The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1913-09-27

cut and distinct against the sky, and
he did not mention the occurrence 10
the guide. although be recalled the
words OF the Indians. Beware OF the
wind through the ASS Ears"
Again they labored up the steep
slope. ~wallowing In the sliding snow.
straining silently at the load: again
they threw themselves exhausted upon
II. Now. as he eyed the panorama
below. II seemed 10 have suffered a
subtle change. indennable and odd.
Although but a few minutes had
elapsed. the coast mountains no longer
doomed clear against the horizon. and
his visual range appeared foreshort.
ened, as though the utter distances had
heightened. bringing closer the edge OF
things. The twin peaks seemed End.
lessly distant and hazy. while the air
had thickened as though congested
with possibilities lending a remote
ness to the landscape.
IF II blows up on us here. we're
gone" he thought. ''for it's miles &c
shelter. and we're right In the saddle
OF the hills"
Pierre. half blinded as he was. arose
~uneasily and cast the air like a wild
beast. his great head thrown back. his
nostrils quiyering.
Il smell the win" he cried. Nor
Dieu. She's goin' blown
A volatile pennant hoated out from
a nearby peak, hanging about its crest
like faint smoke. Then along the brow
OF the pass writhed a wisp OF drifting,
twisting iakelets, ldllng hither and
yon. e~cstatlc and aimless. settling In a
hollow. They sensed a thrill and rus
tie TO the air. though never a breath
had touched them; then. as they
mounted higher, a draft famed them,
Icy as interstellar space. The view
from the summit was grotesquely dis
torted, and. glancing upward, they
found the guardian peaks had gone
a-smoke with clouds OF snow that
whirled confusedly. while an increas-
ing breath sucked over the summit,
stronger each second. Dry snow began
to rustic slothfully about their feet.
So swiftly were the changes wrought
that before the mind had grasped their
import the storm was IN them, roar
ing down from every side, swooping
out OF the boiling sky, a raging blast
from the voids OF sunless space.
Pierre's shouts as he siashed at the
sled lashlngs were snatched from his
lips In scattered scraps. He dragged
forth the whipping tent and threw
himself upon IL with the sleeping bags.
Having cut loose the dogs, Willard
crawled within his sack. and they drew
the tapping canvas owe them. The
air was twilight and heavy with effior-
escent granules that hurtled past In a
drone.
They removed their outer garments
that the fur might fold closer against
them and lay exposed 10 the full hate
Of the gale. They hoped TO be drifted
over. but no snow could lodge in this
hurricane, and IL sifted past, dry and
sharp, eddying out a bare place where
In they lay. Thus the wind drove the
chill to their bones bitterly.
An unnourished human body re
spends but weakly. so. vitiated by their
fast and labors. their suffering smote
them with tenfold cruelty.
All night the north wind shouted.
and. as the nex day waned with its
violence undiminished. the frost crept
In upon them till they rolled and tossed
%shlvering. Twice they essayed TO
crawl out, but were driven back TO
cover for endless, hopeless hours.
IL is in such black. aimless times
that thought becomes distorted. VIII
lard felt his mind wandering through
bleak dreams and tortured fancies, al
ways to find himself harping Oh bis
early argument with Pierre. ITS the
mind that counts" Later he reused
to the fact that his knees, where they
pressed against the bag. were frozen;
also his feet were numb and senseless.
In his acquired consciousness he knew
that along the course OF his previous
mental vagary lay madness. and the
need OF action bore upon him impera-
lively.
He shouted to his mate. but wild
Pierre seemed strangely apathetic.
We've got TO run for IL at daylight
We're freezing. Here; hold on! What
are you doing2 Wait for dayllghtl'
Pierre had scrambled stifiiy out OF his
cover, and his gabblings reached VIII
lard. He raised a clinched fist into
the darkness of the streaming night,
cursing horribly with words hat APP
palled the other.
MAN. mani Don't curse your God!
This is bad enough as 1t is. Cover
up. Quick!'
Although apparently unmindful OF
his presence. the other crawled back
muttering.
As the dim morning grayed the
smother they rose and fought their
way downward toward the valley.
Long since they had lost their gripping
hunger and now held only an apa-
thetic indifference TO food, with a
~cringing dread OF the cold and a stub
born sense OF their extreme necessity.
They fell many times. but gradually