iron filing when they turned to it for
relief. All were jaded and silent, save
Emerson, who urged them on in
cessantly.
1t was early in the afternoon when
the Indian stopped and began testing
the air; Bait also seemed suddenly
to scent change in the atmospheric
conditions.
Whats wrong now . Emerson
asked gruffly.
Feels like wind" answered the big
man, with a shake of his head. The
native began to chatter excitedly, and
as they stood there chill draught
famed their cheeks. CHANGING upward
at the hillsides, they saw that the air
was now thickened as If by smoke,
and, dropping their eyes, they saw the
fluff beneath their feet stir lazily. Lit
tie wisps of snow vapor began to
dance upon the ridges, whisking out Of
sight as. suddenly as they appeared
They became conscious of a sudden
fall in the temperature, and they
knew that the cold of interstellar
space dwelt in that ghostly breath
which smote them. Before they were
well aware of the ominous significance
of these signs the storm was upon
them, sweeping through the chute
wherein they stood with rapidly in
creasing violence. The terrible, un-
seen hands of the Frozen North had
unleashed it's. brood Of furies, and tho
air rang with their hideous cries. It
was Dante's third circle of hell let
.loose-Cerberus .baying through his
wide, threefold throat, and the voices
Of tormented souls shrilling through
the internal shades. 1t came from be-
hind them, lifting the fur on the
backs of the wolf dogs and filling 1t
with powder, pelting their hides with
sharp particles until they refused to
stand before it, and turned and
crouched with flattened ears in the
shelter of the sled. In an instant the
wet faces of the men were dried and
their steaming garments hardened to
shells, while their blood began 70
move sluggishly.
Fraser shouted something, but En-
erson's whipping garments drowned
the words, and without waiting to as
certain what the adventurer had said
the young man ran forward and cut
the dogs loose, while Bait and the
guide fell to unlashing the sled, the
tails of their parkas meanwhile snap
ping like boat sails, their cap strings
streaming AS they freed the last
knot the hurricane ripped the edge OF
the tarpaulin from their clumsy fingers
and Selling loosely folded blanket
belonging to the native snatched it
away. The fellow clutched wildly at
it, but the cloth sailed ahead of the
blast ash on wings, then, dropping to
the surface of the snow, opened out,
whereupon some twisting current bore
1t aloft again, and it swooped down
the hill like great bat, followed by a
wall of despair from the owner. Other
loose articles on the top OF the load
were picked up like chaff-coffee pot,
frying pan, and dishes-then hurtled
away like charges of canister. rolling,
leaping, skipping down into the swale
ahead, then up over the next ridge and
out of sight. But the men were too
f1ercely beset By the confusion to no.
tice their loss There was no ques-
ton of facing the wind, for it was
more cruel than the fierce breath OF
an open furnace, soaring the naked
flesh like flame.
All the morning the air had hung in
perfect poise, but some change of tenn
perature away out over one of the
rival oceans had upset the aerostatic
balance. and the wind tore through
this gap like torrent below broken
reservoir
The contour of the surrounding hills
altered, the whole country took on a
different aspect, due to the rapid
charging Of the atmosphere. the limits
of vision grew shorter and strangely
distorted. Although as yet the SHOWS
we're barely beginning to move, TIC
men knew they would shortly be
forced to grope their way through
dense clouds that would blot out every
land mark. and the touch Of which
would be like the stroke Of a red hot
rasp.
Bait came close to Emerson, and
beloved into his ear:
what shall we do? Roll UP in the
bedding or run for it?''
"How far is it to timber?"
Twelve or fifteen miles,
Lets run for 1t! We're out of grub.
anyhow, and this may last for days"
There was no use of trying to Sc
cure additional clothing from the sup
DIV in the sled, so they abandoned
their outfit and allowed themselves to
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