Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-04-06

we're golnf 70 OaWeon We got " taAs
charge of this here outfit"
They looked at each other.
'Ies a Co." said Kit a. his hand went
ont In ratification.
In ths morning, long before daylight
Shorty Issued his call Come on" he
roared. tumble out you sleepersi
Rers's. your coffee! Kick into III
We're goin' TO make startr'
Grumblins and complaining. Stine
and Sprague were forced to get under
way two hours earlier than ever b.
fore. II anything. the gale was stiff.
er, and In a short time every mans
face was Iced up. while the oars were
heavy with Ice.
Three hours they struggled. and four.
one man steering. one chopping Ice,
two toiling at the oars and each tax.
ing his various turns. The northwest
shore doomed nearer and nearer. The
gale blew ever harder. and at last
Eprague pulled In bis oar In token Of
surrender. Shorty sprang to Il, though
his relief had only begun.
~Chop ice" he said. handing
Sprague the hatchet
"But what's the user the other
whined. I'VE can't make t. Ws'rs
going to turn back"
"Wers goin' on" said Shorty. Chop
Ice. An when you feel better yOu can
spell me-"
Il was heartbreakins toll. but they
gained the shore. only to 1nd It com
posed Of surge beaten rocks and chffA.
with no place to land
Nobody spoke. and Kit held the boat
INTO the seas al they skirted the for
bidding shore Sometimes they gain
ed no more than q foot to the stroke,
and there were times when two OF
three strokes no more than enabled
chem to hold their own. Another hour
they labored and second
A few minutes later Sprague drew
IN his oar again. "I'm finished" he
said, and there were tears In his voice.
stine bad ceased rowing. and the
boat was drifting backward.
"Turn around. Smoke" Sprague or.
dered
And Kit, who never In his life had
eursed any man. astonished himself
'Tll see you In b. 6rst," be replied
Take bold Of that oar and pull
sprague jerked OF mitten. drew bio
revolver and turned It on his steers
man. This was a new experience to
Kit He had never had gun presented
at him In bis life And now, to his sur.
prise, It seemed to mean nothing at all
"If you don't put that gun up" he
said, "In take II away and rap you
over the knuckles With It"
"If you don't turn the boat around
I'll shoot you." sprague threatened
Then Shorty took hand. he ceas-
ed chopping ice and stood up behind
sprague go on an shoot" said
Shorty. wigglins the Ratchet I'm
1ust achin' for a chance to brain you
60 on an start the festivities"
"sprague." Kit said. It'll give you
Just thirty seconds to put away that
gun and get that oar out"
sprague hesitated. gave q short hys-
terical laugh. put the revolver away
and bent his back to the work
For two hours more. inch BY inch.
they fought their way along the edge
Of the foaming rocks until Kit feared
be had made a mistake. And then.
when on the verge Of himself turning
back, they came abreast Of a narrow
opening not twenty feet vida which
led into landlocked Enclosure where
the fercest gusts scarcely dawed the
surface. II was the haven gnined By
the boats Of previous dayA They
landed on a shelving beach. and the
two employers lay in collapse In the
boat. while Kit and Shorty pitched the
tent, built a Ore and started the cook.
ing.
A CUP of coffee, set aside to cool and
forgotten. q few minutes later was
found coated with half an inch OF Ice.
At 6 O'Clock, when Sprague and Slime.
already rolled In their blankets. were
sleeping the sleep Of exhaustion. Kit
came back from q look at the boat
"Its the freezeup. Shorty" he an
nounced. There's q skin Of Ice over
the whole pond already. The rapid
current Of the river may keep Il open
for days. This time tomorrow any
boat caught In Lake Labarge remains
there until next year" si'
.You mean We got to get out TO-
night NowT'
Kit nodded.
Tumble out you sleepen," was
Shorty's answer. couched in q roar. as
he began casting ofi the guy ropes Of
the tent.
They broke their way through the
thin Ice In the little harbOr and came
out on the lake. where the water.
heavy and CLASSY. froze on their oars
with every stroke The water soon be-
came like mush. clogging the stroke OF
the oars and freezing In the air even a.
It dipped. Later the surface began
to form a skin. and the boat proceeded
slower and slower.
Often afterward, when Kit tried b
remember that night and failed to
bring up aught but nightmare recol-
lections, he wondered what must have
been the sufrerings of Slime and
sprague. His one impression Of him
self was that be struggled through Bit
ing frost and intolerable exertion for q
thousand years. more or less. "a
Morning found them stationary.
Slime complained Of frosted 6ngers.
and sprague OF bis nose, while the pain
IN Kits cheeks and nose told him that
he, too. had been touched. With each
accretion Of daylight they could see
farther, and as far as they could Gee
was icy surface The water Of the lake
was gone.
A hundred yards away wa. the shore
Of the north end. Shorty insisted that
Il was the opening Of the river and
! that he could see water. he and Kit
alone we're able to work. and With thelr
oars they broke the Ice and forced
the boat alcng. And at the Inst gasp
Of their strength they made the suck
- <hn r~nld. ravor One look hack