The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-04-03
In the Blizzard.
to recover

colonel of my regiment, then stationed
at Sulmona, to the general in COM
mand of the fortress of Sangro. l did
not like the trip, it was bitterly cold
and a blizzard might break out at any
moment. Besides this, the great plain
7 had to cross was full of wolves,
made desperate by hunger and what
was perhaps the worst of all, the
country was infested by bandits be-
longing to the notorious Guacomo
Danieri's gang. But the dispatches
were important and l was courier,
so I had to go.
In the evening l had halted to give
my tired horse a much needed rest,
about six miles ahead of me was the
village of Rocca Rosa, where l hoped
to fnd shelter for the night, looked
around, and quite close to me l dis
covered a norseman, whom l had not
noticed before, but who was coming
straight towards me. 1t was very
disagreeable surprise, l would much
rather have been alone, though the
man was well dressed and looked like
a traveller.
"Comrade," he said to me in a
frank and open tone, Il have once
been soldier myself. If you permit
I should like to travel in your conf
pany to the fortress of Sangro.'
How do you know I am going to
Sangro," 1 growled.
Il only said that I was going
there,:' he replied with smile. Il
saw you riding up the hill, missed
company, and, though I am probably
as distrustful as you are yourself, l
decided to suggest that We travel to-
gether. Is this explanation satisfac-
tory or do you want to go ahead
alone?"
Il think 1 may trust you," / said
and we rode on very soon chatting
like old acquaintances. Still I did
not feel quite at ease. To tell the
truth, was just little afraid of the
stranger in spite of his frank and
easy manners and pleasant face. Sud
denly, without any warning, a violent
gust of wind nearly blew us out of
the saddle.
"Merciful Lord" the stranger ex-
claimed, I'VE are going to have a
blizzard"
And indeed, a few moments later
we were in the midst of the fercest
snow-storm 1 have ever seen. The
wind was bowling, shrieking, roaring,
the air was dark and heavy and the
snow came down in masses, soon wfp
ing out the road entirely, and gather
ing in enormous drifts in every hol-
low place.
1t grew pitch dark and we had to
dismount and lead our horses, nor
knowing whether we were progress
ing towards the village or walking
in a circle.
Listen the wolves are near, We
shall never escape alive" my COM
panion cried suddenly.
And above the roar of the storm
cold hear the terrible long drawn
howls of the wolves, which almost
froze the blood in my veins. The
howls came from everywhere, evi-
dently the beasts had quite surround
ed u.s.
Closer, ever closer, they came and
soon we could make out their glow
ing eyes through the darkness and
whispered to my companion: "Don't
you think that our only salvation lies
in sacrificing our horses?"
Il do," he replied, "but value my
horse so highly that 1 will try shot
it may scare them away for awhile. .
He fired his pistol in the direction
of the pack which howled and fed
In a moment, however, they came
back closer than ever.
There was no other way, We must
sacrifice our horses to save our OWL
lives. We shook hands and swore &C
stick together to the last. Then We
turned the horses loose and walked
on through the drifting snow.
A few moments later We heard the
fierce struggle between our poor
horses and the greedy pack. For q
while we were left alone but soon We
heard the pack once more up on the
trail.
There is a small chapel near the
road here somewhere" said my COM